Are there seasons for predator attacks?

[aart]

We were building this beautiful big new coop and were just about ready to transition them but now we have a pretty coop and no chickens.

Build a big pretty, and secure, run too.
They need to be outside, even if you can't be.

 

[Spence62219]

I'm a relatively new chicken momma and we had 7 pretty ladies that free-ranged for the last year and never had a problem until winter...a coyote jumped the fence and snatched my prettiest Snow White lady. It was tragic to see but we because more vigilant about locking them up early evening until the morning. Fast forward to this weekend, and either a bobcat or coyote killed my entire flock...all of them were gone, just piles of feathers all over my yard. We were building this beautiful big new coop and were just about ready to transition them but now we have a pretty coop and no chickens. I didn't realize how devastated I would be and how much joy my ladies brought me and my family.

We are going on our honeymoon next week, so we ordered a bunch of new babies for when we get home and will keep them in the coop...unless we are in the yard with them. I just know me and I hate to keep animals in cages...so even though I don't want them to get killed I want them to enjoy their life.

Anyway...all you experienced chicken folks, do the predators come around more in the winter or all year?

I have the same problem and the chicken coop my wife had before was not helping so I went onto a website to see how to build a better chicken coop that can hold up to 20 chickens I found one that was helpful. I also had some left over retaining wall blocks and cinder blocks that I buried and then used cement to seal them together so no predators could did underneath. You can build the run area as big as you want so that they will have plenty of room to be free. Just an idea hope it helps. I have attached some pictures of the coop I used but did some modifications on it

 

[chickens really]

Winter here is pretty quiet. It's spring and summer when Fox and Coyotes have babies to feed. That's when I have issues with predator attacks.

 

[Vicker]

I've noticed with hawks and coyotes that they start coming around more when conditions have been extremely dry or excessively wet. These conditions impact their wild prey options and cause them to venture more onto our property. My hens definitely are healthier and more productive when allowed to free range. My current system is a mobile coop surrounded by electric poultry netting. I often let them roam free for a couple of hours before dusk when I can keep an eye on them. They return to the coop on their own to go to roost. I lost one to an owl when it lingered too long on top of the coop.

 

[cmom]

I have nice large pens for my birds. There is electric wire going around them, concrete under the gates and heavy duty netting covering them to protect them from hawks and owls. To keep the birds occupied, I put a flock block under each rain/shade table in case we get any rain.

 

[two j farm]

I have the biggest problem in the spring, with fox. I lose chickens every spring when free ranging. I was told its because they are having kits and looking for food for them.

 

[cmom]

I have the biggest problem in the spring, with fox. I lose chickens every spring when free ranging. I was told its because they are having kits and looking for food for them.

I agree. I'm trying to catch a coyote and a fox that not long ago killed some of my birds. I know they have to eat too, but not my birds...
This is a coyote last night.

 

[Trish1974]

@cmom Do you mind if I ask how the coyote and fox got your birds? I know you run hot wire so I'm curious if they found a way around it.

 

[cmom]

Recently something got one of the gates open to a grow-out coop and pen and killed 2 birds. I'm sure I latched the gate. The next morning when I went out the gate had been messed with again. I have a small piece of wire wired to the gate post on the inside of the gate and when I went out I could tell something had messed with the gate because the wire was now on the outside of the gate. It would take quite a bit of force to get the gate pushed past the wire. This time I had the gate wired shut so nothing was going to open it. I never found the bodies but did find piles of feathers. Not long after that I lost my very special Gladys to a fox. She was out I was painting the coops which isn't far from the gardens and the last time I saw Gladys she was dusting in one of the garden beds in the back yard. When I finished painting I went to look for her. I called and called her and usually when we would call her she would come running with her funny little run, she knew her name and would come when called. When she didn't come I then got worried but I was thinking hawk maybe. I searched and searched until I found a big pile of feathers but never found her body. I still miss her every day.

 

[cmom]

The coyote must have gotten shocked by the electric wire because the part by the gate was knocked down. I'm not certain it was a coyote because I had seen a coyote and a fox around the coop.