We are in a rural area, surrounded by farmland, grassland, sloughs, and groves. We have coons, possums, coyotes, skunks, mink, hawks and eagles as our major predators. We see them on the road, in the ditches, pretty much everywhere. They have plenty of room to roam without being near our buildings. Any of the above-mentioned animals (except for the hawks and eagles, of course) that venture that close dies. Coons die because they are a general nuisance - not only the threat to the chickens, but they can decimate a sweet corn patch in a night. Possums die because of the disease they carry that my horses could catch. Skunks because they are the main carriers of rabies around here, and coyotes because there are way too many of them. One of these days I'll get the game cam going. I might be putting it into my coop to see what's sneaking in and eating the eggs if I don't get out there several times a day to pick them. I'm guessing one of our barn cats. Since the coop's not secured, I don't blame the cat. They're good for rodent control.
