Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
This small, sturdy chicken coop can be moved about the yard. Here, my son is pushing pieces of grass
through the window screens.
Protection from predators.
There's a country saying that if it has a digestive system, it will eat a
chicken. Even chicken wire won't stop all predators, as we discovered when we erected a temporary
pen of wire and had our flock decimated by a band of raccoons that chased the chickens to the
edges of the wire, then reached through and slaughtered them all. Dogs, hawks, snakes, raccoons,
opossums, and many other carnivores are potential predators of chickens.
In our area hawks are one of the biggest threats, so our chickens have mesh coverings across the
top of their outdoor enclosure. If your chicken coop has a dirt floor you may need to bury wire
a foot deep at the walls to prevent critters from digging underneath the walls and into the coop.
Alternatively, you can place large cement or cinder blocks (or big rocks) that are too large for preda-
tors to move around the outside edges of your coop. Secure wire mesh screening on any windows
and ventilation gaps or you may find a persistent stray will bust through.
Food and water.
Even when our chickens are foraging free-range, we provide a higher-protein feed
and oyster shell crumbles at all times. We also have fresh, clean water available for the chickens at
all times and in the hottest summers we have waterers in the coop and out in the yard as well.
