I lost 3 of my 8 hens last night to a pack of coyotes, 2 Light Brahma and my Rhode Island Red. I grew up on a farm so not really new to this per say but our girls are more like family pets roaming (and pooping) the yard.
So this hit pretty hard
, especially that I went down to close the gate a little later than usual. Spent the rest of the night rounding them up, found 2 that ran away; Baby Rooster, a Dutch Bantam and Baby spice who's sweet but little clueless and usually last one in the coop, prob what saved her feathers.
Few questions:
- I usually cut these monsters loose in the yard around 9AM until they line up to get in the coop. I kept them in today, would you recommend keeping them locked in for a few days?
- Would adding motion detector lights be enough of a future deterrent?
- As a 42yo, 5'10", 240lb of soft muscles... Am I getting soft for crying a little? like I said, I grew up on a farm but we really cherish our girls, names and all. Mrs Scarlett (sweetest Rhode Island Red) almost got away but got snipped enough to be deadly, she was still alive when I found her, died in my arms .
- My property is 2 acres all 5' cyclone fenced, so are all my neighbors, I have a hard time figuring out how they got in and out. Are coyotes know to climb/jump that height?
- I have a feeling they'll be back soon... am I taking it too far to seek revenge.. traps, a sting at dusk with may be involved
Wow, spilling my heart here lol (but hiding pain..)
Thank you guys!
We have coyotes too, so I'll add in some of my thoughts. Going the order you went in I'll answer your questions.
My chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and guinea fowl are let out to free range each day just a little after noon. I leave the coops doors open all day and they come and go as they please, usually most of them go in on their own before it gets dark. When I go out to close them in I'll through out a little scratch or corn and that will get an stragglers to go inside. If this happened at my place I would keep them locked up for a few days. Today the coyotes probably won't return, but by tomorrow or the next day they'll be back for another meal. If there is no meal to be had they will likely move on eventually.
Motion lights: probably not. I've had some mild luck running off raccoons with lights but after a day or two they realize the light is meaningless.
Crying: Let it out. It's ok, but I will tell you. I have lost chickens, and other birds to a lot of different predators through the years, it use to hit me really hard, and it still is very bothersome I have come to realize that if I'm going to let them out to free range attacks will happen and birds will be lost. But I'd rather they have the free range life than live their entire life in the coop and run. The best thing you can do is to make them in accessible, but keeping them in for a while. Long enough for the predators to realize there is no more free meal at your house, and they will move on to eat someone elses pet food on their porch. They just have to realize no more meal at your house, oh but there is another free meal at a different place.
Coyotes are not going to climb or jump a 5 foot cyclone fence. I know someone else said they could but I think they are wrong. Could a coyote make the jump? Probably, would they, unlikely. Remember that a coyote is essentially a wild dog, ruffly the size and shape of an over grown German Shepard, would a German Shepard jump a 5 foot fence. No. So I suppose if motivated enough a coyote might try to jump the fence, but they are going to have to be pretty darn sure they can jump back out, before they are going to take that risk. Have you walked the fence line? I would think it would be much more likely that the coyotes dug under the fence or slipped though a gap. Remember think wild dog.
Be careful with traps. The only coyote trap I'm aware of is the leg trap and they are illegal almost everywhere, why because they are ridiculously dangerous to anyone that isn't aware that it's there or other animals. Please, I repeat, please don't use a leg trap to catch a coyote. Not to mention coyotes have been known to chew their own leg off to get out of the trap. And if you have one live in the trap what do you do now?
Someone else brought up electric fence. This is an excellent idea. I have done this not around my entire place, but around my duck and goose pen. They have a building a small yard and a natural pond. There is no way to roof over or net over the entire thing, so I have run 2 strands of electric fence. One just off the ground close to the fence, one almost at the top of the fence, on two inch insulators. Since I did that 4 years ago I have no more issues with predators getting to them when they are locked in their pen, however maintenance on an electric fence is on going. This time of year it is a weekly thing almost. Small sticks, branches even weeds can short out the electric fence which renders it useless. You'll need a electric fence tester to be sure that it is functioning properly.
. We had one growing up, Bostin Cream Pie... 130lb of him (30lb in his mind)
