Foxes in the henhouse, martens in the attic.
My chickens and their eggs are being eaten, my attic is being taken over by martens and they have gnawed the electrical wiring in my car.My chickens are being killed, their eggs are being devoured , my attic has become a playground for martens who have completely soiled it and who make their nests in the insulation. And as if that were not enough, martens have gnawed the cables and hoses of my brand new car . And what's more, they tell me that these creatures are protected!? What country do we live in? Who are we kidding? These creatures ate all my chickens and even my car, sir.
Taken like this, the situation may seem revolting.
And yet it would be cruel and above all very counterproductive to want to kill these predators who day and night help us by getting rid of mice, voles, rats, slugs. A single fox is capable of eating 40 to 50 voles in one night! Obviously, if your chicken coop is accessible to him, he will prefer to eat a big plump hen with a freshly laid egg.
Simple and 100% effective solutions to protect your chicken coop:
First, you have to admit that your chicken coop is naturally very attractive to martens and foxes, but also to rats, cats, dogs, and large birds.
Therefore, none of these predators must be able to enter the chicken coop. It must be surrounded by a wire mesh enclosure.
You just need to respect the following few criteria:
- Use a mesh with a mesh size of no more than 3 cm.
- The height of the fence will be at least 1.60 m but 2 m would be perfect.
- The stakes forming the frame of this wire mesh must be located inside the chicken coop.
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Directly above the fence and towards the outside of the enclosure, a strip of ground 10 cm deep and 60 cm wide must be dug all around the enclosure in order to bury the fence.
Let's summarize the situation:
- You have planted stakes which will be the frame of your fence.
- You dug a flower bed all around the chicken coop.
- For a 2 m high chicken coop, plan for 3 m high wire mesh.
- At the bottom, fold it outwards to 60 cm
- Secure it to the stakes, applying the 60 cm flap to the bottom of the flower bed. (The stakes must be inside the chicken coop)
- At the top, fold the mesh outwards to create a flexible 30 cm overhang that is impenetrable to predators.
- At the bottom, fill in the flowerbed by burying the wire mesh. Cover this flowerbed with 30 to 40 cm square slabs to dissuade the suckers from digging a tunnel there.
- The door will be made of the same wire mesh securely fixed to a wooden frame. This door must effectively close the chicken coop. Under the doorway, there must be a wire mesh buried in the ground and covered with paving, this wire mesh must go up to a height of 20 to 30 cm and be fixed to a horizontal slat forming a sort of entrance step.
- Make sure no predators can drop from a tree branch, gutter or other overhang. If necessary, install a mesh roof.
But how beautiful this chicken coop is!
Predators just have to do their job of preying on mice, rats and other voles. Everything is back to normal. Your chickens are cooing with happiness, they don't know that you are already thinking about Sunday and chicken in the pot.
For martens in the attic and garage,
I refer you to the article on my blog “ How to get rid of martens ”
