Chickens acting very strange.....

[Chickens4Life101]

And how did that work out for you?

It kept them away until today. We are 100% sure to lock them up tomorrow.

 

[Suzi18]

It kept them away until today. We are 100% sure to lock them up tomorrow.

That's a great idea!

 

[50-45-1]

We have considered electric fencing, but how much does it cost??

Its the price that you will pay in order to protect and preserve your flock. Period.
If not, you might as well rehome them on craigslist.
The fox/coyote are not going to stop until they have taken your last bird.

 

[WunnySharbit]

To answer your thread's question: Your birds are freaking out because they no longer have their leader. They are yelling : hey, HEY do we come out now? hey, HEY where do we eat today? hey, HEY I saw something moving HEY is that moving thing OK, leader, LEADER, tell us what to do. They will eventually select a new flock leader and settle down. However, they will continue to freak out until the chicken elected "security guard" will check it out (the security guards are usually the ones taken first because they stop and look, then chomp). I have also noticed that they will continue to holler ("alert") if a predator is still nearby. They are calling security--at this point You- your voice, body language--to tell them it's OK.

It also sounds like some canine mating pairs have moved into your area. Your coop/run will need to be Fort Knox before the pups are born or you've just opened the local buffet.

Sorry I can't help more; I've had more than my fair share of preds this last year and I have no advice whatsoever.

 

[jsr5]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004RA0N/?tag=backy-20

I use this to cover large areas I can't afford metal wire over. it will keep hawks out if the area is really big you can get pretty good hawk and owl protetection doing it in alternating sections of open and netted.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HHO9EE/?tag=backy-20 use this fence charger. one pen is aluminum electric fence wire and the other is a nylon cord with aluminum fillaments in it to carry the charge. not very expensive at the farm supply store or you could order that online too. Get insulators you can atttach to you enclosure I use the Nail/screw on type since my enclosures are wood framed they also have them for metal fence post and for the special electice fence posts your call on what to run. I run one ar 4 to 6 inches from ground and another 12 to 14 inches above that. because I have had a coon get in from the over hanging trees onto the coop roof and then on top of my fully enclosed run and then through a gap I didn't even know was there I am going to expand that and go along top edge of my run and run side roof edge to prevent that. That charger will power quite a bit of wire so go crazy with it. It is small but effective. it has even killed a possum that got his tail tangled up in the nylon fence wire. it is a cost effective solution for a run size are at least they won't have to stay in the coop. but they may have to stay in the run for a while for predators to learn that coming near them hurts.

 

[jsr5]

also just as an aside make sure you go out there a lot as much as you can make sure your scent is everywhere if you have privacy (caution some veiwers may find the following yucky) pee on anything that it looks like a dog would pee on make a ring of scent posts around your flock nothing deters predators like a bigger more dangerous predator marking its territory. keep the scent posts fresh as you can. Anything and everything you can think of to protect those that depend on you for protection. Think like the predator if you can. get ahead of them. We are at the top of the food chain because of our brains. After all.

 

[Chickens4Life101]

To answer your thread's question: Your birds are freaking out because they no longer have their leader. They are yelling : hey, HEY do we come out now? hey, HEY where do we eat today? hey, HEY I saw something moving HEY is that moving thing OK, leader, LEADER, tell us what to do. They will eventually select a new flock leader and settle down. However, they will continue to freak out until the chicken elected "security guard" will check it out (the security guards are usually the ones taken first because they stop and look, then chomp). I have also noticed that they will continue to holler ("alert") if a predator is still nearby. They are calling security--at this point You- your voice, body language--to tell them it's OK.

It also sounds like some canine mating pairs have moved into your area. Your coop/run will need to be Fort Knox before the pups are born or you've just opened the local buffet.

Sorry I can't help more; I've had more than my fair share of preds this last year and I have no advice whatsoever.

Thank you! You helped plenty!

 

[Chickens4Life101]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004RA0N/?tag=backy-20

I use this to cover large areas I can't afford metal wire over. it will keep hawks out if the area is really big you can get pretty good hawk and owl protetection doing it in alternating sections of open and netted.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HHO9EE/?tag=backy-20 use this fence charger. one pen is aluminum electric fence wire and the other is a nylon cord with aluminum fillaments in it to carry the charge. not very expensive at the farm supply store or you could order that online too. Get insulators you can atttach to you enclosure I use the Nail/screw on type since my enclosures are wood framed they also have them for metal fence post and for the special electice fence posts your call on what to run. I run one ar 4 to 6 inches from ground and another 12 to 14 inches above that. because I have had a coon get in from the over hanging trees onto the coop roof and then on top of my fully enclosed run and then through a gap I didn't even know was there I am going to expand that and go along top edge of my run and run side roof edge to prevent that. That charger will power quite a bit of wire so go crazy with it. It is small but effective. it has even killed a possum that got his tail tangled up in the nylon fence wire. it is a cost effective solution for a run size are at least they won't have to stay in the coop. but they may have to stay in the run for a while for predators to learn that coming near them hurts.

Thank you! We will DEFINITELY look into this!!!

 

[diamondsilkies]

So sorry to hear about the loss of your chickens. Predators can be quite devastating to a flock.
Quite a few years ago, I just had one rooster in my flock. He was the dominant chicken, and all the hens followed his lead. When he died, they all panicked. When I walked in there, they would cluster around my legs, and stand around the coop just looking for him. After a couple days, though, a new hen took dominance and they settled back down. It sounds like your girls are going through something similar. They have lost their leader, and now their social order and routine has been messed up. They will sort it out within the week, and all will go back to normal.
Good luck!

 

[cmom]

This thread wasn't supposed to be about the coyote, I just wanted to know why my girls are singing/alerting/or whatever they are doing. I have been outside almost all day and there are no predators in sight, and that was the point of this thread.

There are predators but you don't see them. Recently I had a very special bird taken during the day. I didn't see the fox take her but did see a fox on a camera. I never found her body but did find a lot of feathers. There are times in the middle of the night I will hear the birds really fussing. I take a very bright flashlight and shine it down on the coops, the predator leaves and the birds quiet down. I usually see a coyote near the coops on a camera. Now I see them more during the day because it is mating season and the females are having their kits and pups so they are out more during the day mating and hunting. Sometimes I hear the fox and coyotes barking even during the day. They bark to locate others and potential mates. I do live very rural on a dead end road. Most of our land is pasture but behind us is some woods of mostly pines and a few oaks. Not very long ago a woman bought some property behind us and let her little dog out and a coyote attacked it. It died the next day. Again the predators are out there even if we don't see them. They don't want to be seen. Sorry for my ramblings.