How to Protect my Chickens From Predators.
Building a coop offers chickens a sheltered place to hide out from the harsh elements like rain, snow, heat and cold. A well built coop will also protect them from predators and ensure them healthy, comfortable life. In addition they will produce quality eggs in return.
There are a number of things that lurk in the shadows waiting for the chance to get your chickens… Dogs, cats, raccoons, opossums, skunks, mink, fox, coyotes, hawks, owls, neighborhood children ect. You name it they will kill your chickens! We wanted to see what kind of predators we had around our area so we set up a wildlife cam and we were astonished to find how many raccoons and mink we had around us.
In an article by Keeping Chickens they stated 46% of urban dwelling chickens are not let out of the coop more than 3 times per week. This is very sad and can cause many issues within the coop This can cause chickens to fight between each-other and even kill one another. They can also develop bad habits such as eating their own eggs. To ensue your chickens are let out of the coop every day and to ensure you have happy chickens and healthy eggs we recommend an Automatic Chicken Coop Door. You can get one of those here. An automatic chicken coop door will also had the added bonus of ensuring the coop door is safely locked up every evening. This will ensure night time predators don’t have access into the coop to eat your chickens or eggs when you’re not home or if you forgot to close thier door.
A safe coop is a necessity for anyone raising chickens, and fortunately there are many different chicken coop designs available. Materials such as PVC pipes, tarps, converted old campers, have all actually been used for material for chicken coops, however well constructed wood sheeted coop is the safest and most common way for building chicken coops.
However before purchasing a chicken coop kit, keep in mind the size of the garden and number of chickens the coop will host. Each chicken needs at least 2 sq feet of space and larger breeds may need at least 4 to 5 sq feet of space. New lumber can be expensive to purchase, depending on the size of the coop: some second hand stores actually sell used lumber that works just as good!
Although it is relatively simple to build a coop to keep chickens in from scratch, many people simply don’t have the carpentry skills and prefer to purchase chicken coop kits instead. Most chicken coop kits come with all the necessary materials required for constructing the perfect home in which their hens will be safe.
A safe coop should be entirely enclosed leaving no opportunities for crafty critters to find a way in.
It also should include well ventilation in the summer and be well insulated in the winter. (These areas should be reinforced with chicken wire fencing to keep anyone from scratching through them)
If you desire to have a fenced in area for your chicken the most cost effective way to do this is to construct a chain link fence around the designated area for your chickens.
After constructing the fence wrap it in chicken wire to keep smaller critter like mink, weasels, and cats from getting through it. (Mink only need a small hole of 2 inches in order to get through)
Also to protect from things climbing over and birds of prey, wrap the chicken wire fencing over the top so nothing can climb/fly over.
Finally, dig a one foot trench around the base of the chain link fence and tie you chicken wire to it allowing it to drop down into the trench. Now simply reapply the dirt and burry the fencing.
Now that they have a safe place to enjoy the outside but still are safely out of reach of predators you can rest easily.
Here is a tour of our coop to give you more ideas for chicken safety.
Have information you would like to add? Email us at info@automaticchickencoopdoor.com