My house backs onto a forest. My largest worry with pet chickens is the pests. Will rats and raccoons attack the chickens. The coop and run will be raccoon-proof, but will rats get in their and eat the food?
Also, would the chickens mind having ‘chicken wire’ on the ground? Would this interfere with their scratching/digging?
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I have had problems with raccoons, coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. Late one afternoon I was amazed to see a raccoon after one of my roosters! I have never seen a raccoon go so quick! The problem with the roosters is they tend to reckon they’re tough… I’ve looked out in time to see 3 of my roosters go running straight toward a bobcat like they were going to run it off! Anyway… I bought a couple of small (17 gallon) metal garbage cans to store the chicken feed and scratch in. I also hang the feeders from chain from the roof of the coop, this keeps it up off the ground and allows me to adjust the height easily as the chickens grow. This all helps prevent rodents. Keep the coop clean. Keep the chickens locked up at night. I let mine free range during the day and I expect to loose a few to predators during the year.
Yes, they certainly could. If that probelm occurs set rat traps, that should mosty take care of the problem. Excellent Luck, and delight in your chickens
we had chickens and they were a blast. we loved them and they have personalities all their own. well ours did. they had alot of human interaction. But we never had any problems with ours. we fed 2 a day in the morning and night. They eat straight away then and what they dont they piece on so you dont have to worry about anything eating the feed. If you do it that way they are hungry and they eat it all. But watch out for owls and coyotes. We had an owl really kill one of our ducks and go after our chickens.
yes they could. so i would watch out for that.
I also have a small flock of pet chickens and they are hilarious. Raccoons, opposums, and minks will all kill your chickens. Rats can get into your coop and eat the feed. Your coop should have a wooden or concrete floor. You dont want to have a dirt floor, they will dig their way in. I always lock my chickens inside the coop at night. You should place them inside before dark so that no one sneaks in and kills the chickens. I was late one night getting the door shut and an opposum went inside and climbed up in the rafters. I got him out before he hurt my girls. If you have an outside run, it must also be dig proof. I sank the wire in the ground about 5 inches, attached it to a 1 x 4 on the outside and got some rocks from a local farmers field and place them along the inside of the run around the bottom of the fence. The rocks prevent the chickens from digging holes right at the fence line. If you are going to let them free range outside, hawks and owls are a huge problem. I had problems with hawks, so the outside run is covered with wire and I only let them out to play when I can be with them. We did run some silver ribbon up a pole about 15 feet in the air. The reflection of the sun off the ribbon is supposed to scare the hawks. We also tied aluminum pie plates and silver CD’s up there. I reckon this year we are going to tie a silver helium balloon up there and see how that works. Hope this helps. Excellent luck,
they could just place them in a chook pen thats got no holes ok and concreat the bottom
My chickens were the best pets. I had to place strip of wire around the pen and coop to keep the rodents from digging under it. I used 1/2X1/2 inch square wire in roll 36 inches wide and cut in half for long strips 18 inches wide, I laid it flat on the ground so they couldn’t dig next to the fence or coop. Raccoons will climb over the fence so I locked my chickens in the coop every night.
I would be more worried about members of the weasel family. Like minks and least weasels. We have those where i live. They can be very tough and get into some very tight places. They will even eat your chickens if they can get to them but they prefer the eggs. They are small, limber and very narrow. They can climb, burrow and squeeze through just about anything. Be prepared to weasel-proof your coop.
Get a flat spade and push it into the ground all along the fence line. Sink the chicken wire into the ground at least 8 inches and then attach the top of that wire to the main fencing. This help prevent anything from digging under the fence and the chickens wont be bothered by it either.
Contact your local DNR to find out if you have any type of weasel in your area. They can place you in touch with trappers to get some excellent thoughts on how to prevent them from getting in your coop.
Another thing you can do for added protection and to dress up the coop is get some untreated 4×4’s (not rail ties, they seep chemicals into the ground and are perilous to animals) and end the coop by placing these staked into the ground, all along the bottom perimiter of the outside of the coop. Coyotes will also dig to get at chickens. This will help prevent digging as it puts the base of the sunken chicken wire farther away from the animal trying to dig into it. It will deter them and give you enough time to notice any digging and fill in the area.
Choose on a call to use when feeding the chickens. Once you have them coming to you for their dinner you can let them out during the day for some time to roam around the yard and scratch. You will be able to get them back in the coop by calling to them and putting some feed down in the coop.