Do you have wire that goes 2 feet out around the outside bottom of your coop? I see a lot of people do that to prevent digging under. My run is smaller and I have bantams so I just put 1/2 inch hardware cloth on the bottom of the whole run. The grass and weeds grow through and I put a dust bath plus a plastic shoe box of garden dirt to scratch in. I am 74 but I can easily move it a few feet, a couple times a week. Also the coop and run are inside a 5foot chainlink fence which is patrolled and marked by my dog and cats. There are no loose dogs but hawks, cats possom racoon and skunk in the area. I hope you have no more trouble, chickens can be so sweet.
I’m so very sorry! I lost just one last night and my heart is broken. I know how you feel on the feeling of being defeated. Hang in there and you can only do your best. God Bless you.
Sorry about your chickens : ( How are the new upgrades working? I would add chicken wire to the door, smaller animals can get through what you have in this video. I would also add a few solar lights so if something came near it would Triger the lights. If you build another one I suggest you upgrade your wire to cattle panels. They are stronger then what you are using and there are plenty of videos on how to use it for chickens! Blessings
@@katrinacryer some of ours do! Some are left out (the ones that don't wander). We are working on putting in a perimeter fence. For training- just know they aren't fully trustworthy until they're 2. I recommend a pen next to the livestock you want them to guard. If all of the livestock is penned up so that they cannot get to them, then you can leave them out. Honestly- we didn't really "train" ours. Just got them from good working stock and they pretty much figured it out on their own. hisandhershomestead.com/livestock-guardians
Beef it up with hardware cloth over the fencing. And use the fence staples. They are a pain to get in, but, they are even harder to get out. Good Luck.
It's awful It is best to keep the coop close to the house I always make sure That their sleeping area will be a closed room made of wood And during the day they will be able to go out into a yard that looks like the cage you built
Some dogs will kill chickens irregardless how fed they are. Send a certified letter to the owner , if they will not contain and your family is in danger take to small claims court... Id not let my kids play outside until you get this issue taken care of ... Dont underestimate these dogs.
It's very clear that you used the wrong gauge of wire, to small , to short of staples and not enough staples because you tried to skimp and be cheap and wanted it easier. Well, your birds paid the price of your decisions. Maybe if your life was depending on that coop, you may have went the extra mile to be safe. Now you have to pay even more money to rebuild it and get more birds. Where is your money now you tried so hard to save? Build it right the first time save money and your birds in the long run. Farming is all about the long run, fork out money you find it hard to spend and save money in the future. You have no one else to blame but yourself. If you can't afford better housing than don't have animals. I don't feel sorry for people like you because you caused your own problems here by skimping and going cheap. Don't let a tragedy go to waste learn from it and move on. Build it predator proof or don't have animals. It's not cheap building a coop predator proof. It takes lots of thought and extra money but it must be done. You must think like the animals that want to get in the coop to build it right. You must also think about building it strong even when rust starts to weaken the wire and rain water starts to decay the wood. Things would be easy and cheaper to build if it weren't for predators. I'm sorrowful for your birds.
Im with Daniel on this. Im reading these comments and true to form in these current times everyone is babying this grown adult. What in the world made these two think that those arts and crafts staples and wire were going to keep any kind of hungry animal out? I feel sorry for those birds, the ones that died and the ones they went out and replaced them with. Shes talking about the color of the eggs they lay, like thats whats important. Not mature enough to have any animals at all. Daniel is not being rude at all, hes telling the truth.
Do you have wire that goes 2 feet out around the outside bottom of your coop? I see a lot of people do that to prevent digging under. My run is smaller and I have bantams so I just put 1/2 inch hardware cloth on the bottom of the whole run. The grass and weeds grow through and I put a dust bath plus a plastic shoe box of garden dirt to scratch in. I am 74 but I can easily move it a few feet, a couple times a week. Also the coop and run are inside a 5foot chainlink fence which is patrolled and marked by my dog and cats. There are no loose dogs but hawks, cats possom racoon and skunk in the area. I hope you have no more trouble, chickens can be so sweet.
Sorry about your losses, hope the new modifications help!
I will add an additional latchnear the bottom but use a lock type lock and just use a rock climber clip.
To add I would try an electric wire near the bottom so they wil get zapped.
Would I be able to do that while still being able to move the coop? Right now I'm moving them every couple of days to new grass.
Sure, the wire will be connected to the coop have it 6 to 4 inches from the coop. All around so nothing will dig under.
I’m so very sorry! I lost just one last night and my heart is broken. I know how you feel on the feeling of being defeated. Hang in there and you can only do your best. God Bless you.
I'm sorry for your loss too!
Sorry about your chickens : ( How are the new upgrades working? I would add chicken wire to the door, smaller animals can get through what you have in this video. I would also add a few solar lights so if something came near it would Triger the lights. If you build another one I suggest you upgrade your wire to cattle panels. They are stronger then what you are using and there are plenty of videos on how to use it for chickens! Blessings
So far so good! But I will definitely look into solar lights and add chicken wire. Thank you for your suggestions 😊
We've all been through it. A weak coop and run will hold for a while but eventually Predators will find it.
Is getting livestock guardian dogs feasible for you?
Yes, we are working on that now!
@@katrinacryer Oh yay!!! We LOVE ours and they're worth their weight in gold!!
Does yours stay in with your goats? Any tips for training them?
@@katrinacryer some of ours do! Some are left out (the ones that don't wander). We are working on putting in a perimeter fence. For training- just know they aren't fully trustworthy until they're 2. I recommend a pen next to the livestock you want them to guard. If all of the livestock is penned up so that they cannot get to them, then you can leave them out. Honestly- we didn't really "train" ours. Just got them from good working stock and they pretty much figured it out on their own. hisandhershomestead.com/livestock-guardians
Better safe then sorry. I put about 30 staples per foot haha
For real! So far so good though
Beef it up with hardware cloth over the fencing. And use the fence staples. They are a pain to get in, but, they are even harder to get out. Good Luck.
Thank you. We did, we used a ton! So far no more losses
What happened to the dogs?
The people ended up moving with all the dogs. They were squatters and the lady who owned the land found out and took action to get them off.
@@katrinacryer that’s great hopefully you’ll have no more trouble with predators
Good job . That's a lot of work.
It's awful
It is best to keep the coop close to the house
I always make sure
That their sleeping area will be a closed room made of wood
And during the day they will be able to go out into a yard that looks like the cage you built
I love that hoop coop!!
Thank you!
I had to deal with someone s dog yesterday trying to kill my chickens! I guess all dogs do go to heaven!🤨🤨🤨🤨
Some dogs will kill chickens irregardless how fed they are. Send a certified letter to the owner , if they will not contain and your family is in danger take to small claims court... Id not let my kids play outside until you get this issue taken care of ... Dont underestimate these dogs.
Fortunately, the dogs and owners moved. They were technically squatting on a neighboring property, and the owner found out and took action.
Oh yes I know I can’t stand those dogs
It's very clear that you used the wrong gauge of wire, to small , to short of staples and not enough staples because you tried to skimp and be cheap and wanted it easier. Well, your birds paid the price of your decisions. Maybe if your life was depending on that coop, you may have went the extra mile to be safe. Now you have to pay even more money to rebuild it and get more birds. Where is your money now you tried so hard to save? Build it right the first time save money and your birds in the long run. Farming is all about the long run, fork out money you find it hard to spend and save money in the future. You have no one else to blame but yourself. If you can't afford better housing than don't have animals. I don't feel sorry for people like you because you caused your own problems here by skimping and going cheap. Don't let a tragedy go to waste learn from it and move on. Build it predator proof or don't have animals. It's not cheap building a coop predator proof. It takes lots of thought and extra money but it must be done. You must think like the animals that want to get in the coop to build it right. You must also think about building it strong even when rust starts to weaken the wire and rain water starts to decay the wood. Things would be easy and cheaper to build if it weren't for predators. I'm sorrowful for your birds.
Will you be offering your help and expertise when they begin the rebuild? There's absolutely no reason for you to come on here and be rude.
@@hishers4535 Being truthful or rude as you put it can be a help. Sometimes your best help is your critics.
@@danielwagner6290 You can be honest without being rude.
Im with Daniel on this. Im reading these comments and true to form in these current times everyone is babying this grown adult. What in the world made these two think that those arts and crafts staples and wire were going to keep any kind of hungry animal out? I feel sorry for those birds, the ones that died and the ones they went out and replaced them with. Shes talking about the color of the eggs they lay, like thats whats important. Not mature enough to have any animals at all. Daniel is not being rude at all, hes telling the truth.