I was walking down a back street in a mixed industrial/residential zone outside a small town in Tuscany (Northern Italy) in January and spotted this coop and run. To the right in this picture is a large square dirt covered area, about 25 feet square. Nothing growing there now, but it is mid winter. Perhaps something grows in the summer. To the middle is the coop- a collection of a few small covered structures. I didn't see a way to close the doors on the coops at night. The chickens could run through the coop to the other side of the run, a long narrow area with thick bushes and trees; lemon, berries, and other plants.
It didn't seem very secure from an anti-predator standpoint, but the only predators in this neighborhood are feral cats and stray dogs. Up in the hills above town they have problems with weasels or ferrets or something like that, but not in this area. I've never heard of hawks or other aerial predators here; the only birds I see are little ones, perhaps starlings or sparrows, along with a lot of pigeons.
I passed by several times over the course of a few days; the chickens were often in the square dirt area, but as soon as I'd get within 50 feet they would all run through the coop and into the bushes. Since the bushes are so dense they feel safe there. After three days I did catch one shot before they fled that area, but I shot this from about 40 feet away.
Here they're running to the coop.
It didn't seem very secure from an anti-predator standpoint, but the only predators in this neighborhood are feral cats and stray dogs. Up in the hills above town they have problems with weasels or ferrets or something like that, but not in this area. I've never heard of hawks or other aerial predators here; the only birds I see are little ones, perhaps starlings or sparrows, along with a lot of pigeons.
I passed by several times over the course of a few days; the chickens were often in the square dirt area, but as soon as I'd get within 50 feet they would all run through the coop and into the bushes. Since the bushes are so dense they feel safe there. After three days I did catch one shot before they fled that area, but I shot this from about 40 feet away.
Here they're running to the coop.
