Worrying about what could happen

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Bejep714 said:
We have ventilation on the sides of the house where the roof sticks out, and a little crack at the top of the door, other than that that is all. We have 9 chickens in all
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Might want to do some measuring/calculating and see if there's enough to close the windows at night - for your flock, 9 sq ft would be recommended minimum. I still meet ventilation recommendations with windows closed, but having them open more than doubles it, so worth it for me to have them open.
 
After u posted your window's distance from ground, i did a bit of research on "raccoon climbing ability." And honestly what i found surprised me. But Not in a good way. I knew raccoons are expert climbers, but didnt realize How good. Several sites i googled stated raccoons can easily climb vertical walls. One example from poultrydvm site: " Raccoons are fantastic climbers and can climb any surface with the exception of glass and unweathered sheet metal. Climbing vertical walls such as wood, stone, brick, masonite siding and downspouts of gutters is no challenge." So it doesnt matter how high the coop windows are up from ground; if unprotected a raccoon can access them. Im still not sure a coon could climb a vertical wall and at the same time rip the chicken wire off. May only be an issue if the windows are left open AND uncovered. But personally i sure wouldnt take any chances. I could see a raccoon grabbing hold of the chicken wire, ripping it off as the coon falls to ground, then climbing coop wall again to enter the now unprotected window. The hardware cloth still needs to be securely attached to the wood. I THink ive read that people recommend attaching with wood screws & washers. (If thats not right someone please correct me.) Are your dogs outside in your yard at night? If so, the dogs presence will likely be enough to keep coons away. But if dogs are not outside at night, i would definitely add better security to those windows!
 
We are already planning on getting hardware cloth this spring and summer. Our dogs are not out at night, so they are unprotected. A few months ago we had a rat problem so we set up some trail cameras and traps. For a week we had this, and nothing but a rat was seen in our yard. I do want to get the hardware cloth anyways since I would rather be safe than sorry. If I have any more questions I'll ask, but you guys have been very helpful. One last question I have is that if you look at one of my pictures of the coop you can see the ventilation up at the top of the photo. It is only covered wit chicken wire on bottom, and both sides are pretty high up, the back one is a little lower but still taller than I am. Do you think they are okay? Our chickens sit right in front of those vents during the summer, and I want to make sure that is safe as well.
 
Bejep714 said:
I constantly worry about my chickens. I have had them for about a full year so they are full grown and healthy. Nothing predator related has happened to them before, but I still am stressed about what could happen. In our chicken run we have thick blue string attached zig zagged along the top of the fence. Is that enough? I've over done it a lot more than I have to because I want to keep them safe. Also at night I lock the chickens up with my brother and I cannot shake the feeling they are not locked up and I get worried. I know myself they are locked up, and my brother knows they are locked up, I still worry about it. It doesn't help that our coop is at the far end of a large yard. From my house you cannot see the coop or run at all, which worries me more. I even put a lock on the chicken latch to help remind myself, but it still doesn't work. I have to constantly check before leaving for the night just to worry once I'm inside my home. Is anyone else experiencing this at all ore is it just me? Also is there a way to help with this?
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I haven't read this entire thread yet but I'm a worrier too. I have had losses from predators once my birds were discovered as with most poultry owners at one time or another. I have dealt with coyotes, fox, bobcat, skunks, possums, hawks and owls. I have seen coons on my game cameras but so far none have bothered my birds but I do have electric wires around my coops and large pens, concrete under the gates and good heavy duty netting covering all of the pens, all due to losses from predators in the past. Now I don't worry so much because I know the predators have to get past my protections. I think the adult predators teach their young to stay away because a chicken isn't worth getting a good zap for. Good luck...
 
Bejep714 said:
One last question I have is that if you look at one of my pictures of the coop you can see the ventilation up at the top of the photo. It is only covered wit chicken wire on bottom, and both sides are pretty high up, the back one is a little lower but still taller than I am. Do you think they are okay? Our chickens sit right in front of those vents during the summer, and I want to make sure that is safe as well.
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I'd say depends on what predators you have and what the predator load looks like. In some cases that would be good enough, but snakes can climb, coons, possums too... I'd probably be ok leaving it with chicken wire if that was my coop, however my coop fully sits inside the run which adds extra security.
 
Bejep714 said:
I constantly worry about my chickens. I have had them for about a full year so they are full grown and healthy. Nothing predator related has happened to them before, but I still am stressed about what could happen. In our chicken run we have thick blue string attached zig zagged along the top of the fence. Is that enough? I've over done it a lot more than I have to because I want to keep them safe. Also at night I lock the chickens up with my brother and I cannot shake the feeling they are not locked up and I get worried. I know myself they are locked up, and my brother knows they are locked up, I still worry about it. It doesn't help that our coop is at the far end of a large yard. From my house you cannot see the coop or run at all, which worries me more. I even put a lock on the chicken latch to help remind myself, but it still doesn't work. I have to constantly check before leaving for the night just to worry once I'm inside my home. Is anyone else experiencing this at all ore is it just me? Also is there a way to help with this?
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Do you have pictures?
 

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