Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[itsasmallfarm]

We have so many coons and coyotes where i live i really don't have a proplem with dispatching a few. However i only dispatch and trap when the fur is in season or should i say prime. I think its the smart thing to do. Coon brings in about 15 a pelt and coyote was going for around 100+ dollars. That pays for some feed if you ask me.

 

[Farming Feathers]

I like knowing people that care about life and care of animals...very refreshing to me...thanks so much.

 

[Latitude33]

Haven't had predator problems... yet. I am most definitely in the heart of suburbia but can tell you from experience that urban wildlife seems craftier than their cousins in the wild. Locally, there are coyotes, skunks, opossums, hawks, osprey and dogs.

 

[vikingchickens]

RACCOONS! We had an extremely hard time trapping and figuring out how he was getting in. Every time we would think we had safely caged the chickens in for the night, sure enough we would go out the next morning he had gotten more. He never got any that were in the coop, but we had cages (that had young chickens in them) in the "run" are that was all fenced in and he had gotten the young ones. He ended up getting a total of 13 :*( Our coop is connected to an out door run type thing and it is completely fenced in. The fence is even dug a few feet into thee ground to prevent digging animals in. It also has netting over the top so they didn't fly out. We finally caught him and had a video camera out there and found out how he was getting in. He was HUGE. And he could manage to get into the trap get the bait chicken we would set it in, and NOT set the trap off. My dad had to TIE the chicken to the back of the trap. What a bad experience. But we learned from it and now we know how to keep them 100% safe.

we are unfamiliar with having a totally enclosed run but needing traps with bait chickens. since we are trying to figure out how to protect large number of what are now free ranging gamehens that sleep in trees, please tell us more!

 

[lilmarie84]

I have lost one to a opossum and one to a raccoon so far
So I guess for me its a tie between those 2

 

[EveCh]

It depends on how you keep your birds. I've lost birds to just about everything on that list. But personally birds of prey (hawk/owl etc.) are the worst. Mainly because it's very hard to protect chickens from them unless you have a topped run. I have 1/3 acre 'yard' for my couple dozen birds so a top is not a reality. While I have lost to other predators, those losses have gone down significantly once we limited free range to 1/3 acre with a good fence and the farm dogs now live at the barn the coop/yard is attached to. When I suspect issues (the neighbor lost 10 birds in a night) I put one of the dogs in the yard/coop for a couple nights. Knock on wood, outside losses by hawks, it's been over a year since other losses.

 

[Scratchychiken]

The predator I have lost most of my chickens have been to coons, Some hawks, but coons seem to be the major offender.

 

[Junglefowlboss]

Man is the biggest predator out there to anything out on the list. I mean if you really think about it we mass produce chickens. We raise the chickens and when we screw up and get some chickens killed we blame the predators. But its our fault for not taking the right measures to protect our animals. You cant tell me we are less of a threat than any of those predators on a list. Lol. Still love chickens and raising them. Btw I recommend getting a goose or some ducks. The bigger the bird the less chance some predator will try to kill it. Yes they may still go for it but it helps. My ducks scare of the hawks. Havent lost one to them this year.

 

[happyfrenchman]

I would go with dogs..... they kill more chickens than any predators combined. Hawks kill one here and there.... if a racoon gets in your coop, it will kill them all. Foxes will kill one or two. Not often. But dogs have to be the number one in my book. I have heard stories of peoples own dogs killing their chickens. Neighbors dogs, stray dogs.... they will attack in broad daylight and they act like it is a game.

 

[two j farm]

I lost 40 chickens and 2 ducks in one night to my own dog. I have lost a few to a Fox and opossum.