First invasion of predators :(

[chicken farmer]

I have been raising chickens for almost 4-5 years now and I know about every breed and everything about them. And I live in the country with woods all around are yard and are chicken pens/coops are right against the woods and all this time we haven't even had a problem with mice and so surprised we haven't even seen coon tracks. And about a month or so ago we hatched a wild mallard and got 2 indian runner ducklings from the feed store and they are about 7 weeks old and I had them and 6 chicks in a pen we made out of an old swingset and it's been great but my mom went outside she said one of the chicks got out and wanted back in so I went out and put it back in than I seen one was missing and than seen a chunk of meat and it's wing and feathers and thought it was one of the cats. And than I didn't think much of it till I seen one of my big runner ducklings(7 weeks) missing than seen the white feathers than seen the black feathers and blood on the poultry netting. And we have a trailcam up in ae woods not very far from the yard and we get 2-3 coons on there every night and they are coming to the yard again,we have dogs and it scares them away since we got a couple more and now they are coming back. Well that's my guess is a coon or a weasel we live in southern Ohio and the poultry netting isn't bent or broken but has blood and feathers. And the ducks and chickens slept in a pile by the fence in the pen so I carried them in the coop the first night than I came out the next afternoon and they were sleepin by the wire again so I figured they liked it there so I left them but I guess I should of put them in again because they got ripped through the wire or soemthing. So I'm gonna put up the trailcam and wait outside tonight with a 22. with a scope and wait on them. This really sucks cause these are my first ducks and the runners were bonded since ducklings and a coon,weasel or something got a banty chick and runner duckling

So like I said I'm gonna wait out for them tonight and have the trailcam out and see what happens....I'll post some pics of the wire/feathers an stuff in a little bit. But it leaves me dumb founded that there's not even a beak/foot or anything and not even bent wire. This really ruffles my feathers!!!

 

[Mehjr10]

If a Coon can get their paw on them they will pull them through wire.. Now that they have a taste you will need to eliminate them..

 

[B-Goock]

I just had an attack a few weeks ago. A fox. You and I have the same answer to the problem. Mine turned out better than yours because I chased the fox into the woods and got my hen back which is recovering ok. 32 auto. It was the only thing I had on me. Guess it was good enough.

Now coons those things will keep coming back now. Those things learned when I was in the army that anything that is in crinkly plastic has food in it. They would chew into anything if found a plastic bag. They would crawl on you while you were asleep in the field and since guys put notebooks, bill folds, smokes, etc in plastic bags (so they don't get wet) those coons would try to get their hands in your pockets or dig at your pockets to get the plastic out. Wake up to a coon on your chest diggin at you! Chase them off throw crap at them and after it calmed down they would come right back. They learned this from getting into MRE's. Yours have learned there are yummy fluffy things in there. Either chase them away every night and still loose animals, trap and relocate (sending the problem to someone else), or pop those suckers.

My vote pop them!

 

[chicken farmer]

Here's the pen we made out of are old swingset it's a great pen/coop

 

[chicken farmer]

I'm gonna wait on them with the 22.scope or a 4 10.....I know that they will come back and probably early cause they aren't gonna waste time wondering through the woods scavenging when they know there's a pen full of fresh meat to get at. I also have a nice dog ''Lacy'' and she's is a heeler mix and about as high as your knee and she kills full grown coons in about 8 seconds. I might wait with her or the gun. But what if she has kits(babies) with her if it's a sow? Will the kits come back cause I can't shoot that fast

 

[chicken farmer]

The wild mallard is on the left and the indian runner on the right they are pretty big ducks and just starting to get there brown and white coloring
Here's what's left of the banty chick
Here's the wire with the blood and feathers

 

[Mehjr10]

Here's the pen we made out of are old swingset it's a great pen/coop

Get some 1/2" hardware cloth and run it along the lower 24" of the chicken wire. They will not be able to reach through it .. but they still will be able to tear through the chicken wire. I would them put Either all hardware cloth or some heavier wire on the top half.

 

[chicken farmer]

Thanks I thought of that and were probably gonna do that...but if they would of just slept in the coop and not outside they wouldn't of got ate

 

[chicken farmer]

Well guys I sat out there last night and around 9:40 there came a coon and I put some bread and mixture of peanut butter,syrup,vanilla flavoring,oats and some raw deer meat to make sure it stayed around and I could get the shot and I watched it for about a minute and than had the 22. with a scope and had it on it's chest and shot but I got a little excited and thought it was close enough and pulled it and didn't squeeze it as much and it ran along the the yard a few feet than ran up in the woods than I put the flashlight on it and it was standing behind the compost pile and than took off. So I don't think I hit it and I took one of my dogs out by the spot and she didn't find anything. So tonight I'm gonna be waiting again and this time have the 20 gauge or 4 10 so instead of the 22. which is one bullet the 4 10 and 20 gauge has a bunch of BB's that spread out so I can get that little poultry nabbing b******. It makes me mad that I missed I should of took my time but I really wanted to take it out and pulled it to quick

But tonight I'm gonna put a little more food out and blast him this time!!!

 

[Mehjr10]

It will be back, and there is probably more than one.