I origionally built this to house four chickens. But, I was able to keep about seven chickens before it became too crowded and had to expand.The picture that the doors on the bottom are rather small and that it is an open door. That was a big mistake. I later made the openings bigger in order to retrieve the eggs and clean the nests better. I had a predator problem with oppossums going in at night and killing chickens. I put doors on that locked.
It is a nuisance waiting for them to go to bed each night to lock them up but, was the only way to stop the predators from killing them. I changed the doors, from what is pictured. I made two large swinging hatch doors to check for eggs instead of five individual doors. Two nests and roost area on the top level has one door . Three nest boxes for the bottom level also, has one door.
I had some homeade wooden block locks that I replaced with spring action hook gate locks when I discovered that a coon had been unlocking the homeade locks himself and helping himself to my chickens. I lock the chickens up each night as soon as they go to bed. Most of the chickens go in there themselves by dusk. There are a few that chose to roost outside in the trees. I can't protect those ones and many of them have been killed by coons, opposums and, owls.
I have been able to trap several opposums and relocate them far away. I did this three years ago and was predator free for about a year. Apparently, others move in after time. So, it's a good idea to try to trap the predators every so often. I've trapped four opposums and one coon so far. I've also caught a few of the neighbors cats and set them loose. Cats will not kill adult chickens. They will only kill baby peeps that are orphaned. I won't stop setting the trap until I've had two months with no coons or possums being caught.
I catch about one predator every other night. It is good to be able to lock the chickens up each night. But, situations can come up where the coop is left unlocked and the chickens are at risk of being killed. That is why I trap and relocate the predators. Below is a link to a trap that is similiar to the one I use. For bait I use cooked chicken wings. |
