Had a predator attack and need some advice

[Wesofox]

we are still going over the - what was it how could this happen Snow (white leghorn) could fly & was so fast…we have one new 3-4 mo old Wyandotte coming next week. We can’t house them separately in the coop. Thinking this is the run we are going to buy or something similar. Will need to winter-proof it. A few questions - can they be put together in this run for an intro then have them sleep separately? (We have our old coop that the new girl can sleep in.) should we put hardware cloth around this thing too in addition to plastic sheeting to keep out the wind? We live in IL.

 

[BDutch]

You can add another adult hen to your Wyandotte without more than the usual integrating problems. A peck to determine who is the boss is to be expected.
The main reason to keep them seperated would be to see if the newcomer is healthy. And free ranging is not an option until she is familiar with the coop/roosting area. 2 days and nights inside is usually enough.

But if you add young pullets, pecking can be a problem. Depending also on the characters of the existing flock.
With 3 months, several feed areas, enough space, a second roosting area and hiding places it works out all right in general.

The run you want to build looks great!
Can you place the door side to the south for a start? Blocking the wind from the north/back side and putting a tarp over it (partly) is maybe enough to give a nice shelter. I dont know how cold Illinois is , therefore I don’t know what is best practice. There is another thread discussing this and info in the articles section too. Maybe you find answers there. Or maybe there is a IL group you can ask questions? If you can’t find answers and nobody is reacting, start a new thread with ‘help needed to winterise a run in Illinois’

 

[Wesofox]

Our survivor is an 8 mo old Orpington; our new Wyandotte-in-waiting is 3-4 mos old. Any thoughts on that introduction?

 

[Wesofox]

I doubt if your Orpington and a game type of hen can live in harmony. A rooster is even more complicated. Only an older and friendly rooster is a possibility with one hen. Most (young) roosters need more hens not to overmate. It helps if you choose a rooster that is about the same size as you’re hen. I know Orpington roosters have a friendly character, so maybe this works good with only one hen.
Orpington’s do go broody and the roosters are great daddy’s in general. It would be better to have more hens with one rooster. But adding 3 new chickens to a solitary chicken at once is not a good idea.
The advantages of having one breed (only Orpies) is that their characters match and if you have many chicks you can sell them as Orpingtons. A heritage breed has more value as mixes.

If I was in your shoes I would :

1. Fix a safe run / auto pop door.
2. Try to find 1 ladyfriend, or a Orpington/friendly rooster for your solitary chicken.

If you find a hen now, that’s great . Add 2 more in spring.
If you find a friendly rooster wait for spring. Collect eggs to hatch (cool room temp/max 2 weeks) . Mark them with pencil. Lay 4-5 fake eggs in the nest. And give 7-8 eggs at once if your Orpy is a steady broody and stopped laying. Keep in mind that not all eggs will hatch and if you are normally lucky you get 3 pullets and 3 cockerels.


View attachment 3349387
These instruction are in Dutch for a predator proof run against marters, weasels, dogs, foxes and such.
- at least 1.8 meter /180 cm high
- bended 30 degrees at the top or make electric wire at the outside at 20 cm and 110 cm.
- tiles of 40 cm around or wire 50 cm deep.
- hwc 15 mm or ½ “
- strong netting on top.
+
- raccoons need a lock on the doors , choose
- if the run is not a fort Knox, or if you free range, close coop at night (automatic)

I have a small roofed run within the coop area. The larger netted run is not fully predator proof. Therefore I made a automatic pop door between the coop and the larger run with some bushes in it. They love to sit under the Portuguese Laurel that has big green leaves all year.

I only let my bantam chickens free range when someone is at home/around. In 8 years 2 chickens disappeared and 1 was killed by a fox who broke into the run, probably around sunrise. This chicken went through the pop door into the run. I was disturbed by the noise. The other chickens were still safe in the coop. The fox panicked because (s)he couldn’t get out again. Never seen him/her again.
Over these years I always had 4-9 chickens (and sometimes a few chicks).

Thank you very much. We have one 3-4 mo old Wyandotte coming from southern Illinois. We live in northern Illinois. The ones from Montana aren’t coming until late January and I think we can cancel those. We don’t want a rooster, unfortunately. Just our girls.

 

[ThatUserNameAlreadyTaken]

Were they taken during the day or night? Raccoons are not out during the day unless they are sick/rabid.

That is a common fallacy (raccons only at night). When there is a large coon population, you'll see them sneaking around during all day-time hours.
They're not rabid, simply foraging for a hot meal. A .22 rimfire, or even a decent high power .22 air rifle (for those in urban areas) works wonders.

 

[L. Buxton]

Hi - I’ve looked at a lot of threads here - thanks for your help. We lost 2 of our chickens on Friday. We think from a raccoon because we found Snow’s body in between two tree trunks 4-5 feet up off the ground. One remains missing but we presume she is gone. We have 1 left and received some advice going forward to use hardware cloth around the perimeter of the yard, install a fully enclosed run with 2x2 metal caging on all sides to protect from raccoons, weasels, hawks and fox. How big of a run if we have 4 chickens? We want to get 3 more now, if possible. Hard to find pullets and hens in IL in the winter. Open to any suggestions. We are so devastated after losing our loves and want to prevent this from ever happening again.

I am so sorry for your loss, I have 30 and it bothers me to even see one sick. I at one point had a lot of problems with predators, I have radio speakers in and around my coop, it seams the sound of humans or even music has kept them away. I do know for a fact it keeps racoons out of my garden. Good Luck

 

[Katie Johnston]

Hi - I’ve looked at a lot of threads here - thanks for your help. We lost 2 of our chickens on Friday. We think from a raccoon because we found Snow’s body in between two tree trunks 4-5 feet up off the ground. One remains missing but we presume she is gone. We have 1 left and received some advice going forward to use hardware cloth around the perimeter of the yard, install a fully enclosed run with 2x2 metal caging on all sides to protect from raccoons, weasels, hawks and fox. How big of a run if we have 4 chickens? We want to get 3 more now, if possible. Hard to find pullets and hens in IL in the winter. Open to any suggestions. We are so devastated after losing our loves and want to prevent this from ever happening again.

 

[Katie Johnston]

That is a common fallacy (raccons only at night). When there is a large coon population, you'll see them sneaking around during all day-time hours.
They're not rabid, simply foraging for a hot meal. A .22 rimfire, or even a decent high power .22 air rifle (for those in urban areas) works wonders.

 

[Katie Johnston]

We have racoons so I put out traps baited with cat food, they are out all year because they can have 6 babies. I relocate them across the river in heavy brush and they can't get back here. I live in the county and don't believe in killing them. The ones around here prey at night so as soon as the birds roost they are locked inside for the night

 

[Jerry Dog Man]

I would suggest an automatic door. I have mine set to open 8am and close 5:30 pm.