My Little Hoop Coop

[farmerjan]

Have you ever seen a garter snake bothering the chickens? The one in your picture is not one I have ever seen even going after the eggs.... they are like 80-90 % earthworm and small amphibian eaters.... and like things like smaller insects like garden caterpillars.
Not saying they might not eat a bantam baby chick, just that I have never seen them go after a warm blooded animal... they like salamanders and frogs too. I used to catch them and study them when I was a kid. My mom didn't like snakes much, but her sister, my aunt, like amphibians and she got me to "liking them"...
Now, black snakes are really bad around the bantams... they will eat eggs and baby chicks in a heartbeat. They also eat mice and such... so had to be discouraged from getting in the chicken coops....but were great in the cattle barns for keeping the mouse population in check.

 

[Mini Horses]

Here, rat snakes. They will crawl under a broody hen and take eggs -- yes, found one doing that and killed it on the spot!!!! I hate those things. They will hide and keep emptying each nest. I watch for them each year.

 

[fuzzi]

Have you ever seen a garter snake bothering the chickens? The one in your picture is not one I have ever seen even going after the eggs.... they are like 80-90 % earthworm and small amphibian eaters.... and like things like smaller insects like garden caterpillars.
Not saying they might not eat a bantam baby chick, just that I have never seen them go after a warm blooded animal... they like salamanders and frogs too. I used to catch them and study them when I was a kid. My mom didn't like snakes much, but her sister, my aunt, like amphibians and she got me to "liking them"...
Now, black snakes are really bad around the bantams... they will eat eggs and baby chicks in a heartbeat. They also eat mice and such... so had to be discouraged from getting in the chicken coops....but were great in the cattle barns for keeping the mouse population in check.

I'm keeping them out to protect chicks and eggs. The snake I caught was a rat snake, 3' or maybe 4' long. I rehomed it. The silhouette is possibly a black racer, or a rat snake. I think it was between the hardware cloth and the tarp. It's why I put hardware cloth over the entire coop even though I am planning on adding a roof to this one.

 

[fuzzi]

Here, rat snakes. They will crawl under a broody hen and take eggs -- yes, found one doing that and killed it on the spot!!!! I hate those things. They will hide and keep emptying each nest. I watch for them each year.

I only kill copperheads. I have seen racers and rat snakes, brown snakes, green snakes, ring-necked and worm snakes in my yard. All non-venomous get a pass because they go after mice, rats, insects.

 

[Mini Horses]

I have 10 ferals cats for mice. If the damned rat ones would leave my hens alone, the could live but, won't. There's plenty of them, so the couple that come here won't hurt the species existence.

 

[fuzzi]

Six hours of work.

I'm not happy. And I don't think it's my fault, not entirely.

Measured thrice, cut once.

See the square? I kept checking to make sure my angles were correct.

Added welded wire fence

Used hanging strap to attach the fencing

Then I added black hardware cloth with fender washers and small screws.

I added extra support on the top and bottom.

Added a handle, hinges, hung it.

Houston, we have a problem...

It's warped. The wood is warped.

The door swings great on the hinges.

The wood is gapped at the top and bottom on the hinge side, perfect in the middle. I'm no carpenter (obviously!) but that doesn't appear to be due to my lack of competency.

No matter who's at fault I have to figure out how to make it work.

I will take it off the door frame, sink more screws to tighten the top and bottom boards.

And I'm either going to have to plane or cut the handle side of the door, or some of the door frame.

I marked the inside of the door where I would need to trim it to get it to fit, plane or jigsaw, probably.

I stored the wood flat inside my shed since I bought it. It must have been warped but I just didn't notice it.


No. I refuse to start over. Just need to think about how to fix it.

I am not worried about gaps because I add hardware cloth over the gaps to prevent entry.

 

[Mini Horses]

I'd plane it, or sand if you have an electric one. It's fixable . I won't tell the chickens if you don't

 

[fuzzi]

I'd plane it, or sand if you have an electric one. It's fixable . I won't tell the chickens if you don't

Oh. I just got a couple of sanders!

Thank you!

 

[Baymule]

Put a latch top and bottom. That ought to snug it up.

 

[fuzzi]

Put a latch top and bottom. That ought to snug it up.

The door won't close on the latch side, but I do understand what you're saying. I also just remembered that the door on the first hoop coop shrunk after a while, so I don't want to make adjustments with this one that will cause issues later.

I think I will focus on finishing the hardware cloth this week, and then the roof...time will give the door a chance to settle, shrink.