Coyotes!

[HMK123]

Yesterday morning hubby was sitting up at the computer and heard the chickens making a commotion. He looked out the window and saw a coyote at the fence.

He bounded down the stairs “in about 3 steps,” put our Rottie on a leash and they chased it away. Unfortantly we lost one of our 12 hens. We have the hens behind a net fence but have never had a problem before so have not electrified it. The coyote did not even get inside the fence the chicken we lost appeared to have flown out of the fenced area (never do normally so she must have started.)

Last night we heard them much closer to the house then normal and our dog was sniffing right around our foundation and seemed upset this morning. So I guess we have been found. We are buying a charger for our fence today and it will be powered before the chickens are allowed out again. Hubby wants to use step in posts around the outside of our pen with an electric wire “and stick a hotdog to it!”

I am afraid that the fence may not work, even electrified, if the chickens decide to fly over it!

 

[amazondoc]

You'd better put a top on the chicken yard. Even if the chickens don't fly out, the coyotes can jump in!

 

[AllChookUp]

Yep, I agree - Put a heavy-duty wire ceiling on the chicken run. Electrifying the fence sounds like a good idea as well.

 

[HMK123]

How high can they jump? Our fence is 4' high...

Problem with putting a top on the yard is that we rotate it 3 or 4 times a year so they have fresh ground, and then...

We live in a national park so any thing we do in our yard (I mean ANYTHING like putting in flowers!) needs to get approval and for built things that can take months! That is one of the reasons we use a portible poultry netting...

Are there any options other then a top? We do lock them inside at night... I'd hate to think they have to stay in their coop half the summer...

 

[Chirpy]

We have tons of coyote here. Thankfully we have a big dog that stays our all night and patrols our property. He won't let them in our place and thus far they haven't been able to sneak on (it's been six years).

I have a friend who had a covered chicken run but was only five feet high. She had covered it with chicken wire over the top. She kept finding the wire bent and damaged and then one morning was missing several chickens and there was a hold in the top of the chicken wire. A day later she actually saw a coyote up on top, jumping up and down against the wire to make another hole and then jumped down into the pen, grabbed a chicken and took off with it!

That was her last chicken.

So - whatever you cover your run with make sure it's really good. Coyotes are very persistant if they are left alone to keep trying.

 

[HMK123]

Does not sound good...

 

[Chirpy]

Doesn't sound good but you can keep your chickens safe. Go with a good fencing wire over the top and use electric wire around it to double the safety feature.

Good luck.

 

[HMK123]

But it will be months before I could build that... So are my poor birds doomed to be inside until then?

 

[yotetrapper]

this is a tricky subject. My pen is coyote resistant, but not coyote proof. It's 5 feet high, but currently is not fenced in (that will be changed with our new renovations). Letting your chickens out in the daytime is a crap shoot. I'd like to say that if out only in the daytime, and not too early or too late (think 9am to 4pm) you "might" not lose anymore. Get them in well before dusk. But keep in mind that yes, you may lose a bird or two. If losing an occasional bird is out of the question for you, then by all means keep them inside until you construct a coyote proof pen.

Another option: Most likely your killer is one coyote. Not to say that others might not kill as well if they know of the place, but right now I'd say the one coming back is only one. Eliminate that one with guns or traps IF you are allowed with your national park restrictions.

 

[amazondoc]

Heck, even my dobermans can jump a 4 foot fence if they really want to. Coyotes can easily clear 6 feet to get something they want. Supposedly, some have been seen jumping as high as TEN feet.

Trust me -- get a large outside dog, or cover your chicken yard!