Predator proofing a chicken coop

[jdinny]

So the wife and I decided to continue our subsitence ( haha) lifestyle and raise 6 chickens prolly more in the future if this goes well. Any how she would like a chicken coop that has half ass "curb appeal" which is fine its got good reviews looks good the only thing is I think she under estimates the intelligence of predators. Coon can open easy latches, digging animals etc. I have read about hardware mesh the bottom 3 feet, hardware med around about 2 feet out and 8" down the perimeter, changes latches to include 2 steps and or locks.
any other quick easy hacks you chicken raisers know of. This coop is likely going up this wkdn or next.
we live NE Bismarck north of the county shop 3 miles or so so yes we have racoons, fox, coyotes, skunks present feral cats, etc. oh and the neigbors dog

any tips appreciated thanks guys

 

[Skeeter]

This sounds like a good excuse to get a new gun. Predator control is a must.

 

[jdinny]

This sounds like a good excuse to get a new gun. Predator control is a must.

submitted the paperwork for a suppressor so new gun is already on the list haha, I thought about traps but too many dogs and kids running around. I will have a trail cam up and will literally sit with a gun if the footage looks patteranable. haha

 

[LBrandt]

Pole barn steel up 3' and out 3' should keep the diggers and chewers out. old pole barn steel buried a coupla inches below grade should do the trick. KDM showed me how he did his and he has not had a problem with varmits that I know of. I think he used chicken wire.

 

[BrokenBackJack]

We buried 3 or 4 strands of barbed wire back in the day. Trouble is it rusted away in a few years. I would think hog panel with a close spacing would be pretty slick as it is strong. That might not be the correct name but it is what we called it way back when. I would bury it L shaped so if they do dig down on the outside they will hit it on the horizontal side too as well as the vertical. would think 1 1/2' - 2' down would be good. :;:thumbsup

 

[bigv]

I made an old permanent ice shack into a coop. Insulated it well, painted it up etc and my chickens did very well this winter. All I have is an older chain link dog kennel for the yard part. I attached it to the coop. I was planning on putting some wire around bottom 2 or so feet but have had no issues so far with varmints. I guess I don't worry so much about larger varmints like skunks, coons etc. I worry more about a mink or weasel or similar. Can't really stop those.

 

[LBrandt]

Mink or weasel will be the worst of the varmits because they dont need much of a hole to get in and they are killing machines.

 

[jdinny]

Pole barn steel up 3' and out 3' should keep the diggers and chewers out. old pole barn steel buried a coupla inches below grade should do the trick. KDM showed me how he did his and he has not had a problem with varmits that I know of. I think he used chicken wire.

is that similar to hardware mesh?? everything ive read is 1/2" or 1/4" hardware mesh basically exactly how you describe. which is steel. staple it to the wood and cover staples with a furring strip as coons can pull staples out.

 

[guywhofishes]

 

[wby257]

We have had 100's of chickens and the only thing we have lost chicken to is the neighbors dog. The chickens went in the coop at night and free range during the day. All 3 times the dog killed in the middle of the day. First two times we were at work and neighbor denied his dog was running loose. Even thou there were chicken feathers in his yard. I had told him then if I catch him killing chickens I would kill the dog. The third and final time I was home and caught him killing birds. And yes the dog died,over that summer he had killed close to 100 birds. The first time was 47 birds the sec time was 38 birds. The last time was 12. Yes the Sheriff was called all 3 times. They said if you dont catch him in the act there is not much they can do. He did tell me if it was my chickens and I caught him he would shoot him. He went over to the neighbors house and told them you have to tie your dog up.

Over the summer I have trapped many Skunks and Coons and one Possum. They would all go in and steal eggs but never hurt a chicken. I have pictures on trail cams of them coming in the coop and running off with eggs. We also have Coyotes and Fox in the area and never a problem with them.

It helps to have dogs in kennels. Just the barking will send the Fox and Coyotes running.

 

[jdinny]

guywhofishes

that's another thing I thought of was patio pavers extending out. I like that. that looks like hardware mesh too eh?
sweet everything thanks for the replies.
yes my neighbors dog may be the biggest issue to be honest. plan to let them range when we are home but otherwise confined to the 8x3ft run. and coop.

any other input keep em coming

also do you guys run a rotation like 2 years egg layers then butcher?? were thinking of wanting a rotation of good egg layers then butchering old the hags for meat??

 

[espringers]

only thing that gets our chickens these days are the neighbors dog too. and usually in the middle of the day when we are gone. a few times when we are around. free range during the day. son of a bitch comes from a mile away. our coop is a pretty big steel shed. spray foamed. then sheeted. they will peck and eat the foamif not sheeted. coop door that closes and opens at dawn and dark into a regular fenced in run. the chickens will hop the fence every morning. when we leave for work, we open the gate for the ducks. close the gate every night. we have night lights around the fence on the top and a motion light above the door. the lights alone seem to keep any night time predators at bay for some reason. its a learning curve. you are bound to lose a few here and there.

but, if it wasn't for the neighbors dog, we wouldn't have lost any in the last 3 years that i can remember. pondered shooting the fucker since the neighbor doesn't get the message and doesn't ever offer to pay for the damage his dog has done. but, its just a bird. and dogs are somewhat important to most families. although, i question how important this one is to them since my wife has threatened to shoot it more than once and it continues to happen.

 

[wby257]

One yr we keep the hens thru the winter. Never again as egg production is way down unless you heat your coop. We would butcher hens in late Nov early Dec, depending on the weather.

I ran mostly Road Island Reds and Americana's. We sold eggs to Swanson health food in Fargo. They would pay us 4.50 a dz and would take in close to 25 dz a week. They really liked the Brown , Blue, Pink and Green eggs we brought in. All organic and free ranging. If they dont get the green grass and bugs you dont get the orange yokes. With just feed you get yellow yokes.

We also had Guinea's and Peacocks. We ate a lot of Guinea eggs. and Guinea's main diet in the summer are woodticks.

 

[guywhofishes]

I have often pondered some sort of rock salt load that has a good dose of cayenne or similar burn agent in it

loaded just powerful enough to drive the salt just under the skin - burns for hours/days but otherwise no permanent harm

I am guessing a dog would have to be starving to death to return to "Burn City"

 

[wby257]

only thing that gets our chickens these days are the neighbors dog too. and usually in the middle of the day when we are gone. a few times when we are around. free range during the day. son of a bitch comes from a mile away. our coop is a pretty big steel shed. spray foamed. then sheeted. they will peck and eat the foamif not sheeted. coop door that closes and opens at dawn and dark into a regular fenced in run. the chickens will hop the fence every morning. when we leave for work, we open the gate for the ducks. close the gate every night. we have night lights around the fence on the top and a motion light above the door. the lights alone seem to keep any night time predators at bay for some reason. its a learning curve. you are bound to lose a few here and there.

but, if it wasn't for the neighbors dog, we wouldn't have lost any in the last 3 years that i can remember. pondered shooting the fucker since the neighbor doesn't get the message and doesn't ever offer to pay for the damage his dog has done. but, its just a bird. and dogs are somewhat important to most families. although, i question how important this one is to them since my wife has threatened to shoot it more than once and it continues to happen.

I figured that Dog killed over 1000.00 worth of chickens plus close to 600.00 in egg production. And of couse he would'nt pay a penny for the damages.

 

[jdinny]

yes ive read egg production is way down in the winter. will insulate coop ( later date and proll another thread haha) but have heard firts hand from many people in bismarck area they dont heat coop and chickens are fine all winter obvously way less egg production.

- - - Updated - - -

we have Rhode island Reds was thinking austrolops next......if this works haha MrsJdinny and the brood ( 3 kids) talked me into this might find a cheap coop on bisman shortly. haha

 

[eklindworth]

You need a guard cat. Found her sleeping in the coop the other day. 40 chickens and 6 ducks free range during the day. My black lab doesn’t care either.

 

[guywhofishes]

Royce hates cats more and more with each passing day. He's settled into a "not in my yard" attitude with darn near everything. When he sees one out the window all hell breaks loose - about gives a person a heart attack.

 

[Wags2.0]

 

[Allen]

jdinny

A good website your wife will enjoy is: [FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]https://www.backyardchickens.com/

Lots of decent reads on there and links to supplies. Shockingly, TSC and Runnings are pretty basic with regards to raising fowl.

One thing you may be interested in is the installation of an automatic door for your chickens. I have one (damn birds broke it eventually) but the premise of it is that it's battery operated and it will open the door at sunrise and close it at dusk, or you can put it on a timer. The chickens will want to come home to roost every night in their coop, so it's actually pretty slick in keeping predators which hunt at night (fox, weasels, skunks, all are more active at night) away from your birds if you were planning on letting them free range.

If you're in the Bis area and want to see my setup, just let me know. While I'm getting tired of having chickens, the setup I have works pretty well. I really only have to feed/water them about every 4 days.
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