coyotes stalking my hens

[rod5591]

spoke to the neighbor. Permission to hunt the coyotes--denied. Worried about liability. Guess an electric fence is the way to go. 2 days and no sign of the coyote. Someone is burning something probably trash and the air stinks like smoke, She will patrol with me but when I come in the house she wants in too and I am not making her stay outside under these conditions. We do have 2 motion activated cameras, that send an alert to my cell phone when there is movement. One camera is on the 2 henhouses and one on the driveway. Right now, no choice but to rely on fences, cameras and patrols. Switched to a 12 gauge with 0-0 shot for more close in shooting if needed.

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

Geee
Not good
Thank god I am in Australia I may not have more or less predators than you but I only have where am foxes, snakes and the occasional hawk
Oh and funnel web spiders, lucky me LOL I try to free range my chickens as much as possible but when it is breeding season for foxes I keep them in lost way to many chickens to foxes

 

[BlueBaby]

I feel your fear and frustration. We routinely have coyotes. About a week ago I had a standoff with one in the driveway. It was me, a neighbor, and our 2 large dogs (ok, well my smaller dog is about coyote size, 50lbs). The coyote wouldn't leave. Then just yesterday it came back (it's probably been back in between). My husband yelled to me because he witnessed it attacking my neighbor's 100lb dog that happened to be outside. Again, it wouldn't leave. It circled around the other side of the house. I cannot take a shot with anything other than a pellet gun due to laws and proximity of neighbors. It's an exceedingly frustrating situation. I swear they get bolder and bolder, especially this time of year when their regular food sources are getting more scarce. Good luck with your flock protection. I hope all remain safe, including your pup.

Be careful in case it has rabies!

 

[aart]

have access to go in and out.

That'll do.

 

[llombardo]

That'll do.

It seems to be working. Keeping my fingers crossed. They ignore the chickens and go about their business. They have figured out what belongs and what doesn't.

My male GSD has actually lost weight due to his activity level. I keep my dogs thinner then heavier and I'm trying to put weight back on him. I did not realize how active he actually was. He takes his job seriously.

 

[rod5591]

Went around the perimeter of our fence carefully today and observed no attempts to dig under it. We have a 5 foot chain link fence surrounding our property. In turn, our fence is surrounded by a 4 strand barb wire fence, with each strand about 9 inches apart. The 2nd from the bottom is supposedly electrified. The fences are from 9 to 16 inches apart. It might be difficult for a coyote to dig under because the outer barb wire fence might hinder his ability to get our chain link fence. A healthy coyote might be about to scramble over the 2 fences but I doubt the limping old coyote I saw could accomplish it. I am going to call animal control to make a report of the coyote, and perhaps call the sheriff to ask about the legality of shooting a predator on a neighbor's land from my own property. To be honest, I feel the neighbor is neglectful in allowing a pack of coyotes to live on his land.

 

[rod5591]

All chickens are still there. We have decided to modify our chicken houses as follows. 1) we will push the two hen houses together and use c clamps to hook them together. 2) remove 1 section of wall which will allow the whole flock to roost in a single coop. 3) build them a chicken run of about 15’ x 15’ x 15’ x 15’=60 square feet. No more free ranging for my birds—they have torn up the entire yard, filled it with holes, left poop everywhere, etc. 4) I will surround the entire run with electrical fencing .

 

[llombardo]

All chickens are still there. We have decided to modify our chicken houses as follows. 1) we will push the two hen houses together and use c clamps to hook them together. 2) remove 1 section of wall which will allow the whole flock to roost in a single coop. 3) build them a chicken run of about 15’ x 15’ x 15’ x 15’=60 square feet. No more free ranging for my birds—they have torn up the entire yard, filled it with holes, left poop everywhere, etc. 4) I will surround the entire run with electrical fencing .

Sounds like a plan. I also put hardware cloth around the coop on the ground. Just in case they got through the first layer.

 

[llombardo]

And I thought if you do 15x15 that would be 225 square feet, which would be good for 22.5 birds if giving them 10 sq ft of outdoor space. Am I wrong?

 

[aart]

And I thought if you do 15x15 that would be 225 square feet, which would be good for 22.5 birds if giving them 10 sq ft of outdoor space. Am I wrong?

Yes, 15x15' is 225sqft, whether that's enough for 22 birds is debatable...
...many other things to consider when figuring space needs.