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

[okallthis4eggs]

We just lost our first chicken to a fox the other day. I went outside that morning, noticed the chickens were already let out by hubby, saw and counted only 11 chickens under our deck and felt that creepy ominous feeling. If only those 11 chickens could talk to us. Looked everywhere but couldn't find our missing hen. At the edge of our property near a brook I found a small pile of her feathers and chicken scratch marks in the dirt road indicating a fight. Only finding a pile of feathers usually indicates a fox. There was a small trail made through the grass into the woods. I couldn't find the den nor any more feathers. She's gone for good. The first chicken loss really hurts!! We love our little ladies, and the predators seem to take the favorite ones.

We live in 'rural suburbia'. We have a very secure coop for nighttime but our 12 girls (aged 21 weeks) free-range during the day. Hubby let them out too early (7:30am) and then he went inside and didn't keep an eye on them. Normally I let them out this time of year after 8:30am so that most night-predators have gone to bed, although we occasionally see a fox or an owl during the daytime. A neighbor did see a great horned owl that morning but I don't think that took my bird (though a GHO is capable of flying off with a 4lb chicken). If an owl took her, there would be no pile of feathers left behind. An owl kills quicker than a fox. Their talons are 10x stronger than human hands and death is immediate. Fox has to fight the chicken a bit (pile of feathers) and it cuts off the airway as it walks away with the neck in it's jaws. (Sorry if TMI.)

When our chickens are foraging we keep them away from the dirt road, away from the edge of the woods that faces the brook (lots of predators drink there) and we keep them together. We're not outside 100% of the time with them but we check them and walk around the yard every 20 minutes or so. For us that has worked, though other places may have higher predation risks.

Hope this info helps someone! Seems like losing chickens to a predator is a rite of passage for us all.

You seem pretty informed about predators so i'm sure you know that that if in fact that was a fox attack he will most likely return again for another one.

 

[Adenium]

We're out of luck on my area......we've seen foxes many times in broad daylight both in person and on our game cam. Doesn't matter that we're puttering around in the yard. This has even been at noon. Hence our chickens only roam if we are hovering over them which is limited time.

I guess we're lucky to have seen this before getting chickens but it is sad to have to limit their freedom. Wish our predators got the nocturnal memo.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Yes, if a nocturnal predator is really hungry it can hunt during the day, esp in early am or during overcast days.

 

[Sallysec]

So here is another question....my husband and I are throwing around ideas..the bottom of our coop will have a floor...so do we still need to burry hardware cloth? We have debated stapling hardware cloth to the flooring so that there is a layer...for two reasons...well three
1 the coop is next to an old tree with huge roots
2 we live in rockland county....it's really rocky here
3 the first two make us not want to dig at all...

Thoughts? Has anyone had a problem with chewing through the wall or floor?

 

[adgcountrygirl]

So far, I have never lost a bird to a predator in the coop. Our coop is an old dog kennel with hardware cloth wrapped top to bottom all the way around and across the dirt floor with a solid new tin roof. I have lost a few to my own dogs. The first time was because I had no idea my rooster was big enough to "jump" the fence. The second time was because I didn't think my dogs would be home so soon from their run to my parents' house and back. So, I usually say the first time I lost a rooster it was due to ignorance and the second time I lost a rooster it was due to stupidity.

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

Well i need to put a call into fish and game.... my guineas crippled a small hawk this morning. 6 guineas had the hawk pinned to the ground LOL

 

[Sallysec]

Well i need to put a call into fish and game.... my guineas crippled a small hawk this morning. 6 guineas had the hawk pinned to the ground LOL

What kind of hawk? Pictures?

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

Im not sure. Its smaller then a redtail tho. Its somewhere in my woods. Ive been outside for the last few hrs & i can hear it

 

[cheeka]

goshawk...? i have photos in another program, i'll have to dig them out later... see if it looks like it... they are smaller, darkish...

I took a foolish risk, thankfully it has a quiet and happy ending... i took a section of hw cloth off the portable run... and used it on the apple crate coop, but neglected to get around to cutting a new strip for the portable run... that bit was 80% blocked by the enclosure and the maple chunks, but the last 20% I blocked with tarp and netting. These pics are not so great, doesn't show the depth well... but I cannot believe that all 3 birds were still 100% perfect this morning...




the hole is huge. big enough for a small fox to easily wriggle it's way in. I'm still amazed... needless to say, the new sheet of hw cloth is cut (I needed a larger piece anyway, there was not enough skirt, but without it... yikes!) and attached and the winter vinyl is complete on the big enclosure and 80% complete on the portable run... ran out of daylight so I hooked a tarp to one side... it was too dark by the time i finished the small run to get a pic.

 

[Sixtexaskings]

I live in Texas where it seems like everything wants to kill everything. I have had a coyote come right up in my face and snatch a chicken that was so close I could have hit it with a rock. I have had owls come and try to snatch a peacock off a roof but have to drop it because it was to heavy and break its wing. Used to have coyotes come get my turkeys and guineas that went off to nest in our field.
I have tried a little bit of everything from traps to bullets. Best thing to date has been getting my Great Pyrenees. He is the bomb for night time. My female really hates birds of prey. Don't know how she is so smart because a crow can land somewhere and she wont care but a owl or hawk shows up on a telephone pole and she will stand there and bark till they get sick of her.
I love my GP"s