The wife and I got tired of fattening up our birds just to provide a meal to local foxes. We reinforced the pen last weekend; hardware cloth a foot up and a foot out and netting over everything. we think the fox was going over the four-foot fence, couldn't find anyplace he was going under.

The netting should stop that. That stuff is strong, it caught me a dozen times while hanging it! If a fox tries going over the fence now it's going to be a tangled mess.





In addition to the enhanced security measures, my wife has taken to laying in wait, regularly taking up a sniper position in my shed (she's pretty mad about losing those birds).

Good improvements . Shows you care about your wee ones.

And all my best to herself with that rifle in wait - how fun ! Have her cushion the forestock with a cloth on that sill , and shes good to go.

That fox will be back and she will feel on top of the world as she wins her next hat !

Good job for beefing up the security.

We have 2 Saint Bernards for farm security!

Dogs appear to be the best way to protect your livestock. Predators can chew through the top flight netting very fast and most common mammalian predators of chickens can get through any hole their heads can get through.

Keith

I thought this was a Chik-Fil-A commercial . . . . .

I have dogs and they will run anything off the property. But they live in the house, they are only outside when a family member is out or for bathroom breaks. I hope you're wrong about them chewing through the netting Keith.

I almost had the fox a month ago. I got up one morning and he was standing in the yard looking at the chicken pen and up at the house. I think he saw me through the open kitchen window and was getting nervous but really wanted a chicken breakfast. I grabbed the .22 and of course the lab went crazy thinking we were going hunting.

I told the wife to put him in another room. Told her the fox was getting nervous and ask her if I should shoot him right through the screen. She didn't want me to. By the time I slipped out the back door the fox was gone. Told her I could have fixed the screen for less money than the new chicks cost us.

I caught my fourth skunk today, also one coon. I keep three traps out until pullets are moved home with older hens.

i'm noticing a lot of coon sign getting closer to the houses.haven't bothered any of mine yet but need to do something before the sweet corn starts.my new gobbler is tryin to gobble the last couple days,what a riot.hope your improvements work.

and i had to weedeat my chicken pen the other day that we were talkin about.

I can't trap on my property because we keep outside cats. That would solve most of our chicken depredation issues.

I know roosters are pretty comical when first trying to crow, never heard first gobbles.

One drawback of the hardware cloth is that I'm going to have to weed whack around the fence now. The chickens used to keep it nice and trimmed a few inches outside the fence, as far as they could stick their heads and necks through.

There are nine pullets in that pen, they better get busy eating some of that vegetation, it's starting to look like a jungle in there. Usually six to ten birds will have it down to bare ground by the end of two years.

I put a hotwire about 8 inches high and a few inches from the bottom of the pen and the coons didn't like it.

Bring the push mower inside that fence and knock it all down once. The chickens will love it, otherwise certain weeds might take hold...burdock is one of them.

I like a big run and the rifle out the window trick too. A lall wooden pole out somewhere for your perching birds is nice too....lol.

Cage traps are pretty easy on cats. Anything that eats chicken will go in a cage other than coyotes.

i've had to trap a couple of critters messing with my birds. never a problem with the outdooor pets

Look into digital night vision like the ATN xsight or entry level thermal like the Thor LT. Game changer.

Cats will not clog the traps if they assume air temperature. Not had a problem in years.

I suppose you could hire my wife Patrice to ride shotgun on yer operation.
At most times she has more armament than a Navy Seal Team leaning against the walls, screens out
of the windows, and a downright bad disposition about any predator that would
disrupt her flock.

Zim

It's coming up in three months since we upgraded security and we've had no more losses. The new birds are coming up on five-months-old and we got our first two eggs yesterday and today. By this time next month we should be getting nine eggs a day.

I just put up a "predator free zone" and never had a problem!