After losing our two
hens last month a million thoughts raced through my head on what to do to
protect my two remaining girls and keep them safe inside their home. I had even designed an actual hen house that
would be the Fort Knox of all hen houses, but once I went and priced out the
lumber it looked to be a pretty expensive build. Not practical and definitely not in the
budget. So what to do?
Even the cat got involved |
After the initial
clean up I had not been back out to the coop.
A week ago Sunday I finally ventured in there to survey our current set
up and see where I could improve.
Honestly, there wasn't much improvement to be made, but I could see
where one improvement would provide a way to increase security.
I felt bad having to remove the plum tree |
It does give us more room to move around and will make it easier for us to get inside and clean |
I had found where
the little bastard raccoon had made his way into the pen area of the
coop. He had pried up the mesh from the
edge behind the plum tree. And while I
love the plum tree for the shade it provides my girls in the summer it was
difficult to secure the mesh around it and keep critters out. It was our main point of weakness and the
raccoon had found it. I made the
decision to remove the tree.
Two layers of wire & furring strips screwed down over the edges In the summer we can add shade cloth |
Once that was done I
removed the mesh from over the pen area and started over. This time I put two layers of wire mesh over
the top of the pen area and used a gob of staples to attach it down. Then I used furring strips and screws all along
the entire perimeter to secure the edges.
That little ba raccoon is going to have to really work hard to
pry up the mesh along the edges now. And
he better bring a screwdriver!
Helper #1 |
Helper #2 |
I decided not to
take any chances and I put cedar strips across the bottom of the pen and added
extra staples to all the mesh. I also
reinforced the top and bottom of the door, just in case. Call me paranoid.... because I am.
We are a family of nuts! |
I decided now was as
good a time as any to rebuild the back door of the coop. It was on the project list for this spring
anyway. When I went to Home Depot to get
more wire mesh and the furring strips I bought new hinges. It matches the hardware on our gate a little
bit.
We're home! |
I spruced up the
inside and refilled their feeders. Now
the girls were ready to move back in and I do think they were pretty much ready
to go home. So far, so good. I'm praying I haven't missed anything and
they'll remain safe.
So glad the Edith and Rosemary are going to be safe! And I love the photo of you and your daughter--hilarious! Don't mess with a woman who knows how to use power tools, you nasty little raccoons!
ReplyDeleteThat's right sue! Ha, ha, ha!
DeleteAttagirl! This looks like it will work.
ReplyDeleteNow all you need are a few more chicks, to start the process all over again. Your current ladies are getting a little old. (Smack my face for daring to mention this.)
Shame on you! LOL. Pretty sad when 3 years old is considered getting up there, huh? They are still laying though.
DeleteYOu and your cute helpers did an awesome job on that coup! We refer to raccoons as "raccoons from hell" after one attacked our old dog and later another one decided to have babies under our porch and then come up on the porch at night and eat the god's food. We had to relocate that whole lot of them.
ReplyDeleteDeceptively cute and a big pain in the butt! They probably don't think much of us either. Ha!
DeleteBeautiful new coop! I love these photos. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Emily. We are a bunch of goofballs sometimes. :)
DeleteIf the raccoons want in, double chicken wire will not stop them. They will even rip out solid boards. one-half inch wire fabric cloth (WBG) will do the job, just use large staples. The owl will frighten them away until they get used to it, so move it around. That is one beautiful chicken in the top picture.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm hopeful my improvements will be solid enough. We inspect daily and I'm working on a trap with US Wildlife. Edith is a real sweetheart. Thank you.
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