I’m standing in what will be the coop
How do I protect a 25x25 ft area as a chicken run? There are many pine
Behind the coop is the fenced in yard. I live up in the mountains and so we have a variety of predators
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Most completely fence in the area, especially the top where hawks can grab them. When people put in their chicken wire, they dig down six inches so weasels and such are less likely to get thru, and they put the chickens in their nesting/roosting area with a door and ramp on a timer to let them out in the morning and keep it closed and safe at night.
and don't cut there wings, they might need to fly up high to get away from a predator.
To keep the hawks away I placed 8ft poles around the fenced in area and then I strung string all around the top crisscrossing. Once done, I then took Christmas tinsel and tied it to the string all around. The shininess keeps the hawks at bay. A large dog that barks will also do the trick. I have both around my coop in the mountains of PA and have yet to lose a chicken.
a livestock guardian dog is also a great investment.
First, welcome to the world of chickens. A 25x25 area is a lot of fencing, work, and money. How many chickens will you have? Even people who keep just a few backyard chickens and live in residential neighborhoods have problems with predators. The key is making your coop and a small day run completely critter-proof. A day run, which some people call a pen, is an area completely fenced in with a fenced roof connected to your coop. An area that is maybe 12x6x6 feet high will be sufficient. This will allow your chickens to come outside to eat, drink, bathe and poop safely. Ours roost outside the coop in the day run in warm weather, but are safe. Use 2x4 wood for framing, 19 gauge hardware cloth that has 1/2 inch spaces, and secure it with poultry wire staples. We use clear plastic panels over the whole day run area to keep it dry. We let our girls free range in the yard outside of the day run understanding the risk of predators. You'll have to decide if you are going to buy into the free range philosophy. You may need to put a door on another side of your coop to get into your day run. Add your day run to the side that stays the dryest. Then, have a door from the day run out into the area that is already fenced in to free range. The fencing you already have will not protect them from predators, but will protect them from your dogs. Chickens are more susceptible to problems in the heat than cold so make sure they have plenty of shade (If you don't have any shade from trees or vegetation already in the fenced in area, you may need to construct a low, covered area for shade), a water source and dry dirt for dirt baths. If you want I could send you a couple of pictures of how we have ours set up.
Ha Ha. We named ours too. Once you name them you can't eat them. (Chicken joke) Sorry, I mistakenly assumed you did not own chickens yet in my first post. Do you let the 10 you have now free range? With that many chickens (if you add the other 15), you will need a much larger day run. Although it will be a lot of work, I now think you need to secure at least a 25x15 area if not the entire 25x25 area you mentioned. How high and what materials is the existing fence made out of?
that's great my dad always cut their wings, I hated it. Enjoy your chickens and eggs.
Do you let them free range? If so the best you can do is find a rooster or two to keep watch over the girls. If you are wanting to contain them in the run it would be best to enclose it with walls of hardware cloth and some type of netting on the top at a minimum. Honestly if I didn't live in town and have to contain them I'd let them free range. It's less work and money for sure.
Here are the pictures. In thinking more about your project, you could get away with smaller day run if you free range your girls.