Coyotes and other predators

[Hallock234]

Thank you, Hallock234, good info...Hadn't considered how adept the coyotes are. Hunting is not allowed where I live (still within the city limits. But the rest of the suggestions sure could work.

Most states and municipalities still allow for landowners to trap nuisance animals via depredation permits. You should look into that option with your local Wildlife/Game official. I'm not saying that any and all coyote problems need to be dealt with that way; sometimes tightening up your fencing and keeping a better watch (that's where a LGD comes in handy) can be enough to dissuade a hungry coyote. However, there are some coyote that get used to feeding off local pets and livestock and the only way to stop them is to remove them from the equation.

 

[rgvchick]

Hallock234, another

Thank you!

 

[1SouthernDixie]

I have never tried the peanut butter. I have an electric fence and been having problems with raccoons, opossums and skunks. I have now place the wire a few inches off the ground and about 4 feet up. I'll try some peanut butter and see if I can at least deter them with a shocking treat.

 

[azygous]

Placement of the hot wire is crucial. You need it close to your barrier fence, forcing a predator to examine the possibility of coming into physical contact with it as opposed to leaping over or through the strands of wire.

The peanut butter is an additional invitation to examine the wires, and when that message is "delivered", the predator will not return. It's far more effective than hunting and trapping which requires effort and repeated effort as new predators move into the territory to fill the void left by the ones you've removed. It's like trying to empty the ocean with a tea cup.

Once you have the hot wires installed close in around your coop and run, all the effort required is to keep dabbing fresh peanut butter on the wire as it wears off. New predators will test the wire and receive the same message as their predecessors. You may even get lucky and catch a glimpse of the predator getting its education. Good times.

 

[aart]

Pnutbutter works...so does bacon.
A good fence tester is a good thing to have also.

 

[pawl]

There so many more fence options available these days. If we had these back in the day farming would have been so different. Electric nets, plastic fence, fiberglass post, solar fence chargers. I'm going to put electrified 1/2" mesh wire on fiberglass post all around the chicken run that I'm making out of heavyweight plastic deer fence topped with more deer fence supported on a pvc hoop frame. That should fix all the predators I've seen in the two years that we've been raising chickens in this neighborhood and it'll go nicely with the coop remodel

 

[Howard E]

This is the wire system / pattern I am using........







Spacing from the ground up corresponds to the built in clips on the step in posts. Corners are steel T posts with round insulators. You can tension it up to take any sag out, but if you do, you may need to set anchor braces on your corners, or else use long posts, drive them at an angle (away from the direction of pull) and drive them deep. For the same cost as one or two lengths of poultry netting, you can do a much larger area (30X to 100X the area) and it seems to me to be easier to maintain and highly effective. Maintenance is running a weedeater under it now and then. If you don't object to Roundup, you could also spray under it to keep it clean.

Any varmint that tries to climb under it, through it or step over it usually gets zapped. Last time I checked this fence with a voltage tester, it was running 16,700 volts. That from a $120 Parmak 12 volt fencer running on a deep cycle battery that holds a charge for around 3 to 4 months. When the voltage needle drops to around 10,000 volts, I know it's time to recharge.

That fence has pretty much shut down all traffic in or out. The only varmint I know of that has been inside the wire was a few months back when we had snow on the ground. Pure snow acts as in insulator......but judging from the tracks he (coyote or fox) left, he got hit too. Snow was on the ground about a week, and only one set of tracks during that time, so he was in no hurry to come back.

Varmints tend to lead with and follow their nose and keep it close to the ground. They sniff stuff they encounter. Which is why "baiting" the wire is used. Takes the chance out of it and they get hit on the end of an already sensitive nose. In addition to PB and bacon, try draping a piece of chicken skin over it.

It seems obvious to me how to set this up, but I've heard some people say their electric livestock fence doesn't work to keep predators out. If it looks like this, no it would not:





They could walk under that like it isn't even there, because to them it isn't. For varmints (and our chickens), it has to be at ground level for them to hit it.

 

[Howard E]

Here is another interesting bit of info. About this photo.....



You notice in the background, the birds are running around inside a chain link fence. I have seen raccoons, skunks, possums and cats go under that fence like it isn't even there. It barely slows them down. In most places, they have less than an inch, but they know where every dip in the ground is where they have two inches. That is all it takes. None of them, however, do that with the electric fence. They can still go under it.....easier than the chain link....... but not without touching the wire. I can usually tell when a skunk has hit it as they leave their scent behind. Either it knocks it out of them or they shoot at random at whatever it was that bit em.

 

[rgvchick]

Well, the coyote hit again...this time, it came into an area I have fenced in with 6' chain link and no signs that it dug under it. Howard, the info and pics will be a grett help. Time to go to the store and get what I need for this area

Howard,

 

[Howard E]

Since my last post, a neighbor asked me if I had seen the "pretty red fox running around in my yard"? Uh.......no........I was not aware I had a fox running around in my yard. Where? Right there........pointing to a spot about 50 yards from my back fence where the birds were out running around. So that fox would be around and know the birds are there, yet I've not lost any to him.......or any other........predator to date. I don't know what to attribute that to, except perhaps that my local varmints have tangled with that fence and have concluded chickens are not worth it.

BTW, this is the fencer I am using. A rebranded Parmak 12 volt. Our local farm coop (MFA) has them on sale for $99.