Tell How Predators Got Your Chickens. Save Somebody Else From The Bad Experience

[daviechik]

three were pulled out in their sleep from being left accidentally overnight in their tractor (they typically get put up in a house at night) that has chicken wire by raccoons (read chicken wire is good for NOTHING besides keeping chickens IN, not predators out. we have set traps and caught multiple raccoons on our property (all are released at another location)

one (today) we believe got into rat poison while truly free ranging (vs in their tractor where they are protected)

 

[okallthis4eggs]

We live on 3 acres right outside of town. I went home for lunch at 1130am today like I do every day. I saw a strange dog in the goat pen. Then I looked-dead chickens everywhere. I did call 911. The police officer said they would look for the dog. We had about 70 chickens free ranging. I only found about 15 alive chickens. Rounded them up and put in the pen and shut the door. I did note that a few were "missing". Do you think if any more are alive they will "come home" to roost this evening? We were afraid to try to process them because we did not know if there was something wrong (with the dog that killed them) or not.

I'm betting some will come back this evening. I would watch for them so they are not locked out tonight. The rest of the predators come out at night so they don't need that. Let us know it will be interesting to see how many come back.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

three were pulled out in their sleep from being left accidentally overnight in their tractor (they typically get put up in a house at night) that has chicken wire by raccoons (read chicken wire is good for NOTHING besides keeping chickens IN, not predators out. we have set traps and caught multiple raccoons on our property (all are released at another location)

one (today) we believe got into rat poison while truly free ranging (vs in their tractor where they are protected)

Those coons will get thru that chicken wire if they want in. Replace it with "hardware cloth" and your coon problem is over.(provided you lock them in behind it). With all due respect catching coons and releasing them elsewhere is like trying to fill up a bucket with a hole in it. When a area reaches a carrying capacity of any type animal they move to other areas to find food and shelter. So as long as you give them the opportunity to continue to multiply regardless of where its at eventually they or their offspring will find their way back to you. If you can't dispose of them then just work on making your tractor "coon proof" and let them live in harmony.

 

[mandyree]

When I got home from work yesterday afternoon, there were 10 more showed up. Poor things all frightened and scared to death. So 28 out of 70 survived. We will be leaving them in the coop while we are at work. Will let them out when we are at home and can watch them.

 

[appps]

On this same theme so hope its okay to ask here but how high can a dog or fox jump?

We have a six foot fence but one day a cattle dog jumped it and ran round the yard a couple of times then jumped out again. Now we have chooks and that tall fence of a day doesn't seem quite as safe as it used to.

Wondering how much height to add to it (only for daytime free ranging)

 

[Mikedero]

Coons are a serious problem. Their numbers are out of control in many areas if not most areas. Not many natural predators who prey on coons. Hunting and trapping them has declined. So the numbers go unchecked. Don't hesitate to take out a problem coon. It is more humane than rabies, distemper, or starvation the method mother nature uses to control populations of unchecked animals in the wild.

You are NOT kidding with that statement over the last 7 months I have put down 22 raccoons. Now dont get me wrong I love to have the fur to tan but I thought we might have 3-4 but 22.

It was 18 for 6 motnhs and for 2 months nothing showed up in our traps checked daily then over the last 2 weeks we caught 4 more.
We use these for a trap as it will only catch raccoons

they are pretty cheap to you can buy like 6 of them for 30 bucks or so. it is not a kill trap but a leg hold trap. I always put them down as in CT we are not allowed to relocate and if you do relocate it has to be at 15 miles away as they have a great ability to come right back to their area.

 

[Mikedero]

When I first knew I would be a chicken mom, I read as much Backyard Chickens material as I could inhale, then set about to build a secure home and run for chicks I didn't even have yet. Predators at my home which backs up to a riparian creek area are skunk, 'possum, racoons, hawks, beavers, snakes, dogs, and two-legged troublemakers. My cat has never been a problem, nor has any of the feral cats that occasionally drop by.

My coop is 8x8x8 built on a concrete slab. Nothing can dig under it The coop has welded wire coverings over the ventilation on both sides at the roof line, an automatic pop-door that "little fingers" cannot open at night should anything get inside the run area. The attached run is 8x40 and the welded wire is buried in concrete 24" deep. Knock on wood, I have never had predators try to get my girls in all these 5 years, even though I have trapped numerous skunks, 'possums and racoons when observing their presence. Hawks fly down the corridor of the year around creek in my backyard, but don't stop for a second look since I'm standing outside with a rake in hand during the one hour at dusk that the girls get to go "out to play". The power lines at the rear of my property seems to help deter hawks as well.

Here are some pictures:



Besides being buried 24" in concrete, one side has a planter as an additional barrier.



The bottom 12" of the inside of the run is lined with ripple roof plastic mostly to keep the sand from being kicked out of the run. This also serves as an additional shield from "whatever" might lurk around.



Two entry gates have red brick pavers in front of them to prevent diggers.



The run is covered by a tin roof and a bit of shade cloth to keep the girls dry in the winter and cool in the summer.


Inside the run the girls are happy and have lots of room to play and climb while I'm at work.



Broody box inside the henhouse. Safe enough to use cardboard.


Happy and safe girls makes lots of eggs!









It made sense to me to build a secure place for my girls to prevent heartache down the road. Not to say something couldn't happen, but at least I have done all that is humanly possible to prevent an accident.

this has to be one of the best ideas I have seen thanks for posting it awesome

 

[Guinea Makenna]

A Chicken snake is also called a Rat snake because that is what they eat when they can not get to chicken eggs. They are my biggest fear; I live in rural East Texas too the same as Lightning TFarm. If there were no snakes, hawks, coyotes, or racoons, I could relax a bit. But there are so I am struggling with coop ideas and a safe run for my little guineas and chicks.

Guinea Makenna

 

[LightningTFarm]

I have put 1/2" welded wire on the sides of the run, up 4 ft high. The house has a concrete floor. I've still found and killed two rat snakes this year, both over 4 ft long. Luckily the ducks are too big now for the snakes to eat them (I lost several ducklings last year), but they go after the eggs. It's amazing how small a crack they can get into. I know some people advocate catching and relocating them, but they will come back unless you take them over 10 miles away. I am a "live and let live" kind of person, right up until I catch something in my duck house!! We now keep a long pair of barbeque tongs in the duck house to use for grabbing snakes by the head when they've climbed up into the rafters. I absolutely hate snakes, but luckily my daughter doesn't mind them and will come running when she hears me yell! I keep a shovel handy and chop their heads off, but snakes are creepy and keep moving even after you've cut them in half. Yuck!!!

 

[JordanFamily]

I had my chickens in a 20x30 x 6 feet tall run. I had pig or cattle paneling over the top. The **** raccoons would kill the chicken and climb the fence to the top and pull it through the paneling and take it off to eat it. So I started trapping and killed 8 coons and 4 opossums in 1 week. I started putting the chickens in the shut coop at night to and have not lost one since