In the past, the chickens were in the very back corner of our property that backs up to a farmer's crops. These are commercial crops so it's acres and acres of flat land either full of corn or cotton. The drought last year brought an influx of coyotes so we moved what was left of the chickens up inside the yard where the house sits. Well, duh, it just brought the coyotes up close to the house and, along with the dogs, my chickens were finished off. Now, we are moving the chickens to another corner of the yard and building a sturdier, coyote and dog proof pen. I wrapped poultry netting around the existing fence on the two outside perimeters of the pen. I had to hurry and get it done in one sitting so I could cut the netting off the roll and get it inside the yard before Button, the longhorn, had a chance to "play" with a roll of poultry netting. 
Oh, Lordy, that would have been a wreck! This weekend we work on building the rest of it. As much as I hate doing it, we're going to run an electric strand around the perimeter of the base to keep dogs and coyotes out. Hopefully, the only predator we will have to remedy is a chicken hawk. This weekend is Poultry Trade Day over in Giddings and want to go check out what everyone has but we might be working on the pen instead. I've got my name on the list for Red Bourbon turkey chicks to be hatched this Sunday. Gotta get those when I can!
Well...gotta get back to my to-do list...rain barrels are on the list this morning..stay tuned to see if I can master this task.
Happy Trails...
Berte
We don't have coyotes around (they are in Virginia) but we have foxes, and along with my dogs, I just can't have chickens, although I really, really would like them. I'll hope that you've found the solution to keep them safe!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend--Rain expected here, and I need to get my rain barrel set up too!
We've had dog predators, but the llamas keep the coyotes out of the pasture now... we haven't had a loss from them in almost six years.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope this new plan works. I know how horrible it can be to lose a chicken to a predator.
ReplyDeleteWe've had our coop and chickens for over 6 years and thankfully have only lost one to a predator when our hens were free-ranging....we believe it was a raptor because it left nothing behind. The hen just vanished.
Our coop is beside our house and is built like Ft Knox with the chicken wire stretched out across the ground on the bottom of the fence, about 2 feet, and on top of that we lined the entire coop with railroad ties, and on the backside we also have natural coyote fencing made with thin juniper branches and trunks. And then across the entire coop, we've got bird netting mesh to keep out the hawks, eagles and owls.
So far, so good!
Good luck!
~Lisa
I hope that works for you! It's all trial and error, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your rain barrels. We are expecting rain as well--thank goodness! I've never seen it so dry!
Looking good so far. The double layer of fencing should work great with the hot wire around the bottom. I'd still be worried about digging under though.
ReplyDelete@ 3Beeze Homestead