coyote

[chickencuddler]

I heard recently that there was a coyote in my neighborhood and in my front yard I had chicken feathers everywhere. I identified the feathers coming from my sweet chicken, Lacey. I quickly got together my other six chickens and locked them up in the coop and they are currently screaming to get out. The attack was at about 10:30 am. I wanted to know if any of you knew about coyote's hunting habit. How long should I keep them locked up. Will they come back in the same day if they've had a successful kill? Or will they wait a few days, so I should keep them under tight supervision for the next week? We don't usually have coyotes. I do live by a river which may draw them here. I don't want to keep them locked up for too long, they just love running around in the yard all day and that's what there used to doing and they don't usually leave the yard. Please give me any advice on how to protect my chickens.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Once the coyote knows that it can get a free meal at your place it will probably be back again at some point. I've had them attack birds at all hours of the day, but typically early morning or late evening I've found to be their hunting times. That doesn't mean, however, that you couldn't lose one in the afternoon.

The best way to deal with a coyote is to shoot it or trap it... it sounds harsh, but they are very persistent predators. If you try and free range your birds again the chances of another one being eaten is quite high... I would wait at least one and a half to two weeks before you let them out again.