How to Protect Chickens From Predators
Chickens can be easy prey for hawks, foxes, opossums, skunks, dogs and cats. Here's how to protect your fowl from foul play.
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Things You'll Need
- Chicken Coops
- Chicken Wire
- Cement Blocks
- Wooden Posts
- Lumber
- Heavy-duty Staplers
- Common Nails
- Hammers
Instructions
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Provide a roosting area inside a barn or shed. The roost needs to be at least 4 feet from ground level.
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Use a post or thick branch placed horizontally in a corner of a shed for an adequate roost.
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Build a hen house that can be shut up at night when hens are roosting.
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Fence in an outside chicken run with chicken wire to keep predators out.
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Secure chicken wire across the top of the run as well.
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Nail 2 by 6 boards around the base of the chicken run, and staple wire to the boards. This will keep animals from pushing their way in under the fence.
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Prevent dogs from digging under the pen by placing cement cap blocks along the edge of the pen.
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Tips & Warnings
Train dogs not to run at chickens even in play; this can quickly create a bad habit.
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Comments
View all 9 Comments-
Done all that - but something is taking them leaving feathers but no noticeable trail at all. Our free range are having to be kept in the barn so no longer free range hens. Anyone any ideas please?
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bayareapilot
Jun 06, 2010
Hmmm... hopefully this isn't posting twice, but I don't see my comment. Anyway - I'll try this post again. 12" x 12" concrete pavers around the periphery of the coop and run area (which should utilize 1/2" mesh metal hardware cloth NOT chicken wire) will also help with protecting your chickens. -
xoxoalice
Oct 16, 2008
We live on a farm, with 13 chickens. We had 10 originally, but 6 of them were killed by foxes. We renovated the chicken coop. Now, it's tighter than Fort Knox. One thing that will work just as well (Maybe even better then) Putting wood around the base. We had already built a chicken wire fence, so we dug a trench under all of the fences, and filled each trench with concrete. Then, we pushed then bottoms of the fences into the concrete and let it dry. We covered it back up with dirt, and you can't even tell. It looks much better, and nothing can get underneath. Also, be sure to put some sort of metal rod or sheet in the space between the fence and the gate, if it is wide. We had a den of cat-sized foxes around here last spring that slipped right in and out.
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xoxoalice
Oct 16, 2008
We live on a farm, with 13 chickens. We had 10 originally, but 6 of them were killed by foxes. We renovated the chicken coop. Now, it's tighter than Fort Knox. One thing that will work just as well (Maybe even better then) Putting wood around the base. We had already built a chicken wire fence, so we dug a trench under all of the fences, and filled each trench with concrete. Then, we pushed then bottoms of the fences into the concrete and let it dry. We covered it back up with dirt, and you can't even tell. It looks much better, and nothing can get underneath. Also, be sure to put some sort of metal rod or sheet in the space between the fence and the gate, if it is wide. We had a den of cat-sized foxes around here last spring that slipped right in and out.
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MizGreenJeans
Sep 14, 2008
Chicken wire is better for keeping chickens in than predators out. Use hardware cloth (also called rat cloth) to deter predators. A determined raccoon or dog can rip through chicken wire easily.
