There are a pack of stray dogs and stray cats in the new neighborhood, and in time I'm soon we will have a visit from a fox or coyote, so we want to be prepared. We keep improving our fencing, but it still doesn't seem to be good enough.
HOW do you keep predators from DIGGING under your fence? And how to you predator proof without investing several hundred dollars in your birds? It's getting so expensive that I've considered buying eggs again after 4 years of raising hens. This morning, I saw evidence of digging under the fence. Something is after my girls again and I'm out of ideas to protect them.
Is there a temporary fix? The animal will be back tonight, I'm sure of it.
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As Sheri, notes let us know how you and the girls are doing.
Good luck! Let us know how things go.
We are in an area with every predator I can think of and the wash runs along the back of our property. Our acre and a half is not fenced. We have a secure coop with an attached run made with cage wire and we used buried concrete blocks also. We have an area where the girls can occasionally roam during the day when we are out back but when we are not, they are secured in the coop/run. Our goats have a barn with 175' of attached electric net fence for their pen which hasn't failed us in the last 2 years. There is the initial investment of fence charger and fence, but is much cheaper than fencing the yard and can be moved easily if need be.
I also use chain link dog runs for quarantine quarters and emergency uses, they are a cheap fast option and you can run chain link on the floor of the run and attach it to make it dig proof. I have purchased 3 off of Craigslist pretty cheap over the last year :)
Lots of good advice!
Cats are usually not a problem except with young birds. But dogs, wild and domestic, can be problematic. We solved a digging dog issue with hot wire. We ran the wire around the perimeter of the cage, close to the ground.
If the wire is not your style, then definitely dig your fence down into the ground. If you're in an area with a lot of wildlife, consider both. And Catherine is right, the fencing should not be chicken wire; especially near the ground. We use chain link.
We just got chain link, actually. And there's digging around one side of it from last night. Our dog alerted us to the problem early this morning, and likely scared off the animal at the same time. Good ol' girl! And you recommend a livewire around the base? Is that underground? I've never used one, sorry for the simple questions.
An electric wire can't touch the ground or it will be "grounded," meaning the circuit will be absorbed into the earth. You install it by putting connectors on your fence - the first image I've attached shows a bunch of different connectors. Then you run the wire from connector to connector. The connectors keep the wire from touching your fencing or coop, which is very important or you'll have an electric coop and fried chicken for dinner! LOL!
If you go with an electric wire, get an energizer that is for horses; don't go too soft on the power.You'll have to be careful not to get zapped, and so will your dog. That said, it won't harm either of you and you're not likely to touch it a second time. :) Unless you're a slow learner like me! Oh, and most of your predator activity will be at dawn and at dusk - those are hunting times when prey is most vulnerable - so you could get by with a timer that turns the power on and off, so it's not on all day when you and your dog are active.
Between an electric wire and putting in an underground barrier, you should be good to go for 99% of your predators.The pellet gun will take care of the other 1%
Good answer! haha. Thank you. We've noticed the dawn and dusk activity, particularly dawn... it's changing our sleep schedule. ;) Still not sure on the electric, but we'll see what we can do. Thanks for all of the advice, everyone.
Laura,
I had to worry about my own dogs getting into the newest members of the house (9 girls)...I housed them in a chain link dog run that I reinforced with chicken wire and then dug down 18 inches and attached panel wire secured with chunks of concrete. So far (4 months) it's worked perfectly. Good luck to you guys!
Laura, your fence should be buried an addition 2 feet or so curling "out" so that an animal trying to dig under will encounter the fence, and that will deter a lot of them. Re: actual fencing material should be hogwire/horse fencing - very sturdy stuff. Also sprinkle cayenne pepper all along the outside fence line. That is just a temporary deterrent you will need improved fencing, bury bottom and /or build a really strong coop/run. Also if you have small pets dogs/cats they are as vulnerable to these kinds of predators as your hens.
Hog wire is sufficient for the buried portion? Hog wire won't hold the girls in. Do you recommend double fencing? We've got a roll of hogwire, just line the existing fence and bury it down another 2 feet? Thanks!
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