I had three Muscovy ducks set up on my pond. I didn’t feel the need to keep them locked up at night, so I let them roam free. But they stayed in the area. About a few weeks into this, which was a couple nights ago, one of my ducks shows up dead. With just a head, and two wings. I thought it was...
We had skunks that we think live under our shed because we see them walking around in the front lawn every other night. We also have 2 ducks that are about 4/5 months old a male pekin and a female roen duck. The skunks haven't been a problem so far but this morning I walk out into my front yard...
What is your preferred method of predator disposition and why? This excludes barrier enhancement and applies to predators who must be dealt with directly either by deterrents or hands-on methods. Do refrain from trying to proselytize others to your method or championing one view or the other...
I have a large coop under construction in an old barn. The siding could be better, when a predator goes through such a wall, what is the most challenging wall that a common varmint has overcome in your observations/experiences? I am not worried about bears. :)
Went out to collect eggs today and all the eggs that aren’t under a broody hen were cracked open, shells still there, no hurt chickens... what the??? Did a predator do this?? If so what would it be?? We have a livestock guardian dog, four roosters, two broodys in the coop round the clock and...
Hello BYC Community,
I've had three bear run through my property this year. The first two visited on the same day within two hours of each other. In broad daylight while everyone (myself, dog, cat, chickens) were outside. The larger of the two thought briefly about hitting up the coop, but for...
I lost 8 hens and 3 roosters to neighborhood dogs last year. The area is divided between the neighbors who refuse to contain their k9s and the neighbors who have to deal with it. The county animal control reccomended to me personally, "next time, shoot it and bury it and save a phone call. $0.35...
Well, it finally happened. Oh, um, moderately graphic. It's been several years since we've lost a bird to any predator, but apparently one has discovered us. My question is, what predator is small enough to fit through 2x4" welded wire fencing, (EDIT: I was wrong, this side of the yard is...
Chicks are 6 weeks old! We have been feeding them several times a day keeping thier feed dish full for the most part, however I'm realizing I have no idea how much food they should have, how long they can go between eating if we are out/sleeping, either now or when grown; and also now that they...
:( Hello all! I have some sad news... last night I came home and 7 of my hens were gone and 1 of my female ducks was gone. I had been away for the weekend and was having my neighbor do chores(he has done them multiple times) I am 100% positive that the night before they had all gotten locked up...
Not mine but my grandmother had 7 chickens all fully grown and laying and one rooster. About a week ago I got a call from her saying a predator had gotten her chickens all except 2. They had been eaten from the butt first. She got the two live ones inside a dog cage and waited for me to get over...
Yesterday I was cleaning the coop, putting all the old pine shavings in your basic 5 gallon bucket. I normally empty out the bucket in a little composting area in my backyard, but I guess I forgot to do that, because when I woke up today the bucket was near the coop, and it looks like an animal...
Greetings all. This is my first post but I have been keeping chickens for several years. Until today, I was raising a flock of 19 silkies (hatched Jan 2019) and one disgruntled frizzled Cochin. My chickens have been free ranging near their coop with plenty of protected spaces for the last two...
Hi everyone. I'm going to try and sum this up quickly. I'm fairly new to this and any advice would be extremely helpful.
We live next to the neighborhood pond in a one street subdivision. Its in the middle of a bunch of canefields and woods. So there are coyotes and raccoons etc.
Over the years...
A backstory for some context first off..
About a week ago now my entire flock disappeared, which is unusual but not unheard of. Only one pile of feathers from a single chicken and nothing else. Neighbor saw what they said was a fox (apparently they've never seen one so they weren't sure) but...
So far i have had two ducks taken by a fox in my neighborhood. The first was one of my two young muscovies back in November or December, and just yesterday one of my welshies (one of the 2 first ducks i ever got) was taken and she would have been 2 years old on September 5th. I think of my ducks...
Has anyone used an electric wire around their chicken coop?
We are building our coop and run now and we have many predators where we live. We live in northern Minnesota, and just recently we have had a 350-400lb black bear come to our front porch twice in search of bird seed. We take all our...
Hello!
Our chicks are ready to move to the coop and my husband is currently finishing everything up. I have multiple questions and have already found good information from previous posters but I wanted to see if there were any recent opinions that could be helpful. If anyone has input on ANY of...
Does anybody know what made these prints?
The space between each step if roughly 2 feet.
We live south of Dallas/Fort Worth, Tx.
We have coyotes(and a few stray dogs) in the area but (from the dogs we have seen) they are much smaller that what could have made these prints.