Ernest:

I'm very intrigued with your chicken moat idea! We had a bad grasshopper problem two years ago in the garden. I like the fact that you say that the chickens stop bug problems before they get into the garden. Do you lose any chickens to predators or is the top of the moat covered too?

thanks.

-- Cat (catcrazy@somewhere.com), February 20, 2002

Answers

Hello Cat, Thank you for your interest in my chicken moat. I do not have the top covered but, the moat is narrow enough to keep the hawks and owls from swooping down of the chickens and carrying them off.

I have two types of chickens that are usually quite safe from critters. I have Arconias which are black with white spots. They blend in with the scenery so well that they are hard to see. The other type of chicken that I have is Buff Orpingtons. These birds get so fat that even if a hawk or owl tries to attack them, they could not lift them out of the moat.

In the two years that I have had the chicken moat I have had only one chicken killed by a predator....a weasel. Nothing is fool proof to them guys.

Sincerely, Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), February 20, 2002.