Well, the predators have found us.

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

So is the one the fox dropped ok? I hope so! Anyway, I just have to say...that is about the cutest coop set up I have ever seen! Hope you get your prey...seems like they all come at once for you

I'm NOT looking forward to that at all! I hope my dogs will keep them away.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
Hotwiring the bottom is great, maybe a few strands at different heights. But hotwire is NO good unless the animal has contact with the ground.

That is not true. All you need to do is ground the wire. Drive a metal rod a few feet into the ground and run a ground wire to it.

Well, I must have been doing something wrong, LOL. I've had electric shock fence for my horses for 21 years, installed properly. We put in 3 -8 foot metal rods, and attached the ground wire to all three. The kids used to play with it, they'd jump up off the ground and grab the wire and nothing happened.
Same thing goes for birds on electric cables that come down the street to everyone's home, they can sit on them cause they are not making contact with the ground

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
I think the way you run your wire is great. I may run wire around my coop and run that way. Good security

 

[dixygirl]

I think the problem is the gap under the door to the coop. Many animals can fit through there. When I use landscape lumbers like you did above, I stake them down to the ground. Then I put gravel all around, sprinkle cement mix and wet it. Effectively cementing the wood in the ground and covering the edges with a scratch proof barrier. The stakes look like nails that are like 10 inches long. Yours appear to be several inches off the ground. High enough for many things to crawl right on in. And the gap under the door looks like a real welcome mat. I'm surprised that some of the birds haven't crawled out too. :| Also, is there anything over the top of the pen at all? A net at least? You said the fence is 8 feet tall. The posts appear to be 8 feet but the actual fencing is about 6 it seems.
See if there is any way you can lower the gaps there under the pen. Maybe nail a face board across the bottom of each one. Maybe you can dig a trench and fit another piece of landscape lumber in each of those gaps like a door jam or something. Stake them to the ground with landscape stakes.

I am putting up multiple strands of barbed wire around the perimeter of my pens. That way in case of a power outage you are still protected. Today I got a bottle of Bonide Repel-All spray. Smells quite rank. Sprayed it all around the outside of my pens and the perimeter of the property. I hear Critter Out is much better though. http://www.outsidepride.com/catalog/Critter-Out-p-17989.html
Also here is a nifty product.

http://www.outsidepride.com/catalog/Outdoor-Pest-Repeller-p-17885.html
This product has a motion detector and when activated it flashes strobe lights and sirens to scare off the predator! $49.
Good luck, I hope your babies are OK and stay safe :|

 

[valmom]

Well, I like that motion detector one!

The gap under the fence is actually wired- we need to be able to open the gate in the winter when it is buried in snow, so anything too tight to the ground won't work. The only solution to the bottom of the gate that I could see would be a stationary bottom half of gate with wire buried like the rest of the run with a top half that opens so we can climb in and out of the coop. Not terribly convenient. And SO wants it to look nice, too. So we are a bit limited in what we can do.

Electric seems to be what we are going to try first (well, second. we bought coyote urine to spread around the perimeter first). One hot strand with a ground about a foot off the ground, then at the top 6 strands spaced 3 inches apart. The fence guy said that even if the critter isn't touching the ground if he touches 2 lines simultaneously he will get zapped since it completes the circuit. I have had horrible luck putting in electric fence (for horses) and having it work, so we are paying someone to make it actually zap.

The hen that was in the fox's mouth is actually fine. Missing a few feathers on her back, but she is good, and actually laying still

 

[jjthink]

Quote:
Good news!! So glad to hear it!
JJ

 

[LynneP]

I was thinking that your run is suitable for a 'run within a run', maybe a small roofed area off the coop. if you're home and able to supervise they could have the whole thing, and if you're out you could let them use the biosecure area...

 

[Bizzybirdy]

Quote:
I would definitely put the first strand about 4 inches off the ground and the next one a foot high. When I had the first wire a foot high the skunks dug right under it...the wire never touched their skin, only the fur and so they did not get shocked.

 

[painter chick]

The first thing to do is get a nice big live trap and bait it with wet cat/dog food,or a couple bits of salmon or tuna. and once caught dispatch quickly, this becomes a constant job because where theres one theres a dozen more waiting. We dispatch at least 12 coon a year this way and I know others that catch over 20 a year

Don't relocate the coons they find there way back, or just find someone elses chickens/pets to kill.

 

[raizin]

I had the same problem you did. Went months with no predator kill. Last week I had 8 chickens missing after I got back from a four day work excursion. It took me 2 more days to finish my enclosure. I only had the bottom six feet completed. My hen house is in the center of my enclosure just like yours. It looks like you attached your fencing on the outside of the posts and you said you buried the bottom of the fencing so the predators could not dig under the fencing. This is your ground. The entire fence is now a ground. All you need is one strand at the bottom, less than six inches and one at the top. The predator will climb the fencing, therefore becoming grounded, and once it touches the hot wire at the top it will get shocked. Now just over 1300 feet of the electrical twine is around $44. The insulators are around $6/25. I would use the electrical twine instead of wire. It is way easier to handle and stretch. You will need an insulator every 6 feet and be sure and tie the twine every 12 feet to the insulator so it is tight. I started on a corner and ran it around the bottom of the coop and made it go up each side of the entry door. then you just cut a small piece and tie it over the door to make the final stretch that is left open over the door.
It isn't very hard and any one that says you need another ground wire is not thinking. You have a huge ground in the fencing itself. A small electrical fence tester is $5. Otherwise, you can just grab the fence and see if it works.
You will have lots of leftover electrical twine so you can put another strand about a foot lower than the top one if you want. just tie the twine to the original strand you wrapped around. Again, the wire mesh is the ground. Don't let someone install a ground wire run. The only reason you need a ground wire run is if you had no fencing. then you would run an electrical twine every six inches and alternate hot and grounded wires. So if an animal tried to squeeze through the wires it would touch one grounded wire and one hot wire completing the circuit and getting shocked.

Good luck, let us know how much they charged to install the electrical fence. I would be glad to walk you through the installation. you can contact me offline.
Steve