Frustrated and Need help

[wabntenn]

I have 18 chickens and 2 roosters now, down from 43 since the beginning of the year. I am losing my chickens, (and guineas) to predators and can't figure out how to stop them.
I live in a rural area, so foxes, coyotes, skunks, etc. are around. I have only seen 2 carcasses (both with missing heads). We have put out live traps and flashing red lights to deter them. I also lock the coops up at night athough some roost up in the barn rafters.
I would like ideas, suggestions or advice on what I can do. Thanks

 

[nparks]

I’m pretty sure the missing heads is the act of raccoons. Once a predator has found the chickens they will keep coming back. Are you losing them at night or throughout the day? It might be a good idea to keep your chickens locked up for a few days inside the coop. Do you have a run? If so, is the run and coop predator proof? If you don’t have a run it might be a good idea to fence in the coop. I free range my chickens but I also have a dog kennel run around my coop for extra protection at night.

 

[Roosterrob21]

I live in S.C in the middle of the woods and keep mine in this

Easy to break in and get chickens, but a couple of good dogs solves all the predator issues.

 

[Howard E]

To the OP, photos of your coop or coops and run or fenced yard would help.

Hate to hear of your losses. That is a lot of chickens to loose to predators.

But not despair. If you really want to keep that many birds and are willing to do what it takes to keep the birds safe, it can be done.

There are a lot of strategies for doing this, and some work better than others.

Best one I can recommend is a coop to house the birds in that is built in such a way to offer safety and comfort, so they will accept and use it, and it needs to be built in such a way that nothing, absolutely nothing, can get in to do harm to the birds. That protects the birds at night.

Step 2 is to provide a safe "yard area" in which they can roam around during the day. That did not say "free range". It said safe yard area. That may be a secure run or it may be a larger area protected by one of several forms of physical or electric fence. But it is an area that keeps the birds in and predators out.

Do these and losses should be eliminated completely.

 

[Chickassan]

One more not nice but very true point. The more birds you have the more predators you'll attract. So plan your fortifications around the minimum amout of birds you're needing and go from there. Seeing what you're working with as a starting point would help tons.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Greetings LizzieCavanNZ,

Our property is on the foothills of a national forest.

We put pavers and chicken wire on the ground around the run to prevent digging predators.

Covered the run and coop with hardware cloth, and attached some to the windows with bolts.

The entire property is fenced with a pole and welded wire fence, also a wrought iron section.

We lock all of our animals at night.

But a bobcat came calling in the middle of the day, and took one of my hens right in front of me! It leaped over the 6 foot wrought iron section using the pillar for footing. It all happened in just about 60 seconds or less! A year and a half earlier, a coyote attacked one of my roosters, again, in the day time, with me in the yard!

We finally decided to electrify the pole and wire fence and the wrought iron fence, too. Haven't had another breach since the bobcat, August of 2017. Although, we've heard a few screams at night when I have forgotten to turn off the fence. The fence is strung for low crawling predators and climbing/jumping predators.

Let me tell you, that fence gives a good shock. I know, I tested it on myself.

There are many different types of electric fencing, and you can hard wire or go solar.

< My fence is like this option.

Some keepers are afraid their chickens will get electrocuted, but that doesn't happen. Feathers are just not good conductors of electricity, and a chicken would have to touch the ground and the hot wire too. Since the electrified wire is strung on the opposite side of the fence, the chickens don't have access.

Anyways something to look into.

These are my thoughts on your security situation, I hope they are helpful.

God Bless

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Why don't you just get a few big dogs? Will probably help warn you of a bear attack too.