Coyote attack in the middle of the day.

[McChooky]

We made our indoor outdoor cats ladders so coyotes can't trap them on the ground.All of our cats are indoor now with outdoor catios,etc.I left the ladder up for the strays

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I've never felt it was very "fair" to try to hurt or kill any of the coyotes

This used to be my stance on the matter as well. I have changed my mind largely because I don’t want a coyote anywhere near the small people who are not allowed to free range unsupervised lol. I also think that the coyotes have a buffet in other parts of the property where the kids, chickens and dog don’t hang out. This also gives the deer a safe place to hang out too. If the coyotes want to eat on my property they have plenty of options that aren’t my chickens. And I won’t follow them there. I think that’s a pretty good deal given that lots of people are demolishing forest and selling land to make way for condos and trailer parks.

 

[lagrange chicks]

I have never heard of a coyote climbing trees, grey fox can climb a tree. A coyote can walk up a angled tree that has not fell all the way to the ground but not a vertical tree, they have nails not claws. Sorry for your loss.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I have never heard of a coyote climbing trees

I haven’t either. I need to look into this. I know black bears can but the branches that will hold a chicken/cat most certainly will not hold a full grown bear. Also I haven’t heard of bears actively hunting chickens. Usually they are after the chickens’ food. But that’s a different topic lol.

 

[NetherLeeFarm]

This really is just not how I was hoping this week would start so any words of support would be greatly appreciated as I sit with this

I'm really sorry about all of this, especially the loss of your hen! Though coyotes are typically nocturnal, yeah they can come out in the day. Thankfully it's rare, but I know that dealing with this along with the fear of if-he-comes-back is tough!

I think you're handling it the smart way by locking everything down for a while and taking a 'wait and see' approach. We have to do that occasionally with a bear moving through. I'm certain that if he can't find any reason to come back to your property, he won't.

In the meantime, you may want to listen at dusk to make sure they aren't setting up a den close to or on your property. If they have, you'll hear them and be able to gauge distance. That may give you a better idea of why one was out during the day - for example, did he spot your hens from a den area? But my guess is that he/she was moving through the area and was simply an opportunist. I certainly hope that's all it was. Keep us posted if you can!

 

[McChooky]

20% of a coyotes diet in the city comes from CATS
Edit:
The link below will give you the # of coyotes in 40 states
https://pictures-of-cats.org/us-states-where-cat-killing-coyotes-are-the-most-and-least-common.html
The following link is an article about coyotes climbing trees and how successful they are at killing cats (50% kill rate)
https://pictures-of-cats.org/can-coyotes-climb-trees-to-catch-cats.html

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

20% of a coyotes diet in the city comes from CATS

This is interesting. I wonder if country cats fare better because the ones around me sure seem to. They aren’t exactly domesticated indoor cats but I think they are rescues that have been dropped off (there is a backstory but I’m not sure it matters). Having adopted feral cats I can safely say they are so much more skittish than your average house cat and I wonder if that attributes to the kill rate.

 

[Anon112]

This used to be my stance on the matter as well. I have changed my mind largely because I don’t want a coyote anywhere near the small people who are not allowed to free range unsupervised lol. I also think that the coyotes have a buffet in other parts of the property where the kids, chickens and dog don’t hang out. This also gives the deer a safe place to hang out too. If the coyotes want to eat on my property they have plenty of options that aren’t my chickens. And I won’t follow them there. I think that’s a pretty good deal given that lots of people are demolishing forest and selling land to make way for condos and trailer parks.

I hear you. What I've found is that being out with the chickens and keeping them well-supervised has generally cut down on predator activity because of my presence.

My situation is that I live literally surrounded by a state park, and not too far from my chicken run/coop is a stream where many animals go to drink. I just have to accept that many critters use my yard as a cut-through to the stream, and several of them wouldn't mind a chicken dinner. My chickens have a very large run with levels, walkways, ladders, etc, so that I don't feel too guilty about them spending a lot of time in there, and I make it a goal to give them several hours of free range time each afternoon.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

My situation is that I live literally surrounded by a state park

I am sure this limits how much you can actually do about predators too. Legally anyway. There is portable electric fence I have read about on here a few times but haven’t tried yet. Somehow I think my dog is stupid enough to be the first animal to test it out. But it might give you some more peace of mind free-ranging

 

[Anon112]

I am sure this limits how much you can actually do about predators too. Legally anyway. There is portable electric fence I have read about on here a few times but haven’t tried yet. Somehow I think my dog is stupid enough to be the first animal to test it out. But it might give you some more peace of mind free-ranging

Ha!

Honestly, ever since I instituted my "lifeguard" policy, things have gone really well. (Gosh FINGERS CROSSED KNOCK ON WOOD!!). A few weeks back, my chickens were a few feet into the woods and suddenly they came bursting out and my rooster Bernard had a fox hot on his feels. But once it saw me, it took off for the woods.

The best thing for me, honestly, is that I got a really good hammock. That way I can do some yardwork while I chicken-guard, but I can also lay down, read a book, do a word puzzle on my phone, etc while the chickens range around.

The portable fence is nice to know about, though!