Always hear about predator problems. why not me? (PICS)

[Debbi]

Yup, you're living on borrowed time. If you have Cooper's hawks you will eventually lose some to them. The Cooper's don't need a long swoop and dive flight plan. They can drop out of the sky like a rock, and their best hunting is in the woods, chasing birds through the trees. That table isn't going to stop them one bit! They don't need to be able to take off with the bird either, they will shred their prey right there where they hit it! One dog can't be everywhere, all the time, and the cat won't deter him either. I have 10 cats that live outside and are terrific hunters, but the Cooper's will swoop them and birds in the yard right in front of them! Your turn for predation is soon coming my friend, sad, but true. Take precautions now..

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
I sure hope you're kidding when you refer to that coon as your "little friend"! You are courting disaster there, and you are making them fearless when it comes to humans. See the "stink eye" he is giving you?? He is saying, "ok lady, no house? How about I eat your little pink chicken??" Sharing with your chickens now, will turn into tearing into your chickens later! See this thread that popped up, you are headed in that direction. Please don't feed the wild coons!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=420239

 

[teach1rusl]

I think it's a combination of preventative measures and luck. Many folks don't use a fence...you do. Many folks don't have a chicken friendly dog wandering around...you do. Many people don't lock their chickens in at night...you do. While your place is out in the open, there's lots of structures around for the birds to hide in/under when flying predators are about, and as you pointed out, those structures would actually deter hawks and such from swooping in.
But luck is probably on your side too. I'd guess that the woods and the fields are providing enough food for the predators to make it NOT worth their while to risk it. A starving animal won't care about the fences (climb right over or swoop right down...dog nearby or not), so your predators must be fat and happy.
Our dogs are frequently out and about, our property is fenced, and we have lots of shelter-like areas for our birds, we always close up the coop at night, and we have not been victim of any attacks either. I try not to take it for granted, though, always keeping in the back of my miind that it could happen.

ETA: substitute "duck" for "chicken" lol

 

[Ridgerunner]

I grew up back in the hills. Our chicken coop was in a pasture pretty near a woodland with plenty of fruit trees in the immediate vicinity. Plenty of cover for a predator. We never locked our chickens up. We would go years in between attacks, then a fox, dog, something would find them and have to be dealt with. Sometimes we had a dog. Sometimes we did not. We had hawks and owls all around but never lost one to either as far as I know. Your circumstances have something to do with it. So does luck.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Ditto. I don't tempt fate by saying its never gonna happen.

 

[Naughty]

I have been lucky so far too - but I also have a very annoying lil yapper dog that makes a lot of noise all day - and my birds are in a coop at night - although it is not locked up - once they roost - they stay in - and are up high - so praying that is enough. I worry mostly about stray cats in the area - but so far so good. i live in the country - so I pray my luckholds out - my fence is good and sturdy

hoping to get a coop of some sort for them next spring - with a good solid door and roosts for the night time - during the day I dont think anything can get them - my dog wont let em... plus the dogs next door has a fence that butts up next to the coop - so they bark alot - and scare things - even if they can't get to the chickens (hardware cloth all around that side.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

I dont usually have attacks were all my birds are killed, the odd one goes missing once every few months but thats about it.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

"you can see stacks of heavy buckets against the door inside the mootel"

They probably don't come around because they see those guns of yours!!

 

[Criskin]

Quote:
I agree. Sometimes you don't realize the protection your dogs provide. I have a fenced in yard surrounded on three sides by a wooded area. I never had a problem with predators until I had to find a new home for my two medium sized dogs a few weeks ago. I didn't think of them as guard dogs...it seemed like all they did was poo in the yard, lick any stranger who came near them and sleep. They did prefer to be outdoors, though, so they were always in the yard. Then a few days after they were gone I had a huge raccoon on my enclosed back porch trying to get into my brooder! Thank goodness for my cowardly little dachshund/beagle mix who stood at the door and barked his head off until we went out and checked. Of course, he could care less about protecting the chickens and just wanted someone to protect him while he went to potty, but all the same, I realized my previously adequate chicken security needed a serious revamp.

 

[Caincando1]

Quote:
Count your blessings.... Sorry I couldn't resist.


I've been lucky but the fact that I keep 7 hunting dogs in very close proximity to my chickens helps.