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"An ounce of prevention
is worth a pound of cure." -Traditional

An upsetting reality of keeping animals is that you have forces working against your efforts. You will be amazed by the successes you will have with a few preventative measures.

A good lock and latch should deter most human threats that may be present. Animals are trickier. I am actually amazed at how the predators come out of the woodwork when you keep poultry. My only casualty has been to a hungry raccoon, in Downtown Minneapolis, mind you! Other Minneapolis coop owners and I have had hawks dive at our birds.

  • A strong fence will deter roaming dogs. Dig a trench along the perimeter of your run and sink a foot of chicken wire angled outward will deter any predator that would dig its way in to your enclosure.

  • Light orchard netting (used to keep berry-fruit eating birds off of trees and bushes) stretched over your run will block a raptors dive.

  • Supervise your birds as best you can when they are about the garden.

  • Lock up your birds at night, as that is when most carnivores will strike, when your birds are inactive.

  • Consider keeping a Guinea hen. They house well with chickens and are celebrated for their alarm qualities when predators are around.

  • Employ screens of heavy hardware cloth over you windows to keep raccoons from entering. They will rip or tear through regular mesh window screens.

  • Do not employ rat poisons around your flock. They will harm your birds and render their eggs inedible, sticky traps are much safer.

  • A coop built with an air space between the ground discourages pests from building homes and makes it easier to eradicate them. I leave enough room for my cats to hunt underneath the henhouse.

  • Pine tar or kerosene painted in the cracks and holes in the coop will deter mites and other insects.

Peter J. Willcütt
peat@urbanagrarian.com
612.719.1988