please help! i need to know what animals can be used for protection from preditors!?!

[Casandra]

I have a major problem. . . Well multiple problems actually. I have started to see a lot of snakes in my yard around my coop. So I need some suggestions about what animal will help that. And I have something killing off my hens. I found the wing of one of my americana pullets today and found my biggest hen dead yesterday. Whatever it is has tore up the fence my young pygmy kids are in. I need to find out what I could do to stop this preditor. Any info about methods and animals that can chase away this mystery preditor. Any and all info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[JumpingMouse]

Hmm did you make sure to bury your fencing? if so by how much? you might add some logs or large pieces of rock around the base so that nothing can pull it up and it would take longer to dig under plus the fencing would help alot. On the snakes...hmm that is a pickle the only natural predator of the snake here in Idaho is hawks they eat the snakes like candy but prob not a good option to have around the chicks.... good luck I'll let you know if I think of anything.

 

[salunra]

I don't know about the snakes.... But I have a great pyreneese dog and I don't see any sort of predators in my yard. They don't want to mess with her, and she is super good with the chooks.

 

[kitten6566]

How big are the holes in the fencing? If they are more than 2 inches a weasel could fit through that.

 

[jak2002003]

Snakes are not a danger to you birds, unless you have small chicks. The snake would have to be huge to eat a full grown chicken.

Some kinds of snakes will eat chicken eggs, but these are few and far between and a egg eating snake would only eat one egg about every 1 - 2 weeks, so it would not really affect you egg production.

I would recommend you discourage the snakes though, in case you have any poisonous ones that might be a danger to you. I live in rural Thailand and we get many snakes. including king cobra. The best thing to do is make sure you keep all you grass and surrounding vegetation very short so you can easily see if the snake is about. Then remove anything that the snake could use to shelter under such as old wood, sacks and rubbish. Keep everything tidy and there is no place for a snake to call home.

As to the predator that make that hole. That sound a concern. Have you got a dog? A barking dog would alert you to something happening - then you could see the predator in action and take action accordingly.

 

[JimyCrakKorn]

I have a major problem. . . Well multiple problems actually. I have started to see a lot of snakes in my yard around my coop. So I need some suggestions about what animal will help that. And I have something killing off my hens. I found the wing of one of my americana pullets today and found my biggest hen dead yesterday. Whatever it is has tore up the fence my young pygmy kids are in. I need to find out what I could do to stop this preditor. Any info about methods and animals that can chase away this mystery preditor. Any and all info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The snake problem can be handled using deer netting. See pictures below. We have many deer around here and my wife hates them. I usually just put up deer netting to try and keep them away from her plants. But on many occasions, where the netting was too close to the ground, we have found snakes tangled in the netting. Some were still alive and good snakes so I cut them out. Many were dead by the time I found them. See pictures below. He was over 5 feet long with a head big enough to eat an egg. Once they get their head in the netting, they can not back out, so they try going further in, which means they just get more tangled. The rolls are cheap but very effective.

Good Luck.

 

[LR Gamefarm]

it's totally a coon they pull chickens through the fence i say for predator problems a large breed dog i have a rott that keeps predators away