Coyote trouble

[PirateGirl]

@llombardo Do you do anything preventative since you live with coyotes in the area? Do you have any favorite scare tactics or fence/coop/run modifications/fortifications?

 

[20736]

Oklahoma Wildlife Regulations; Coyote:

Statewide: open year-round
No daily, season or possession limit.

 

[starri33]

Skirting around the base of the coop and run. 1/4 hardware cloth as skirting and up the first 4 ft of the run with chicken wire for the rest, bird netting for the top of the run.. Solid floor in the coop, our dogs (I refer to them as coyote snacks, as they are small) are behind a 10' fence around their doggie door. We're in coyote territory, hear them all the time, see them a lot, have only had one in the yard thankfully, but he was standing next to my coop. As I am building a larger run and coop, I am considering the electric fencing. Just as added protection. I believe one of the others here said never go out with out a gun at night, I don't.. even during the day if I am going to see what the dogs are going on about, I take one. I'd rather have one and not need it than not have one and need it.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

If you can see them why not shoot them?

 

[PirateGirl]

If you can see them why not shoot them?

This is a sensitive topic and we don't all live in the same places with the same rules and neighbors in the same proximity, also we cannot be home and awake and armed guards for our chickens 24 hours a day. I know we all like to spend some time with our chickens, but I for one like to sleep sometimes too

I think the best way to serve the OP is to offer constructive advice on how manage a free range flock or how to fortify the property to minimize losses. If I were considering restricted free ranging I would want to know things like the safest time of day, are there certain times of year that are safer or more dangerous, are there any sounds/lights/etc. that might deter a predator? I'd also want to know about fencing, housing, etc. What are things we can do when we are around and what are things that can help our chickens when we are not around (or not awake)? Can I set some booby traps?

 

[llombardo]

@llombardo Do you do anything preventative since you live with coyotes in the area? Do you have any favorite scare tactics or fence/coop/run modifications/fortifications?

I think the quanity of dogs I have has played a role. The chickens came after 5 years of the dogs being here. I have a 6 ft vinyl fence around the property with stone around the inside perimeter. The run is inside the fenced area. I have 2 ft of hardware cloth on the bottom all the way around the run and I also have hardware cloth around the coop and duck house in the run. I have an electric fence around the run-it has like five wires and then I put another wire about 2 ft up, so I covered diggers and jumpers--whatever a predator does will get them zapped.

I am off a prairie path which is a travel route for all wildlife. I don't think food is an issue for coyotes here, so they may be less desperate. I have never encountered one in the 6 years here. I have saw them everywhere and I have heard them, but not on the property.

I do check the perimeter often to make sure there is no digging going on. If that occurs I will put hot wire along the bottom of the fence around the whole property.

 

[PirateGirl]

I think the quanity of dogs I have has played a role. The chickens came after 5 years of the dogs being here. I have a 6 ft vinyl fence around the property with stone around the inside perimeter. The run is inside the fenced area. I have 2 ft of hardware cloth on the bottom all the way around the run and I also have hardware cloth around the coop and duck house in the run. I have an electric fence around the run-it has like five wires and then I put another wire about 2 ft up, so I covered diggers and jumpers--whatever a predator does will get them zapped.

I am off a prairie path which is a travel route for all wildlife. I don't think food is an issue for coyotes here, so they may be less desperate. I have never encountered one in the 6 years here. I have saw them everywhere and I have heard them, but not on the property.

I do check the perimeter often to make sure there is no digging going on. If that occurs I will put hot wire along the bottom of the fence around the whole property.

So you essentially have a fenced chicken run within a fenced yard. I suspect the fact that your outermost fence is a privacy fence is a bit of a deterrent as well. The coyotes and other predators perhaps can smell and hear your poultry, but cannot see if it's safe to approach them, and can also smell and hear your dogs. I also wonder if vinyl is harder to climb/scale than a wooden fence? hmm... I think perhaps the best point you make here is that you check the perimeter often. I think it's important for us to check our coops/runs/fences/property regularly, and address any issues quickly. Even if you just find routine damage, like a door latch that doesn't operate right, the faster you get it fixed and secure, the safer your flock will be, or a small hole by a fence that can be filled before it becomes a big hole and loose fence post/panel...

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

This is a sensitive topic and we don't all live in the same places with the same rules and neighbors in the same proximity, also we cannot be home and awake and armed guards for our chickens 24 hours a day. I know we all like to spend some time with our chickens, but I for one like to sleep sometimes too

I think the best way to serve the OP is to offer constructive advice on how manage a free range flock or how to fortify the property to minimize losses. If I were considering restricted free ranging I would want to know things like the safest time of day, are there certain times of year that are safer or more dangerous, are there any sounds/lights/etc. that might deter a predator? I'd also want to know about fencing, housing, etc. What are things we can do when we are around and what are things that can help our chickens when we are not around (or not awake)? Can I set some booby traps?

I think the best way to serve the OP is to offer a practical solution. She had a visual and I asked why not shoot it? That's a perfectly reasonable course of action and a very effective solution to the problem, especially in a state like OK. But if she doesn't want to do that, or can't because she lives in the city, that' s fine. If she stated something to that affect earlier, I missed it and apologize. I wasn't telling her what to do, I was merely pointing out what is an obvious solution to many, framed as a rhetorical question. It definitely wasn't a request for a lecture.

 

[llombardo]

So you essentially have a fenced chicken run within a fenced yard. I suspect the fact that your outermost fence is a privacy fence is a bit of a deterrent as well. The coyotes and other predators perhaps can smell and hear your poultry, but cannot see if it's safe to approach them, and can also smell and hear your dogs. I also wonder if vinyl is harder to climb/scale than a wooden fence? hmm... I think perhaps the best point you make here is that you check the perimeter often. I think it's important for us to check our coops/runs/fences/property regularly, and address any issues quickly. Even if you just find routine damage, like a door latch that doesn't operate right, the faster you get it fixed and secure, the safer your flock will be, or a small hole by a fence that can be filled before it becomes a big hole and loose fence post/panel...

Yep.before the chickens I had a skunk that tried digging under--that is why the stone was put in place.

I do believe the oppossums and raccoons climb the fence and have been in the yard. They live in the trees on the other side of the privacy fence. When I put that femce up I left about 5 ft between the property lines, so I can walk through--that may have helped with the oppossum/raccoon issue. They can jump from the trees to the top of the femce. I did put a ground and hot wire on top of two sides of the run--so if they jump from privacy fence to run--they get zapped.

 

[PirateGirl]

I think the best way to serve the OP is to offer a practical solution. She had a visual and I asked why not shoot it? That's a perfectly reasonable course of action and a very effective solution to the problem, especially in a state like OK. But if she doesn't want to do that, or can't because she lives in the city, that' s fine. I wasn't telling her what to do, I was merely pointing out what is an obvious solution to many, framed as a rhetorical question. It definitely wasn't a reuest for a lecture.

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come off that way, I have just seen many predator threads that derail into gun debates, even if that was not the intention of your comment.

Even if this particular coyote has been permanently dispatched, there will likely be more, and the OP may or may not be home/awake when they arrive.