This Simple Mistake Killed My Chicken
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ม.ค. 2023
- It was just a matter of time. One of my chickens became a tasty hawk snack. In this video I'll show you how to expand and fortify your chicken run to protect your feathered friends from pesky hawks. I'll share the steps I took to make my own run hawk-proof after the tragic loss of one of my chickens to a hawk attack. From expanding the fencing to offer the chickens more room to installing hawk proof netting, I'll walk you through the process and show you what I did to keep my chickens safe. Don't let hawks take your chickens! Watch this video and learn how to build a hawk-proof chicken run!
Here's a link to what I got: pinnonhatch.com/poultry-suppl...
FLR Merch here!: tinyurl.com/5xjve6vs
I found deer netting (7'x100'h for 25 ... it's probably slightly stiffer than what you got, but it's still "fun" to work with lol. (It was laying on a shelf across from fences inside)
I used Deer netting over my outdoor area, it comes in giant rolls all kinds of sizes and if fairly cheep on amazon
You need to use the trees outside the chicken run to support and tighten the netting. Go up around 10-12 feet and tie around the tree, connect to the corners of the net and pull tight. Looks like you have enough trees
I can personally guarantee that this channel has never or would ever click bait... I've been watching your channel from the beginning and I am so proud and impressed with how you've grown your channel...👍FROM CADILLAC MICHIGAN
Thanks for the laughs. The next struggle will be you crawling under the coop scraping chicken poop as you go to get the new gold/eggs. Here in central PA we have an abundance of red tailed hawks which have got several of our chickens and ducks until we added GEESE. Nothing messes with our chickens and ducks now. The wife and I love your videos.
Something to think about. If you don't want to have one really big run area all in one place on your property for your chickens, what you can do is create a couple different fenced in areas in different places. Now, of course you probably don't want to place them too far away from your current location because what you are going to do is create a small door in your current run fence and then create a "chicken tunnel" that the chickens can use to get to the other runs. Think of it like a farmer who has several pastures and moves his herd around for grazing. Your chickens will always have access to your current run and the coop, but via the tunnel, will have access to more space, whenever you want to give it to them. If you want to confine them, then you close the door leading out of the main run and the chickens will be restricted to only the main run for however long you determine. There will of course need to be a door in each of the other runs for the other end of the tunnel to connect to. Think of the old "Habitrail" systems for gerbils, where you could connect different modular habitats via tubes for the gerbils to traverse.
Now the tunnel doesn't need to connect to all of the runs all at the same time. You can make the tunnel in such a way that you can pull it up and move it when you give the chickens access to a different run. Let's say you create three new runs and you run your chicken tunnel from your main run (run #1) to one of the three new runs (run #2). Then after a month or two you switch the tunnel so that it connects to run #3. Then finally to run #4. This way you always have 2 runs in recoup stage, while the Chickens are using your main run and the remaining run. Also, this means you don't have to have the other two runs completely covered all the time. you only need to cover the main run and whichever run the tunnel is presently going to. This would be a little more work, since you would have to move the top screening every time you switched runs, but I am sure you can design the top screening in such a way that would make it easy to unscrew and move.. Same with the tunnel, if you created the tunnel in sections you could just pull up from the ground and then re-stake, it should be relative easy to redirect the tunnel to the other locations and if you make the door in your main run such that you can slide a piece of wood to close it securely, it gives you a lot of options
The only problem with chicken's going under chicken house is they will start laying there eggs underneath. I had a setup like you have and had to put wire around the bottom.
I was afraid of that, too. That one hen looked she was spreading out and settling in.
Who is going to retrieve all the eggs from all the nests that will be built UNDER the chicken house ?
@@frankbagbey8372 the tiny humans!
Those chickens are dust-bathing.
yep....exactly
I'm in southern Kentucky (clay soil here too) & got 25 chicks coming to add to my flock. Seeing this video reminded me I need to get a *GREAT PYRENEES*.
I had one years ago & they really do protect the flock PLUS they are amazing with kids & family! So gentle & sweet to people but NOT to predators....
Next time, attach the board to the house for the peak. I agree with the others, attach to surrounding trees. I love the hen house. One of the prettiest I've ever seen.
We use to hang tarps all the time when we went camping. The first thing I would do would be to run a ridge line that would support the tarp in the middle. If I was lucky there would be a branch in the right spot to drape the end of the line over so that I would be able to tighten the ridge line from the ground. Then attaching the corners of the tarp to lines and then stake them to the ground or tie them to trees and pull the tarp taut. Great video Wes thumbs up.
We had to do the same basic thing. Luckily we were home when the hawk attacked. It got all the way into the coop but didn't kill any of our chickens. Looks like great netting.
We have just started watching your channel and are enjoying it. You take pride in everything you do and do it neat. Love seeing the little one helping you… so sweet!
Sorry to hear about your chicken, hope the adjustment helps!
One note on the new chickens - They need enough time to learn the coop and get familiar with the laying boxes, keep them inside the coup for a week or temporarily block off the part of the run that allows them access to beneath the coop, otherwise some of them may decide to nest down there and you'll be crawling under the coop to collect their eggs and fighting off opportunistic black snakes.
“I hope it’s not like untangling Christmas lights “ what a terrific observation. I laughed out loud because I had the same thought just before you said it. If you have any cable or line, consider adding a superstructure at about 8’ to support across the yard rather than a circus tent pole. Wishing you, your family and flock happier days, and restful evenings. Peace brother
Great addition to your chicken run. Shouldn’t have to worry about the hawks now. Thanks for sharing.
Sorry for your loss. This happened to me recently as well, but it was a bobcat. I didn't lose the bird, but her injuries were worse that she let on. I was planning to harvest her so moved up the date due to the attack. Mine are dual purpose so I'm not going to spend tens or hundreds on vet bills for a bird I would otherwise be eating. She will give nourishment to an olive tree I'm planting this weekend.
The attack happened in my 16x16 run extension; deer poles with 4 feet of hardware cloth (6 inches buried) surrounded by rock and shell as the footing. The rest is nylon, including the roof - and the cat just rested on the hardware cloth and sliced a hole through the nylon. I'm in FL and we have land and air predators that make unsupervised free ranging impossible. After the attack, I put chicken wire up from the top of the hardware cloth to the top of the bars, which are 7 feet. I'll be putting up 2x4 on the front and back of the run this weekend and running chicken wire for the roof as well. I don't think a cat, racoon, or possum would clime 7 feet, but we have owls too so I'm not taking any more chances.
Really enjoyed all the videos on this project. Awesome job 👍
We have lost a couple chickens to a hawk over the last two months. This is a great idea and I hope to use it soon. Thanks for sharing this video.
Your chicken "house" progress, combined with my #1 daughter-in-law's chicken adventures in a Phoenix suburb led me to watch a series of vlogs made by a woman in Wisconsin having to do with raising chickens. I'm now hooked and will continue to follow your chicken progress carefully. Good luck!.
Excellent solution. You did a great job - especially solo! As you were constructing your center supports I had the idea that a common (inexpensive) kick-ball and a small plastic bowl (just smaller than the midway point on the ball) attached to your post it would seem a person could walk up the middle of the netting (attached on both sides) and your post would have a ball-bearing like assembly with no snag points. Some of that you have to trim off could be woven back in to cover that open end. Leave it floppy (large) loose where you could flop it one way and it's opened, flop it the other and it's closed. Great upgrade! Very well done. Thanks for your efforts. Loads of work!
I did the same thing. You won’t have any issues with hawks anymore but it’s fun to watch them fly around and check out your chickens. I have bald eagle fly over my run all the time and have never lost a chicken
We just had the same thing happen and I could have prevented it but winter stopped me from getting it done! We hung scare tape, more netting, DVDs and got an owl decoy! That’s the best I can do until break up! Good luck!
One idea is to use pvc piping to make a canopy frame for the netting and maybe keep it more stable
Finally a gas powered post hole digger! Made my back hurt watching you dig post holes manually for so long.
Excellent work 👍👍👍 . Thank you for sharing. Take care of yourselves 🇨🇦
Cut the extra off down the sides and use in and black zip ties to fill in the holes. A hawk can get in through a small gap once they find it. Not only can they dive fast but there aim is also excellent.
Hopefully they’ll have the netting back in stock soon! We’ve lost plenty of chickens and ducks due to hawks, and we’ve got more chicks coming in a few weeks. Thanks for the tips!
I've lost a lot of chickens in one attack...from my far neighbor's dogs. Last month only 5 hens and 2 roosters, one day devastation.
Great video Wes. I first wondered if it was a Snake that had got in with the Chickens - I didn't think of Aerial predators. Good move with the net, and I was thinking at first you needed some poles in the middle, but the Cedar plank was a great idea. Well done! Stay safe & well. 👍👍
A rooster can be a good addition, surprisingly they take care of the chickens and are always vigilant
I have never used this material either, but I looked up the product online and the cost also appears very reasonable. Even if it only last 2-3 years, it will not be too expensive to replace. Thanks.
Hello Wes. I guess it would have been nice to have some help, but you made the best of it. It looks good. Perhaps some of the excess can be tied to the existing netting to cover the open gap. Have good days!
I just found your channel... Awesome video!!
I put up similiar netting over a larger run (100' x 100'), it was very pain staking. I used 3/8" rope strung accross the top supported by a few poles in the middle to support the netting. Tied the net off every few feet along the top of the perimeter fence with bailing twine. It has worked very well and held up to cold/snowy winters.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I have trained my beagle to watch the sky. He doesn’t allow a bird of prey near our compound. He is highly trained and it was a fun experience training him for that.
Nice video…very similar to what we did with the netting. You can hang some metallic shiny ribbon around those open areas if you’re uneasy about them. One of my neighbors just has several strings across the top of his run with ribbon about every 2-3 feet and he hasn’t lost a chicken in 8 years.
I agree , , sorry for your loss. That all goes with chicken keeping , kritters from ground as well. ❤
Great job. Personally I would have tried taking the netting over the coop too. Thanks for sharing. Looked like you could have used another pair of hands
Had a similar problem a while back, I also put up poultry netting over my chicken run as well as an owl decoy in a high spot where chickens can't see from below but predator birds could see from above. Haven't had a problem since. I also like that the netting increases biosecurity with the avian flu still around, the netting also keeps opportunistic wild birds from coming down and snatching chicken grain.
A gander helps keep hawks away. 💕
Watching this really made me watch to come give you a hand with it 😂. Pretty cool product. I just zig zagged paracord over the tops of my runs, it’s supposed to mess with the hawks depth perception and keep them from diving. So far so good
Good and enjoyable video. My girls love to be under the coop and chill and chat. They dust bath also but never have laid their eggs there. Time will tell. Every flock has its own personality. Checking out the hand held auger and netting. Thanks again.
You did a great job. You will probably do changes sent you finished it. Good luck!!
Foram ate agora os melhores 11 vídeos que assisti sobre "Chicken House" ou GALINHEIRO que ja assisti. Parabéns
Thanks for sharing 😊 farm stories are awesome 👍
i was laughin my ass off at your dog in the background rollin around on his back 😂
I just wanna say thank you because your videos helped me get through covid .
I'm exhausted!
You handled this project like I handle most of mine. Let's just see how it works out. Watching you try to put a cedar tree in there, by yourself, looked eerily familiar to me.
We put a 12' 4x4 post in the middle of our run, nailed a square of plywood to the top, and draped our net over it. We took the net over the top of our coop. We nailed some 2x4s to our posts to make them longer and then used zip ties to attach the net. We have about 5-7' at the back side of our run that has no net and haven't had a hawk get in yet.
Everything in the woods will kill a chicken. I've lost them to fox, coon ,possum, coyotes, and hawks.
😄 I admire people like you two who would do things 'by ear' (I'm not really sure what that means). If I were to do this, I would look at the project at every angle on paper, in my head, for days before actually doing it. When the net was put around the pole, I was thinking "that's way too low, why not put a cable or something from the hen house to one of the trees to raise the middle of the net?" When he put the trees and the beam, I thought "I would put that structure first, then hang the net over the beam, then start to pull the edge toward the hen house and the other edge to the fence..." Well, that's just me, easy for me to say than actually doing it.
Bless your heart!!! That was a huge job, but as always, you did well!! I'm concerned about the opening at the side, though!! 😉 God bless you and your family!! ❤️👍
I would sew the whole together.
I'll bet the chickens will love going under the coop on those hot summer days. The down side is , you might have to crawl under there to gather eggs.
Sorry for your loss:((
I’m a grandma and have to do my building, fixing etc by myself. Sometimes things aren’t as pretty as I’d wish, but it just needs to work.
Persistents prevails again 👍👍
Necessity is the mother of invention. Great job.
Very good job man. Keep going. Regards
If you are talking about using nylon netting to cover the chicken fence area, it might not be a good idea because i had a small pond for my pride Kois fish,and i netted it over with nylon, well i heard noise outside and found this hawk tangled in the net, it was no fun to get it loose, i took the netting off and used chicken wire instead, it didn't look as good but it done the trick ,
thanks for the video.
Here in New Zealand we lived in a small rural block that had hawks all day everyday, the only way to keep the hens safe were to have there coup covered completely camouflaged in the trees with nets. Kept it reasonably close to the house, chickens would be wondering thru house and always return to coup at night.
That looks good,I would tighten it up more, Good job!
I used deck screws with large washers to anchor/hold netting and fencing.
Wes, You can trim that long side off and tie it back in to the end where you need more to finish the side.
We ran similar netting off our coop and even over part of my workshop roof. The hawks can't get through it. Good thing to do
Just for future reference if you use a 10lb test fish line and run a grid over the chickens it looks like 2-foot pipes to a predatory bird due to the monofilament and they can't see a way to get at the chickens. I learned that from my friend the fish farmer and it works for his trout and for my chickens I was amazed. Hy on the hill trout farm in NH.
Great fix to the problem.
Another project (as if you need one) -- sliding nesting boxes underneath the coop that you can pull out for harvesting eggs - with straw bedding (slide-out also good for cleaning) while still providing a cooler-shaded area for them in the summertime😎.
"Looked like the chicken stepped on a land mine." 😬
We used zip ties to secure the net around the sides at the top. This way it’s not just hanging there for something to climb under for a chicken dinner. Nice set up with the posts so getting around inside is easy.
We have hawks, owls and bald eagles. I built my run out of 4" pvc sewer pipe and made arches out of 3/4" pvc. Covered the run with bird netting and zip tied the netting to the pvc. Doesn't keep dogs out but has kept any birds out, so far. Didn't secure the base to the ground. Birds go in the hen house at dark and sleep inside. Lost 5 hens and a rooster to a dog a couple of weeks back but haven't lost any to coons, foxes or possums.
Good job! 👌
I use netting with great success.. attached the bottom to the fence that goes around the run..so between the fence and netting they are closed in
I just took a big quilting needle and some durable heavy fishing line and went through the net around the wire in the section I needed connected to the fence
The chickens will love being able to get under the coup and the netting is a great deterrent to the hawks. Always something when you have critters and farming.
I added the same type of netting over my run to keep our ducks and chickens safe. To raise it up high enough to walk under, I bought 6 inexpensive 7' umbrellas and removed the cloth canopies. I hammered metal fence posts in the ground, zip-tied 2' logs against them, placed the bottom of the umbrella on top of the log and zip-tied the log to the fence post. I spread the netting over the closed umbrellas and then opened them up. It worked like a charm, even over our little 12 x 9' duck pond! Without the cloth canopy, the umbrellas don't fly away when it's windy!
So I watched this guy who free ranges his chickens in his garden. He puts a bunch of tall bushes that provide covering. Also it minimizes predators from the sky cause they don’t have room to dive and go up, the areas were to narrow for it. So that’s another idea
Looked like that was a fun(?) irritating j-o-b. Love your videos - down home stuff!!!!
Big shout out to your Dad. Well done - good deal.
You can get military camo netting supports dirt cheap, they look like a palm tree when fanned out and will support the netting. Used it for years
We have a 10x10 pen with only 4 chickens. We covered it with chicken wire to keep predatory birds out and surrounded it with a single strand hot wire to keep other predators out. Working well so far. The chicken house came out great 👍
We've watched hawks and eagles push the netting away where it wasn't tied down to the fence and find holes to get through you wouldn't imagine they could. Turkeys and geese have a bird keep a look-out give a warning call when danger is near. Really something to see 30 turkeys go running for cover when the warning call comes.
I have a rolling coop and solar electric netting that I move around a field. Got a goose that sleeps under the coop and haven't lost a chicken in 5 years. We have a couple of black Australorps that are 9 years old mixed into the flock of 26. You can't believe how effective a "chicken-goose" can be at deterring birds of prey.
👁 like your videos because they are very nice 2 watch, with lots of fun.
Nice video
thanks
I have a forward area with under brush that I hope will protect my chickens this year!
Coming from experience, I would suggest that you use hardware cloth around the lower 3 feet of your run area the large fence you have would allow weasels or other such animals to get through😊
Good price on the net. Good job!
very nice! The hawks can see the net. They are unlikely to fly into it. Your ladies will be very safe.
Can U use the extra netting to sew or weave a piece to closeup the hole ?
Zip ties are handy to have around the netting.
Garden flash tape does help some also
here in mo not sure how well the post hole digger would work but would love to have one
Watched your "I made my own chicken feed".
My egg production never goes down. No light in the Hen house (coop) But, out side of house I have electric net fencing. I leave a security light on ALL night. Avoiding pointing light directly on the Hen house. It lights up the run and up to the house. The light provides two major things. 1. Predators do not like lights. The reason they hunt at night. 2. Chickens feel safe enough to come out and eat and drink water if they want to. They do go back in the house to get more sleep.
I put up a line, like clothesline about two to three feet apart over my head, a cross the run. Prevents hawks from swooping in. During the day I open the electric fence so they can forage.
Love your choice of girls. Same breed I have. Good luck.
22:50 You could plug the hole with the extra cut off of the side. Use zip-ties to stitch it together. (6 or so inches overlap).
I agree with Steven James, or you could run wire between trees and drape the netting over that. Again, you have enough surrounding trees to support it. Good luck.
nice job!
Struggling with spending the initial expense on my build to (A Large Run VS A Larger Roam Area You Just Helped in my ideas 💡
Eventually My Ladies 🐓 will have both but not this year.
The Hen Hen House I'm working on will be a 6x12 and about 3 feet of the ground. Enclosing the underside with access for inspection and girls to escape I could work on a good roam area first. The Run will Cost a Good Bit and can come later👊🏼🐓🐥🥚
what if the chickens start laying eggs under the chicken house?
I used the same stuff you did and we took plastic water pipe and made a hoop house for my girls and they love it. It holds the netting up and keeps unwanted guests out
I would have attached the net to the coop and then cut. Lots of fun to watch your efforts!
:) hawks.... or was it Sasquatch? :) love all them tree's :)
Looks cool mate you killed it!!
Ps what is your name??
I used ropes tied to trees to help support my netting over my chicken yard. In a star criss crossed shape.
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