Predator-proofing, in plain language

Predator-proofing comes down to three things. Close every gap a raccoon's hand can reach through, stop diggers at the base before they start and use latches a clever animal can't work open. Get those right and you've handled almost everything that walks, climbs or burrows in the Bay Area. The rest is upkeep.

Most flock losses aren't dramatic. They're a gap that nobody noticed, a door left on a simple hook, a strip of chicken wire that looked sturdy and wasn't. The good news is that the same handful of fixes solve the problem for raccoons, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, hawks, rats and the neighborhood dog all at once. You don't need a different strategy for each one.

What's actually coming after Marin chickens?

In Marin and across the Bay Area, the usual list is raccoons first, then coyotes, foxes, bobcats, the occasional hawk during the day and rats that come for feed and sometimes take chicks. Raccoons are the ones to design against. They're nocturnal, they have hands, they're patient and they remember where the food is. If your henhouse stops a determined raccoon, it stops nearly everything else by default.

Daytime is mostly hawks. Nighttime is mostly raccoons. That single distinction shapes the whole approach. Hens need a covered run for the day and a sealed, locked henhouse for the night.

Hardware cloth, not chicken wire

This is the single most common mistake we see. Chicken wire keeps chickens in. It doesn't keep predators out. A raccoon can tear it, and a determined one can reach through the gaps and pull a bird piece by piece against the mesh.

Use half-inch galvanized hardware cloth instead. The half-inch opening is small enough that a raccoon can't fit a hand through, which is the whole point. It costs more than chicken wire, often two to three times as much per roll, and it's worth every dollar. Staple it with care, then add a furring strip or screw-down batten over the staples so nothing can peel it back at the edges. Edges and seams are where mesh fails, not the middle.

The latch that costs four dollars more is the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy.

Stop the diggers with an apron

Foxes, coyotes and dogs dig. You don't need to bury fencing two feet deep to beat them, which is good news in Marin's rocky and clay-heavy soil. Use an apron instead.

An apron is a strip of hardware cloth, roughly 12 to 18 inches wide, laid flat on the ground along the outside base of the run and pinned down with landscape staples. You can bury it under an inch of soil or just let the grass grow through it. When an animal tries to dig at the wall, it hits the flat mesh and gives up, because predators dig right at the base and not a foot out. It's far less work than trenching and it works just as well.

Latches a raccoon can't solve

Raccoons open simple latches. They flip hooks, slide bolts and turn basic spinning catches. They've got the dexterity and the patience, and they'll test a door every night until it gives.

The rule is two steps. Any latch that requires two separate motions to open, like a spring-loaded clip through a hasp or a barrel bolt with a carabiner, is beyond what a raccoon can do. A two-step latch costs about four dollars more than a basic one. That's the entire upgrade. Put one on every door, every nest box lid and every access panel, not only the main entrance.

The nightly habit that matters most

Hardware does the heavy lifting, but one human habit closes the loop. Chickens put themselves to bed at dusk. Around twenty minutes after sunset they'll all be inside, and that's the moment to close and latch the henhouse door. A predator that finds a sealed, well-built henhouse moves on. A predator that finds an open door at 2am does not.

Automatic doors on a light sensor or timer handle this for you, and they're genuinely good. We still recommend a walk past the henhouse most evenings anyway, because that's when you catch the loose staple or the latch that's working itself open before it becomes a problem.

We thought we'd done everything right with chicken wire. Modern Hen showed us the gaps we couldn't see. Now we sleep through the night and so do the hens.

A short predator-proofing checklist

• Half-inch hardware cloth on every opening, edges battened down
• A 12 to 18 inch apron pinned flat around the base
• Two-step latches on every door, lid and panel
• A covered run so hawks have no angle during the day
• The henhouse closed and latched every night after the flock's inside

None of this is exotic. It's the difference between a henhouse that looks secure and one that is. Done once, properly, it mostly takes care of itself, and the only thing left is the quiet evening walk to the henhouse that good chicken-keeping was always going to include.