Bob Cat Kill?

[DepotMudilk]

A month ago I lost 2 of my hens to what I thought was a coyote. The chickens jumped over the fence of their pen and I found a pile of their feathers about 150' apart against the fence line. We found our rock half eaten and buried in very dense woods along with many burrows. A few days ago this bobcat walked through my yard So im assuming thats what killed them. Any suggestions on how to keep my flock safe? Is it eventually going to jump over the fence and try to catch them that way? We installed a hotwire on the top and bottom of the fence but I don't like leaving it on all the time.

 

[thomasboyle]

I had a bobcat take some ducks and guineas early this summer, so I set up an electric net fence around their yard. This allows the birds to get some free range time and stay safe. I was disappointed they could no longer roam all over the yard, but that was the price to pay to keep them safe.

Any reason you don't want to keep the fence turned on?

 

[DepotMudilk]

I also have 2 ducks, a pekin & what i think is a Swedish blue mix. The fence is in a wooded area and its been a rainy season so it becomes very conductive. Im afraid the lizard population has taken a hit. The chickens like them tho. Did you ever find remains or caches? I saw a coyote in the yard several months ago so that's why I thought it was a coyote to begin with

 

[thomasboyle]

When I lose ducks, I never find anything, just a missing duck when it comes time to put them away for the evening. Mallards don't seem to lose feathers easily. With the guineas, I usually find a explosion of feathers, and then a trail of feathers through the woods / underbrush that leads to another pile of feathers. Its as if the bird gets caught and is carried a ways, and then another fight ensures before being carried off for good. Its very discouraging to lose a bird like that.

Since setting up the electric net fence two months ago, I have only lost one bird, one of my two roosters. From the evidence, it appears he flew over the fence to confront the attacker. There was no explosion of feathers, just a trail of feathers through the underbrush. When I lost him, I spent the next day clearing the woods / brush back another 15' to make it harder for any predators to sneak up on the birds.

 

[Kev]

from experience, YES to fence.. it is no barrier to them. I have 6 foot chain link fence, metal posts and no top rail and they get over this.

The birds simply disappeared either completely or only one or two small clumps of feathers. Some carcasses turned out to be buried IN my yard(one acre, only one bush and was just one foot tall grasses in the back) but were covered so well they were invisible and found only by smell a couple days later....

Other signs were very clean cuts to bones, bones licked pretty clean, basically a neat round hole on the carcasses.

 

[linetangler]

Need a top to that fence if possible. I've seen a bobcat jump a easy 7ft in a tree while I was predator hunting