Just a general "Thank you" to this section

[AnnainMD]

If it was not for this part of BYC, we would not have what we hope is Fort Knox. After my girls have been in their coop/run since the spring, it has withstood random dogs, salivating hawks, raccoons (I'm sure though I haven't seen them) and as of yesterday...a fox.

That fox was running circles around the run and the girls were flying and obviously riled up by something, which I thought was a beagle that gets loose. So I see something crash through a large garden bed and wait expecting to see the dog. Can I just tell you how surprised I was to see a large fluffy red tail attached to a slim red-colored fox (larger than I expected!) come bounding out and proceed to run around my coop and run looking for a way in??? OH MY GOODNESS!!

Anyway, we scared him away but wonder how many times that fox has been there. You could tell it was annoyed it couldn't get to my hens.

Once again, thank you for posting your stories, it helped make us very cautious!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I have to second these sentiments. P&P can be a depressing tough read with all the death and destruction, but I've learned so much here through the unfortunate events of others. Thanks to everyone for sharing. My birds would thank you too if they could.

 

[patman75]

Thirds for me. Everyone thought during construction that my coop was a tad over built. No loss yet

 

[theFox]

Just remember every time you close your coop up and there is more than one chicken in it, you have a potential predator already in the coop even if there are no other critters already there hiding.

 

[Lbrad7]

I have to agree with this post. I have been raising chooks for years but still get a little lax in my bird security at times. Reading this thread always reminds me to take walks around my enclosures to ensure that I am doing everything that I can to keep by birds safe. I have also gotten some great ideas and solutions from you guys that I had never considered before...thanks again.

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

BYC was founded for chicken lovers and growers alike to help one another. we have definatly made a name here and the Information is always good. there are the few disputes here and there but we all have different beliefs the good thing is we can all chime together to find a common ground and Pick the tactics we like best and see suitable for our living environments. I will add a thank you on that note as well.

 

[AnnainMD]

I knew others felt the same way, thanks for posting your agreement.
When we initially planned this and were discussing the reinforcement requirements, my husband, like so many others, insisted chicken wire was enough. I told him hardware cloth was the only option and he balked, of course, at the price. We got into SUCH an argument because I had been doing all the reading, research and was reading the horror stories. So we compromised: to keep the cost down we made a smaller run at first and then expanded it a couple of months later. Needless to say, not a week goes by that we aren't reminded of how important the total coverage with hardware cloth is.