Whether you live in town or live in the suburbs, keeping your birds safe is a challenging task as they attract all kinds of predators. Nothing is worse than finding an injured, dead or missing flock member, so we decided to compile ten tips that will help you predator-proof your birds and ensure their safety and minimize loss and/or injury:

  1. Train your flock to return to the coop every night. If they are raised in a coop, they will naturally return at night to lay eggs and roost after being out all day. Make sure you lock and secure the coop every night.
  2. Ensure your coop is free of any holes in the walls, doors and floors. Cover any openings, including windows, with a tight, heavy-gauge wire or hardware cloth. Softer chicken wire or plastic mesh screens can easily be chewed, pried or torn open by outside predators.
  3. Raise your coop at least a foot off the ground to keep predators such as snakes, rats, skunks from living underneath and stealing eggs, chickens or younger chicks. Also, if you have cats, this allows them to crawl under the coop floor and eliminate any rodent or other small annoying visitors.
  4. To deter predators that are diggers, create a 12” trench all the way around the perimeter of the coop and bury hardware cloth.
  5. For maximize security, cover the run to protect against climbing or flying predators using welded-wire fencing, chicken wire or game-bird netting. You can also install a random array of crisscrossing wires overhead to discourage flying predators from grabbing your flock from above.
  6. Use a 2-step locks on door latches, such as spring locks and barrel-style locks, as raccoons and other fairly dexterous animals are able to easily unlatch simple locks and turn basic door handles.
  7. Use a motion-sensor-activated night light to flood the run with light after dark will keep most nocturnal predators away from the coop.
  8. Plant bushes inside the chicken run as your birds will like the shade and to nibble on the leaves but be sure to leave the perimeter as open as you can. Predators such as raccoons are less likely to try to work to get into a closure when they have to sit in the open to do it.
  9. Having chicken-friendly dogs around help serve as deterrents for predators hesitant to approach. A dog’s urine and feces smell serves as a natural deterrent as well. With this said, be sure your dog is trained not to go after your flock.
  10. Don’t leave uneaten food in the run or uncollected eggs in the coop as they both will attract rodents and predators. Although rodents will not go after your chickens they can spread disease. Be sure to store feed and water away from the coop or secure them tightly.