predators

Hi All, we are fairly new to poultry ownership, with 2-5 mo old chickens, ducks, and guinea fowl. They are in a secure coop with a run surrounding it. We live in fairly rural Oklahoma with prairie and oak forest bordering the coop, so predators include hawks, raccoons, coyotes, foxes, bobcats...

I went out to shoo my 5wo chicks into the coop tonight because they don't follow the hens up there. They just hunker together down in the darkness. So I'm out there in the run and I sense some movement. Up in the framing for the roof there are 3 small rats just waiting for their moment! I...

Long story not very short, here. In the past, we've built our runs with chicken wire extending down into the ground and along parallel to the surface a foot or so down. When we were out west, we didn't have any large wild rodents, skunks, coyotes/wolves or predatory snakes to worry about, just...

We are planning a 25’X40’ open coop inside our metal pole barn. I’ve been stalking this site for all things chickens and have found so much info!! My question is - can we safely use 3’ high pallet walls around the bottom of the coop, and then use chicken wire from there to the ceiling 9+ feet...

Today was the first time that my husband and I have seen a raccoon on our property. It was around 6am this morning, and once the raccoon saw our chickens out (we have 6 sex link hens), the raccoon started gradually getting closer. I put the chickens up at 6:30 to get ready for work, but went...

I am brand new to raising chickens. We moved to a house with 2 acres that already had a chicken coop. Since our three year old son is obsessed with animals we bought him some chickens from Tractor Supply at Easter. We bought 8. One died after a couple days and two got eaten by the dogs before we...

hi guys! So I incubated and hatched 6 ducklings this spring. They’re my little babies but they’re getting big now and I’m moving Them to their hutch outside soon. I have a secure hutch for them to be locked in at night. The whole area is going to be fenced in for them during the day. Hardware...

I apologize in advance for the copious use of pictures in this post. I am hoping to find help in determining the weak spot in my coop/run. The history is this: My son and I turned the play house / swing set into a coop and run about 5 years ago. One of the design flaws as far as I was concerned...

So something went through my chicken wire to get to my chickens last night? It pulled one of my younger chicks out through it and killed her. What kind of predator will break chicken wire to get to my chickens? Is there something I can do to keep them away, will a stronger wire help or an animal...

Coop is pretty well protected except at the bottom of the walls. What can i do to keep animals from digging under bottom of walls? Thanks

I rescued 25 Muscovies and Rouens last year. This spring there are many nests. 2 nests hatched 4 and 8. Those have all disappeared one by one. The moms were not great and didn’t watch them closely. Those were Rouen moms. Now 3 Muscovies have hatched batches of 4, 11, and 14. My dilemma is.... do...

Hi there! I need a really good idea for a bomb-proof shelter for turkeys, something that keeps OUT predators. We are somewhat handy, but not much. I lost one of my dear turkey hens the other day to a badger attack. But there was not much we could do as she decided to go around the side of...

I lost 3 of my 8 hens last night to a pack of coyotes, 2 Light Brahma and my Rhode Island Red. I grew up on a farm so not really new to this per say but our girls are more like family pets roaming (and pooping) the yard. So this hit pretty hard :(, especially that I went down to close the gate...

So as the title states, my broody Turkey hen got ran off her nest. She had a nice quiet spot under our oakleaf hydrangeas. Not sure what ran her off, but it ate all but two eggs. I know turkeys are fickle. Do you think she'll try to sit the remaining eggs or should I go ahead and incubate them...

I dither around about letting my girls free range and being a helicopter chicken keeper. We're in a busy suburban area of a major city but we have a full complement of predators: racoons, dogs, coyotes and hawks. Today, because our days are getting longer I was going to let my girls out...

Looking for help/ideas to keep my ducks safe! I have 5 ducklings right now in my detached garage in a nice big pen. They are khaki cambells! I am new to parenting any type of bird and want to make sure these guys are safe! I am building a new home for them once they outgrow the pen. I have...

I woke up to that awful sound, that terrible fox bark/scream. I threw open the windows and started yelling, “Get the :mad: out of here you stupid fox!” I am sure the neighbors loved that. I know we have foxes, that’s not new but to hear them out there and know my girls were out there...that was...

Here are some things I do to keep my flock safe from predators. 1. Always have a protective rooster in the flock. Just try to keep it from getting aggressive to humans 2. Always remember to shut your coop/run door at night. 3. If you have hawk problems, try putting a net over their ranging area...

So, this is the first time I’m trying backyard chickens. I’ve had chickens all my life but I lived in the middle of nowhere, so I had room for a closed coop. I’ve just set up a fenced off area in my large backyard. My 3 australorps and 3 black sex links have a small coop that’s used for sleeping...

I am building my first chicken coop and am trying to decide to put the wire inside the wood horizontally or vertically our outside horizontally or vertically. I live in a high predator area so aesthetically inside would look better but want to get max protection. What are you thoughts?