Coyotes :(

[MadamPoofyBrow]

I guess so. I kinda want them where the coyotes can't get though, they're pygmies...
Is it normal for goats to be like that? One of my weathers isn't. Good boy, lol!
Have you heard anything about guard turkeys? I read somewhere that they're better than guard dogs.
I've got a jake. Didn't get him to guard, he's a pet...but if he were guarding, he'd be about as helpful as a beached fish. The dude's friendly to everything. Never met anyone he didn't like, and will walk up to any random thing and try to make friends with it. Really great cause it makes him a great pet, but are normal turkeys supposed to be good guards??? I think I got broken goats and turkey...haha.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

I don't know about turkeys, but maybe they would work. What about guineas? As long as you can take the noise, smell, obvious stupidity, they are not much smarter than the bugs they snarf down all day, but with a head that small, what can you expect?

 

[RavenBlue]

Well to each his own. I guess some people don't mind doing it that way, but if I had to kill I would try my best to do it as humanely as possible...that said, I don't think anyone is wrong with their opinions, just that mine are different. I also would like to add that the OP hasn't been on this thread for a little while...I'm hoping for an update soon!

I'm here

I was on earlier today too sorry you missed me! We saw a coyote in our neighbours field heading our way towards the coop this evening but turned and ran before he was in range for DH. Chickens are staying locked up til electric netting arrives.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Good for you! Hope the netting helps. Do you have small children? Be careful letting them around the electric fencing, deaths have occurred in very young children. Good luck!

 

[RavenBlue]

I guess so. I kinda want them where the coyotes can't get though, they're pygmies...
Is it normal for goats to be like that? One of my weathers isn't. Good boy, lol!
Have you heard anything about guard turkeys? I read somewhere that they're better than guard dogs.
I've got a jake. Didn't get him to guard, he's a pet...but if he were guarding, he'd be about as helpful as a beached fish. The dude's friendly to everything. Never met anyone he didn't like, and will walk up to any random thing and try to make friends with it. Really great cause it makes him a great pet, but are normal turkeys supposed to be good guards??? I think I got broken goats and turkey...haha.

We have 2 pygmies as well and they are really stupid and just continuously head butt and break up everything. I've got them in 5 ft chain link fencing now and they seem happy there.. Well don't seem interested in breaking it or jumping out for now anyway. We will see.

 

[RavenBlue]

Good for you! Hope the netting helps. Do you have small children? Be careful letting them around the electric fencing, deaths have occurred in very young children. Good luck!

Our youngest is 8 but thanks for the warning if I have little visitors I will be extra careful

 

[KGreene]

"There is a wrong way...inhumanly. It is just my opinion, but I would NEVER do anything like that. KGreene, why don't you just set up electric poultry netting?"

Good for you! Hope the netting helps. Do you have small children? Be careful letting them around the electric fencing, deaths have occurred in very young children. Good luck!

Seriously??!! ... You willingly promote a product that could potentially kill a child... But readily voice your obvious issues with (what you view) as inhumane ways to eliminate a predator that could kill that same child?? Excuse me, but there is something terribly wrong with that train of thought... and that's my opinion.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

I'm sorry you got that idea. There have been very few events where children were mildly shocked, and one or two where a child was seriously injured. One of which was when a child was standing in a puddle and touched extremely high voltage fencing meant to keep out mountain lions. I just mentioned it so people would realize the risks involved. I'm sorry to have offended you, but I feel it would have been irresponsible of me to not mention the risks. Almost everyone who owns the fencing has no problems, and, as you can see, the op does not have small children, or else I would reccomend not to try it. Have a good afternoon.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

I scanned through this thread and wanted to make sure the things that I would be mentioning had not been mentioned prior to this. My husband and I trap, so I wanted to offer some pieces of advice.

1.) If you ever see any coyote scat, usually like dog scat but with hair/fur in it, remove it as soon as you see it. Trappers actually collect scat off the trails and use it right next to traps in order to attract other coyotes, because they usually mark their food stashes like this. If one coyote sees that another has left a mark in the area, they will go "Hey, there is some sort of food source here."

2.) Look to see if there are any trapper's associations in your area. I know in our state, they provide a list of people that have permits and trap nuisance animals. Trappers around here are required to check their sets every day, so you won't have a predator sitting unnecessarily out there for days on end. Most of them will kill and remove the animal.

3.) Try to pick up stray feathers or possibly any pieces of fur floating around your yard- this is a visual stimulant for predators. I know you cannot do this all the time, but it is a good practice if you have some spare time.

These are just some quick thoughts that I hope may provide a bit of help. Please keep us updated on this situation.

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

Feathers. That's nice to know. I have 138 moulting birds and around 8 million feathers laying around all over the place! I'll rake them up tomorrow...