Do You Have An Opinion On Killing Predators?

[janinepeters]

all of our renovations didn't put the slightest dent in the losses we we're experiencing

It's really not rocket science. There are many threads in which prevention of predator attacks is discussed, and many people manage to give their birds a a good amount of freedom while rarely, if ever, losing one.

 

[squat55bear]

The only good coon is a dead coon, I will go out of my way to run over them in my truck when driving near home.

 

[picanins]

It's really not rocket science. There are many threads in which prevention of predator attacks is discussed, and many people manage to give their birds a a good amount of freedom while rarely, if ever, losing one.

Thanks Janinepeters

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All jesting aside, we applied many of the improvements suggested on the many threads that you refer to, but to no avail. 3 layers of fencing, re-fortifying the wood paneling, fencing underneath the coop, readjustments of the roosting pole, a 2nd (and eventually 3rd) layer of fencing over the top of the pens ..... etc (the list is long and boring) .... needless to say, we spent a few months feeling extremely traumatised and lost about 20+ chickens and guinea's. We were extremely close to packing it all in. Our little chickie world only gets locked up at night - they are completely free-ranged during the day. In 2 years the only chicken we've lost during the day was a very lovely juvenile roo to my sister's 'visiting' dog so all of the trauma happened at night. Since our "Myakka-style" prevention plan we have not had one single loss and have not had to send a predator to a 'better place' in a very long time!
Anyway, just my 2c worth and what works for us in keeping eggs on our table and happy chickens in the pens

 

[chickortreat]

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[harveyhorses]

You can't always be standing by with a gun. So if you are not there what happens? My choice is keeping them in the run unless they are supervised. My neighbors have been shooting raccoons for over a year. I think he has killed 8 or 9. I have not noticed the slightest drop in population, and have not lost a hen yet to one of them. If I were loosing any, I would probably do my part to reduce the population too, but I just keep mine as safe as reasonable.

 

[RaeRae2]

I do not kill predators. I do my level best to repel and block predators. We have built a very nice, solid, secure run made of very heavy lumber and hardware cloth with a roof, and the chicken house has a concrete floor, steel doors, and steel walls. They would have to know how to turn door knobs and pull open a heavy steel door mounted on a auto-closing hinge in order to get in at night.

My chickens ONLY free range when I am there watching them. And even then I wouldn't call it free range. They are very tame and tend to stick right by me for the most part, and I hang out in the yard with them between the barn and the house. I don't let them just wander off to the woods or go to the road, etc.

A couple months ago the neighbor's 2 huge dogs came to my property and were sniffing around. We ran them off and called the neighbor's immediately and told them to contain their dogs. They did - they have not been back.

My #1 predator is Red Tail Hawks. I keep my chickens under lock and key so the Red Tails cannot take them.

Predators are programmed to kill and eat. It's what they do. Chickens are cheap, easy prey. It's my job to protect them with a predator proof dwelling. If I choose to set up a lunch buffet on my farm, then I need to also choose to repel predators.

My husband shot and killed one fox but he was extremely managey, it was the middle of winter, and the poor thing was starving and freezing to death. A bullet was a quick, humane end. He did manage to kill one hen (this was BEFORE we built the predator proof dwelling for the chickens.) But I assure you, he was NOT killed because he killed a chicken. He was killed because he was sick and suffering badly.

No, I don't eat meat, and no I don't kill animals for my enjoyment or my use. EVER. I do not support commercial meat, leather, milk, and egg industries. I don't buy wool, or commercial honey, etc... It's simply my choice. I have good friends and family who do use their products, and that is their choice. I have no ill will toward them in the least, and they can do as they wish. I simply do as I wish. I don't force my opinions or my beliefs on anyone, and most people don't even know unless they specifically ask.

For me PERSONALLY, I would suffer days or weeks of depression and anguish if I had to kill an animal because it killed a chicken. First off, I wouldn't do it, but if I "did" for some reason, it would haunt me. The death of that poor fox, even though it was to end his suffering, still bothers me to this day. One death does not justify another death. I am a natural born nuturer and protector. I am the one rehabbing animals, taking in strays, saving the sick and patching the wounded.

Sure, you can kill a coon and guarantee that IT won't bother your flock again, but another will replace it. And then another, and another. When I was growing up, my grandparents raised many chickens, ducks, turkeys, and other animals. They were CONSTANTLY shooting and trapping predators and the stream of predators just never stopped or even slowed down. It was the joke that we'd wake up at 5 a.m. to the sound of gun fire because Grandpa was shooting a coon or oppossum off the back deck. Yes they killed hawks too, and it made absolutely ZERO impact on their numbers. I think the more you kill, the more just move in from other territories.

It got to a point I was scared to go to the barn yard to do chores because I would have to see a poor animal suffering and dying in a jaw trap with broken bloodied legs. All the killing seemed so senseless and painful and really scarred me as a kid. Then with all the butchering of pigs and chickens and rabbits...ugh I absolutely hated it. Was determined to never go that route as an adult. And I haven't.

But if YOU want to kill predators to protect your flock, then by all means go for it, as long as it's legal. I have NO problem with it, and would never chastise someone for doing something I personally could not or would not do. To each his own. That's just how I do it here.

 

[Jeffross1968]

Sure, you can kill a coon and guarantee that IT won't bother your flock again, but another will replace it. And then another, and another.

That isn't necessarily the case. Over a year ago, we started trapping. In a couple months' period, we trapped and dispatched 5 coon and 2 possum. Not one since, and I live deep in the woods, in the mountains of Western NC. Traps are set weekly. Bait is left alone. All I know, is that trapping and killing has made my flock safer.

Now if I could just figure out this **** hawk...

 

[CAjerseychick]

I do not kill predators. I do my level best to repel and block predators. We have built a very nice, solid, secure run made of very heavy lumber and hardware cloth with a roof, and the chicken house has a concrete floor, steel doors, and steel walls. They would have to know how to turn door knobs and pull open a heavy steel door mounted on a auto-closing hinge in order to get in at night.

My chickens ONLY free range when I am there watching them. And even then I wouldn't call it free range. They are very tame and tend to stick right by me for the most part, and I hang out in the yard with them between the barn and the house. I don't let them just wander off to the woods or go to the road, etc.

A couple months ago the neighbor's 2 huge dogs came to my property and were sniffing around. We ran them off and called the neighbor's immediately and told them to contain their dogs. They did - they have not been back.

My #1 predator is Red Tail Hawks. I keep my chickens under lock and key so the Red Tails cannot take them.

Predators are programmed to kill and eat. It's what they do. Chickens are cheap, easy prey. It's my job to protect them with a predator proof dwelling. If I choose to set up a lunch buffet on my farm, then I need to also choose to repel predators.

My husband shot and killed one fox but he was extremely managey, it was the middle of winter, and the poor thing was starving and freezing to death. A bullet was a quick, humane end. He did manage to kill one hen (this was BEFORE we built the predator proof dwelling for the chickens.) But I assure you, he was NOT killed because he killed a chicken. He was killed because he was sick and suffering badly.

No, I don't eat meat, and no I don't kill animals for my enjoyment or my use. EVER. I do not support commercial meat, leather, milk, and egg industries. I don't buy wool, or commercial honey, etc... It's simply my choice. I have good friends and family who do use their products, and that is their choice. I have no ill will toward them in the least, and they can do as they wish. I simply do as I wish. I don't force my opinions or my beliefs on anyone, and most people don't even know unless they specifically ask.

For me PERSONALLY, I would suffer days or weeks of depression and anguish if I had to kill an animal because it killed a chicken. First off, I wouldn't do it, but if I "did" for some reason, it would haunt me. The death of that poor fox, even though it was to end his suffering, still bothers me to this day. One death does not justify another death. I am a natural born nuturer and protector. I am the one rehabbing animals, taking in strays, saving the sick and patching the wounded.

Sure, you can kill a coon and guarantee that IT won't bother your flock again, but another will replace it. And then another, and another. When I was growing up, my grandparents raised many chickens, ducks, turkeys, and other animals. They were CONSTANTLY shooting and trapping predators and the stream of predators just never stopped or even slowed down. It was the joke that we'd wake up at 5 a.m. to the sound of gun fire because Grandpa was shooting a coon or oppossum off the back deck. Yes they killed hawks too, and it made absolutely ZERO impact on their numbers. I think the more you kill, the more just move in from other territories.

It got to a point I was scared to go to the barn yard to do chores because I would have to see a poor animal suffering and dying in a jaw trap with broken bloodied legs. All the killing seemed so senseless and painful and really scarred me as a kid. Then with all the butchering of pigs and chickens and rabbits...ugh I absolutely hated it. Was determined to never go that route as an adult. And I haven't.

But if YOU want to kill predators to protect your flock, then by all means go for it, as long as it's legal. I have NO problem with it, and would never chastise someone for doing something I personally could not or would not do. To each his own. That's just how I do it here.

RaeRae2 your story is absolutely heartrending. I can see why you would make the choices you do ( I am similarly inclined, but do eat and enjoy meat, hypocritical I know)...

 

[janinepeters]

RaeRae2 your story is absolutely heartrending. I can see why you would make the choices you do ( I am similarly inclined, but do eat and enjoy meat, hypocritical I know)...

I liked RaeRae's story too. CAJersey, I don't think eating meat is hypocritical at all. Merely being alive means you consume resources, which often amounts to displacing other animals, whether you see them die or not. Think of the habitat that was transformed to get the raw materials for your home and everything else you use, including vegetable foods. Almost invariably that transformation reduces diversity of native species. Some of the animals that died to produce your food/resources, probably suffered, and some did not.

That said, conventionally produced animal foods often involve systematic, life long suffering, so I totally understand why some people would want to avoid consuming animal products altogether. But I can also see that consuming humanely produced animal foods helps create a market for them, thus reducing the market for the conventionally produced. Either philosophy works for me, neither is hypocritical IMO, but I choose to eat meat (humanely produced) because I value the health benefits.

 

[CAjerseychick]

I liked RaeRae's story too. CAJersey, I don't think eating meat is hypocritical at all. Merely being alive means you consume resources, which often amounts to displacing other animals, whether you see them die or not. Think of the habitat that was transformed to get the raw materials for your home and everything else you use, including vegetable foods. Almost invariably that transformation reduces diversity of native species. Some of the animals that died to produce your food/resources, probably suffered, and some did not.

That said, conventionally produced animal foods often involve systematic, life long suffering, so I totally understand why some people would want to avoid consuming animal products altogether. But I can also see that consuming humanely produced animal foods helps create a market for them, thus reducing the market for the conventionally produced. Either philosophy works for me, neither is hypocritical IMO, but I choose to eat meat (humanely produced) because I value the health benefits.

Thanks JP but I am a Hypocrite because I love beef but cant deal with paying $$$$ for organic, free range beef... so I eat commerical beef... I do spring for freerange chicken and eggs (which is why I am now raising them)... but have yet to kill anything except fish (grew up fishing)... And I do think I should kill what I eat....So for me it would just be fish, maybe chicken (havent crossed that bridge yet)... But would certainly feel ok to eat predators.... (but do not kill them myself, just do not like waste)....