Vermin arrive in every forms from rats and mice to stoats and foxes. Most of them are a major real danger in your poultry flock and need to be monitored.
Rats and Mice.
Generally rats and mice aren't attracted to the chickens themselves, though a big rat certainly will go for a little chick. It's the free meals as well as a comfy home that they will be in search of. These rodents need to be shunned from making themselves at home as they are not only robbing your chicken feed but also might cause extensive destruction of the chicken house as well as spread illnesses.
The typical miscalculation which fresh chicken keepers make is to spot the chicken house close to a compost pile - this may be a great attraction for rats and mice given that the pile attracts a lot of bugs as well as a permanently warm habitat that they can reside in.
Another error people make is to have the chicken coop raised a couple of inches above the ground, this will make perfect sense for anyone who is trying to keep their birds off of the damp flooring it also means you're building a perfect rat nesting site. The space beneath the house will be shadowy, too small with regard to cats and various other potential predators along with loads of food items in close proximity - rat nirvana!
Foxes and Stoats
In towns these may be described as a real problem and absolutely distressing if either find their way into your coop - they will likely literally harm every last single bird and take all the eggs. Foxes are much more common and problematic when compared with stoats.
The crucial element with these two motivated potential predators is an effective strong wall that's too high for them to ascend - roughly Six foot, or even a coop which has a roof. Pay particular attention to the bottom of the run the place that the wire arrives at the earth, foxes are very powerful and can without difficulty tear their way by way of a vulnerable spot.
In case you have many foxes in the area you need to use a larger gauge of wire in the bottom meter on the coop run since this is the location where the fox is most powerful. An electric powered wire about the base of the coop at about 30cm above the soil ought to go a long way to aggravating foxes also.
Damage
Check out the chicken house frequently for destruction when it comes to a nicely constructed coop it could take a fox or rat a few nights to gnaw its way in. Pay special care about the crevices because these are preferred infiltration sites. If you locate almost any indication of problems you will need to possibly nail larger more robust timber above the area to stop foxes from carrying out anymore deterioration and check out traps with regard to rats.
Pop-holes
Chicken houses utilizing slide down doors along with ones which don't actually secure closed are very easy targets with the fox. Remember that possible predators are crafty, they are aware the right way to open pop-holes and how to slide their snout underneath the coop door to get in. It takes time and a bit more consideration yet always remember to bolt the hen house door closed overnight. Even better start using a padlock - absolutely no fox yet has worked out the way you use a key!
Resource:
Chickens and Poultry.com - Protecting Your Flock
