So last year we tried to start a chicken hatchery here on our homestead. It didn't work that well. We ended up losing 46 chickens to the dog next door.
It was our entire livelihood. As a result we only made 1200 usd total last year, lost 1000 in chickens and had to start over completely this year.
By the end of all that we ended up with only 6 chickens left. 5 were roosters so we ate 4 of the roosters and kept one breeding pair. Just mix breed.
In an attempt to be more protected from predators we built a new coop. (Pictured above)
Having 0 money, we built this out of any scrap we could find. The only things I bought were staples, steel wire, and 1/4" hardware cloth.
It's made of 1/2" black irrigation pipe and old fencing we found on abandon properties in the valley.
We just finished laying 1/4 inch mesh in the ground along the entire perimeter as pictured below.
The ground out here is super hard clay. Luckily it had rained a couple days before digging the perimeter and laying the hardware cloth.
This hardware cloth should prevent even the ground squirrels from getting in. Those little bastards will take all the food I put out for the chickens. I had to stop using auto feeders when I noticed so the food was being squirreled away by the cutesy and most invasive part I could think of.
Now, there aren't any holes they can get through so I should be able to start using adieu feeders again.
by Michael David
Co-founder of #thealliance and loyal since before the egg.
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