predators

I noticed this morning I was missing a Pekin. I went looking in the woods and all I found was a pile of white feathers. No blood, no bones. There was a pile of scat next to it that I'm trying to ID. It appears to have persimmon seeds in it. What animal would leave only a pile of feathers? :(

I have been having multiple problems with chicks/eggs/baby rabbits being killed and eaten straight from the cages and coop! I just recently got 10 chicks from My Pet Chicken. And put them outside in a unused rabbit cage. This rabbit cage has wiring around it that is 1/2 inch by 1 inch. Plus all...

We have an automatic door for the coop. I only had 7 to begin with as were just starting out. They are 18 weeks old today. I had my original 3 cockerels and 4 hens. We were letting nature do it’s thing and let the head honcho choose his victims instead of picking them off ourselves...

We lost two of our sweet pullets yesterday to neighborhood coyotes. We believe a coyote jumped our back chain link fence (the rest of the perimeter is a 6 ft tall wooden fence). I didn't think a coyote could jump a fence, but the feathers on the grass / coyote peeking in proved me wrong! We...

As part of my flock, I had 2 male Pekin ducks. They were kept in a separate fenced in area (within the main fence) as they would try and mate with my chickens a lot. My chickens and geese are in coops at night, and we were working on getting a coop for the ducks as well. I've not had any real...

I am aware that there is no way to know but I am curious if I can reach a likely consensus. Here is the scenario. Our friends recently moved to a city that would not allow them to keep chickens and they gifted us with their coop and a 13-hen flock. We knew it was going to be a week or better...

Hi! Our new run has an apron of HW cloth extended from the sides, laid on shallowly excavated ground about 12”. On top, but extending past the edge of the HW cloth, are 7” x 10” pavers. On top of all that, soil (a few inches at most) and somewhat haphazard sod. All that worries me is the...

I'm posting my story here as a warning to others who may not consider squirrels as predators. I had 20 two-week-old chicks in the coop separated from the older layers in what was supposed to be a secure area. A red squirrel managed to squeeze through a very small space above the door, killed...

Hi all, a few days ago we introduced our inaugural round of chicks to their new coop... AND shortly thereafter spotted a mother black bear and her cubs nearby our property (of course we'd never seen any before until now!). We've read that the chicken feed is what would likely draw them towards...

Hello! Long time listener, first time caller. I have (had?) 15 pullets that are exactly 5 months old today. In fact, we got our first egg today! They like to live dangerously, and have been free ranging for the last two months with no major issues. Yesterday, one of the barred rocks vanished...

I have 5 male guinea, 1 rooster, and 9 chickens and 7 female guineas, the girls all get along, after I gave the boys their own space. I bought them all together and this July they will all be a year old! Party! Does the sound of the guineas help keep predators down, I don't mean owls, I mean the...

Ok, so here's my situation- Right now I have two 2-1/2 week pullets and two 1/2 week old pullets. They're housed separately right now, and we're planning to introduce them to each other pretty soon, and hopefully have them all outside in the coop by very late April/early May. While we still...

Hi! We moved to central NY State last summer and are getting our very first day-old chicks within a week. I have an indoor room set up with the brooder and all necessary supplies and feel like an expectant mother...are the eggs laid yet, etc. Very excited! Also have questions about predator...

Hi, I have 6 six week old guinea fowl. 1st time guinea fowl owner (or any other farm animal lol) At the moment, they are in my workshop. I've created a run for them and sleeping area with heat lamps. They are running around, flying around and seem to be wanting to be roaming outside. They are...

Ignore the loss of eggs for a minute...all of my goose eggs plus some of the chicken eggs. For a week now, something has been going into the chicken run and killing one to two chickens per day. It doesn't eat much or any, for that matter. It would slit the throat, open the neck and sometimes...

Ive just seen a post about a rooster who doesn't protect the flock and runs away when a dog/fox/something that scares him appears amongst them. I feel the poster was rather too harsh on his cockrel, asking what use is he and calling him a coward ! A male's purpose, regardless of species is, in...

Hi, I am new to raising poultry and have been raising chickens (4+ 1 rooster) since July now. I am now eagerly awaiting a larger addition of Chicks, ducklings and Emden goslings to our flock. The question is about the geese. I just read that Embden geese were not for beginners, esp. The males...

Hello everybody & good morning. I just recently decided to join this page to ask a specific question to you all. Even though I have never joined before I have used this site and everybody's comments for help with questions I've had in the past. But I am so stressed out I need my own question...

We live in a county island, where the surrounding areas are city streets and buildings. When we moved in we had some fox attacks, and I thought being in a county island, there should be only a few foxes, so if I trap and remove all of them, I should be at peace. First one was easy, it fell for...

Well, I wanted to now what life's like for everyone here during this time of year. Feel free to comment (including hate about raccoons) :) - Button Quail 123