Will they be safe?

[max13077]

A friend and I are going in together on 25 Cornish roaster chicks just to try it out. We were all ready to order a month ago. He was going to house them at his place. That is until his landlord put the kybosh on it. He’d had chickens there for a while but I guess when he signed his new lease this week, there is now a no pets rule . Well, I guess that leaves me.

I have a 8x12 coop I built for my hens with an oversized pen. The pen is kind of shaped like an angle bracket. One section is 15x25 and the other end is 13x25. So one of the “wings” is more than enough for the 18 hens I have. My question is, if I fence off one of the wings and build a range type shelter, will the roasters be safe without something like a coop to go in at night? I'm going to bury some more chicken wire along the margins of the fence so if something tried to dig under the main fence they’ll get a face full of metal. I just don’t know how else to do it without spending a lot of money I don’t have to build another coop.

Thoughts?

 

[hwerner]

If it were me, I'd try to build some kind of shelter for at least weather anyway. All of mine go in everynight. I'm too afraid for thier safety, and they have a covered pen when not free ranging. Maybe you could just divide a section of coop for just them.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

What kind of fencing is the run made out of and is it covered?

 

[max13077]

The run is made out of regular 1" chicken wire. The top is 2" nylon mesh I got from cutler supply.

I am planning on building them a small “cooplet” that they can get into. I just wonder about the chicken tractors I see and how safe they would be? We were originally going to do that. But it seems like a fox or coyote could dig right under one of those.

The only issue with dividing the coop is the way the pen is set up. I'd have to pull out half a dozen fence posts and reroute it. With my back out these days, I'm not really up to something like that.

 

[LynneP]

Please check the Predator section!
You live in monster central, like me.
I mean, I'm in Nova Scotia, but the same beasts live in the woods and fields...

 

[Guitartists]

Geez... when you want them to be "pets" they call them livestock... and apparently when you want them to be "livestock" they call em pets

There's just no winning is there?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

A raccoon could go right through that. So could a large dog. I know you're in a tough spot. I'm not sure what else to say.