Chicken/egg question

shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
When I move, which will be later than I had hoped, I am thinking of using screen wire on the chicken coop, to keep snakes out.
This may help with rodents & Marsupial too.
 
I put 1/4 gap wire 2 ft high around my dog runs for snakes.
Put expanded stucco mesh around my deck as skirting to keep Rattlers and Critters out. Had too many dogs chase Raccoons under the deck at night.
 
EastenerWesterner said:
I was pulling rotted out plastic fencing out from under the deck. If I do something, it’s gonna be good for 20yrs at least.
Click to expand...
I have redwood lumber around all of my decks, and backfilled with 3/4 minus. We have about 75' of redwood deck around the house.
For the chicken coop I use heavy duty 1/8" screen in the windows, around the bottom of the coop I have 1/4" wire buried about 1 foot deep. The wire around the run is 2×4" welded wire. Over the top of the run I have galvanized wire running each direction to keep hawks out. Eventually I'll add an automatic door to the coop, but in 5 years we've lost 1 hen.
 
Robinjopo1 said:
Deer X is great for snakes. They wind themselves in it and cant get out. I have caught a lot in it.
Click to expand...
I did not know that, learn something every day.
Thanks, but rodents & marsupials will chew through that.
 
I used this steel lath around my bottom of my deck.
A2445DF1-1E97-4D2C-BD4E-5CA4684CB253.png
Put a Redwood railing on the one side I needed a railing. Didn’t stain it cause it was so nice Looking.
 
EastenerWesterner said:
I used this steel lath around my bottom of my deck.
View attachment 17191
Put a Redwood railing on the one side I needed a railing. Didn’t stain it cause it was so nice Looking.
Click to expand...
I know it well, the shops I have worked in called it expanded metal, because of the way it is made.
Anything that can tear through that can have my chickens.
 
Crabapple said:
I know it well, the shops I have worked in called it expanded metal, because of the way it is made.
Anything that can tear through that can have my chickens.
Click to expand...
Small enough to keep out snakes, strong enough to keep out coons. Back filled, wired at joints.
Had to use a grinder to cut it, so I know it’s tough.
 
Day before yesterday we had a super small egg in the nest...I'm hoping it was one of the new hens ready to start laying...suspect it was either the golden comet or cinnamon queen..it was a dark brown egg...Unless it was a misfire from an older hen.

Btw, this year has sucked with quality of laying pellets. Multiple times this year I've had to take back bags of laying pellets to tractor supply and finally got to where I made them open the bags in the store and look before I brought it home, open bag and the feed is green, moldy all through, and chunks of smashed together green clumps, where it appears humidity got to it. They went through 5 bags in the store one day to find one that wasn't moldy last time I made them check before I bought it. Larry picked a bag up 2 days ago and he just takes off shelf and brings it home. I was getting can full out yesterday and same thing....green down in bag! Also, a lot of ground up pellets in the bag, like filler, just pale looking, dusty pellets! I said I was gonna stop buying chicken feed at TS but the local independent hardware/feed store new owners (which normally I would support fully) are such *******s, I refuse to buy from them anymore.

I walked in the hardware/feed store one saturday to buy a zero turn mower that day. Owner says well, it's 15 til 3..we are getting ready to close. Huh? I thought yall were open til 4pm on saturday...nope, "We're a hard 3 o'clock now on saturday..by the time we check the mower, etc ...won't have time". Really? Ok, if yall don't want to make a $6k sale today for an extra few minutes of your time fine with me. Glad they are doing so well they don't need the business! I drove across the street to Tractor Supply and bought the same damn mower I would have previously preferred to buy from the local independent "d!c&" same day, and they delivered it 1 1/2 hours later and was a tad cheaper. But their chicken feed sucks!

I think I got up on wrong side of bed this morning..🤪
 
One of our new chicks got out of the enclosure the other day and the GSP pup killed her. Yesterday 3 chicks got out, but we got them back in before the dogs saw them. I found the hole in the fence and patched it.
Robin, get a couple dog proof traps for your coon problem. They're easier to use than box traps, and more effective.
 
Arcticdude said:
One of our new chicks got out of the enclosure the other day and the GSP pup killed her. Yesterday 3 chicks got out, but we got them back in before the dogs saw them. I found the hole in the fence and patched it.
Robin, get a couple dog proof traps for your coon problem. They're easier to use than box traps, and more effective.
Click to expand...
AD, since I have started putting down urine every night, I havent had a problem. Plus, they new neighbors have killed 2. They have chickens too.
 
Robinjopo1 said:
AD, since I have started putting down urine every night, I havent had a problem. Plus, they new neighbors have killed 2. They have chickens too.
Click to expand...
Sounds like your problem may be solved for now. At least until more coon, possum, weasels or fox move in to fill the void.
I dont understand why we don't have problems with coyotes getting our chickens. We never lock them up at night and we see coyotes around the yard all the time. Last night there was a couple coyotes yipping and howling just outside our bedroom window.
 
Arcticdude said:
Sounds like your problem may be solved for now. At least until more coon, possum, weasels or fox move in to fill the void.
I dont understand why we don't have problems with coyotes getting our chickens. We never lock them up at night and we see coyotes around the yard all the time. Last night there was a couple coyotes yipping and howling just outside our bedroom window.
Click to expand...

No Coyotes, may be because your own dog's have marked there territory and so have you..
 
Proud Prepper said:
No Coyotes, may be because your own dog's have marked there territory and so have you..
Click to expand...
That could be. A few days ago we were all sitting out on the back deck. Looked over and saw a coyote sitting just over the fence about 40 from us watching us. The dogs ran after it looking like they wanted to play with it.
 
We lost one of our ducks the other night. I think it was an owl. Ducks tend to wander around a lot at night. We might start putting them in the chicken run at night. I have wire criss crossing the top of the run to keep out winged predators.
 
Robinjopo1 said:
The Deer X netting works great as roof netting. A hawk dipped down and as soon as the talons touch the net, it took off.
Click to expand...
Deer netting works great, except it plugs up with snow and can sag to the ground. I had a couple miles of electric fence wire out in the barn. I wired it back and forth both directions with about 6" between wires. So far we've never seen a hawk or an owl in the run.
 
I'm fed up with my hens...not getting enough eggs...1-2 per day now...have 18 hens and 4 of the newest are about 5 months old...(unless ive lost count of date I bought them when they were 8 wks. Old)...a few are molting but the rest just eating food and they are older! I gotta go get more hens this weekend! Larry bought eggs this week...Big pet peeve of mine is buying eggs from store! Ain't buying dang eggs from store...Nope! aaaargh!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top