New member from North Carolina.

Pics
Date sort Score sort
DobieLover said:
Hello Mike, and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.

What?! You don't plan to feed them back to the chickens?

The only true protection for aerial predation is to remain in a completely covered predator proof run.

The set up that has worked very well for me is the following:
A large run with a solid roof, predator apron and enclosed with 1/2" hardware cloth attached to the predator proof coop with all openings covered with 1/2" hardware cloth. No opening into the coop/run larger than 1/2".
This structure sits inside a 1/3 acre penned in area surrounded with 42" high poultry netting charged with a 10,000 volt charger.
The pen has a very large old style quince shrub and several newer planting arrangements which offer shelter from aerial threats.
I also run at least 2 roosters in the flock for predator lookout.
To date, I've only lost one bird in this setup to a hawk. She was a young 10-week old pullet still learning the ropes and was about as far from cover as a bird could get where she was taken. I have personally been in the coop when 2 hawk strikes were attempted and went out to the pen shortly another when the hawk was still on the ground. No bird was injured.

This setup has kept at bay fisher cats, coyote, fox, raccoons, the neighbors rotten dogs, feral cats, minks, opossums and black bears.
Click to expand...
Yes, I plan on providing a continuous supply of oyster shell for the girls with a few egg shells thrown in, although I wonder if the recycling of egg shells encourages them to peck at the newly-laid eggs.
How close to the ground do you put your poultry netting? I will most likely go with a solar rig on the coop as I have experience creating stand alone autonomous solar powered electric fence setups far from a grid-tied power source.
I have also found these solar motion lights to work extremely well at alerting me to the presence of varmints around the garden and will probably hang a few around the chicken coop too.
Thanks for your suggestions!
--Mike--

1655666407510.png
 
MikeS53 said:
egg shells encourages them to peck at the newly-laid eggs.
Click to expand...
It doesn't. After cracking an egg into my bowl or pan I place the shells in a plastic container then nuke them in the microwave for 30 seconds. I put the cooked shells into a gallon storage bag and crush them. When the bag is about 1/4 full, I take it out to the coop and pour it into the designated container.
MikeS53 said:
How close to the ground do you put your poultry netting?
Click to expand...
windows open.jpg

The bottom strand is not hot.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom