I just want to see if anybody else has thought of this,the older I get the more forgetful I get so sometimes I forget to lock up the chickens at night the next morning I go out to let the chickens out and when I get their I think all man I forgot again, I go on in to see if a half eaten chicken is their from my absent minded old age, anyway I come up with the idea to hook my fence charger up to the bottom or the landing which is a 14 inch X 14 inch piece of sheet iron laid flat on top of a of a piece of plastic that I cut out of a plastic barrel to insulate the piece of sheet iron that the chickens have to hop up on to go through the 16 inch X 16 inch opening that the chickens use go in and out of, been doing this for two years now and have not lost one chicken to possums,foxes,skunks or coons, my wife ask me how come the chickens can go through their and not get shocked, I said cause they are two legged and varmits are four legged I could tell by her looks she still didnt get it,chicken hops up and dont get shocked, four legged varmit puts front paws up on the landing and gets what he deserves Just thought I would see if anybody here on the porch has tryed this, the things I usually come up with dont work but I think I got a good scald on this one.

David

A year ago I had a posssum that figured out how to unhook the screen door. Several mornings in a row the door was wide open and dead hens, I know that I shut the door the night before. Ever since then I have a light on all night long, change the lock and have not had a visitor since. I think if the hens can see the varmit is easier for them to get away. I have 23 hens getting between 8 and 15 eggs a day all winter long using the light.

My father-in-law is a tinkerer. He used a piece out of a washing machine (a plunger that locked and unlocked the tub) and set it up on a timer, used a cable hooked to a drop down door. This way at a preset time the door would automatically shut. When we have to go chore for them we just have to remember to reset the cable in the mornings and they will lock themselves up in the evening.

Good idea David! I've heard of something similiar - a strand of electric wire/fence is run in front of the door/pop hole an inch or so above the threshold. The poultry learn to jump over the wire but anything else gets zapped.

Great idea David, and it works too! I have an Amish friend who does pastured poultry. He would forget to lock his birds up at night. He took a wind up alarm clock and put a small spool of string on the winding knob. When the alarm went off the spool would unwind. As the string was tied to the chicken house door,when the spool unwound, the door would shut. He would go out in the morning and open the door and reset the alarm clock.

had a big old coon In the horse barn that lived in the haymow, that would turn on the light when it was cold. Gave my son hell for leaving the barn light on all the time until I was down there and shut It off my self Next morning james came back in the house told me I DIDENT SHUT LIGHT OFF. I dident beliive him had to look for my self then had to tell him i WAS sorry. Finaly took the bulb out of the light.

Any ideas to keep out a 3m, that's 10' Carpet snake/python?

Very nifty David. I like how that works.

Tim, don't see why electric wouldn't work. Hook 440 volts up though so when snake makes the commection, it will fry him.

Ok Tim Leeson I did find this

I do belive that the wires are 10" apart.



Jim

Looks like he already ate a couple of chickens!