Having predtor issue

[Magpiezoe]

Predators are heartbreakers, but unfortunately we have to live with them. There will always be more than one of every kind of predator around. When we lost our last white leghorn, we figured out it had to be a hawk or buzzard. She just completely disappeared without a trace during the day and no sign of break in, that meant the predator either had to come from above or be human. (Our birds have a fenced in yard.) There was breakage in the bird netting over the top of the yards. We never bothered to fix it since we didn't have problems for a long time. We decided to replace the bird netting with chicken wire. As for the night-time predators like those cute, evil racoons, we learned our lesson there as well. Always put your pets to bed at night. Racoons are sloppy eaters and will leave their calling card as well. Every night after dinner/sunset, I go outside with a flashlight and sit in a lawn chair waiting for my darlings to hit the hay. Then I look in the coops with my flashlight and count them, and close the coops up. I find that a lot of night time predators come out right at dust and won't go back to bed until just after the crack of dawn. We do have a possum, who lives underneath an old wagon frame next to our coops, but he never bothers them. Although, he has come out at Halloween and tried to play trick or treat once. I think he was disappointed, because I wouldn't give him any candy.

 

[CCRRED]

So even tho we've re enforced the coop 2 will be looking over it again I'm loosing chick's will owl decoy keep things such as opossums and other brid of prey at bay or is that just a waste of money ??? Willing to do whetever to make my coop safe for my chickens

How are you reinforcing? I use 36" wide, 1/2 inch Hardware cloth at the base of my pen, Fold it in half and secure to the base of the pen all the way around. i stake 18" to the ground then run it up the side of the pen 18 " high.Good luck

 

[gretchenconnect]

do you have an enclosed coop with an attached run? photos would help. My coop is sealed up tight against predators. So at night I lock the flock up (when most predators are out). My run is made of dog run panels and I bought some cheap bird netting for the top to keep predatory birds out (a lot of people use chicken wire for the top).
Locking the flock up in the coop at night is the best way to avoid problems with possums, fox, etc. or use a live trap (Amazon sells them).

 

[Onegonepostal]

So even tho we've re enforced the coop 2 will be looking over it again I'm loosing chick's will owl decoy keep things such as opossums and other brid of prey at bay or is that just a waste of money ??? Willing to do whetever to make my coop safe for my chickens

I had a family of bobcats that moved in. I lost over half of my hens. They were free range. Now all my birds are in the coop 24/7. I put out wolf urine (yes you can buy it) around my yard and my neighbor's yard since she has small children. She was scared they might come after her kids. I have lost only one hen since then. I had a raccoon bite off a nylon zip tie and get in. I now have metal zip ties and nothing can get in.

 

[JackSlammer]

So even tho we've re enforced the coop 2 will be looking over it again I'm loosing chick's will owl decoy keep things such as opossums and other brid of prey at bay or is that just a waste of money ??? Willing to do whetever to make my coop safe for my chickens

Predators are v v smart. You could hava-heart trap them- remove to a municipal park 3 or so miles from you to solve the currently problemed issue yet the trails have been established.
Continued baiting, removal, putting chicks behind a” secure “

Roost will do for that issue yet there’s sky skimmers, who fly away w/a chicken so you’ll not find just one fix to solve all your predation problems. As a boy in the 50’s we had weasels, hawks and stray dogs which now,70 years later have not changed what’s out there.
And even daytime has seen me lose birds to coins. It’s a hard loss that trapping has reduced but not eliminated losses.

 

[jenns anipals]

What do you mean by this...are the birds being pulled thru a fence or attacked in an open area?
More specifics and pics of your coop and run would help here.

have no longer had issues i believe they were being pulled threw i have cams i will be installing as far as photos i have a very hard time uploading in the right format coop has been fixed up a ton and have had no more issues since this post was made

 

[jenns anipals]

I had a family of bobcats that moved in. I lost over half of my hens. They were free range. Now all my birds are in the coop 24/7. I put out wolf urine (yes you can buy it) around my yard and my neighbor's yard since she has small children. She was scared they might come after her kids. I have lost only one hen since then. I had a raccoon bite off a nylon zip tie and get in. I now have metal zip ties and nothing can get in.

dang sry to hear about the loss of your flock so far knock on wood i think i fixed the issues with the coop will keep the urin thing in mind thanks for that interesting bit

 

[jenns anipals]

Predators are v v smart. You could hava-heart trap them- remove to a municipal park 3 or so miles from you to solve the currently problemed issue yet the trails have been established.
Continued baiting, removal, putting chicks behind a” secure “

Roost will do for that issue yet there’s sky skimmers, who fly away w/a chicken so you’ll not find just one fix to solve all your predation problems. As a boy in the 50’s we had weasels, hawks and stray dogs which now,70 years later have not changed what’s out there.
And even daytime has seen me lose birds to coins. It’s a hard loss that trapping has reduced but not eliminated losses.

so far seemed to have fixed the coop no father loss my girls are not yet free ranging as they are not fully grown and the way i run my coop i feel better making them wait so they know thier flock and they know their coop and know where they can hide if need be exc

 

[jenns anipals]

How are you reinforcing? I use 36" wide, 1/2 inch Hardware cloth at the base of my pen, Fold it in half and secure to the base of the pen all the way around. i stake 18" to the ground then run it up the side of the pen 18 " high.Good luck

corrugated roof foam filler doubled wrapped the whole dam kennel in chicken wire 2 i keep the left over roll of wire at bottom of door its not pretty by any means also got them a huge 10 box nesting thing

 

[jenns anipals]

do you have an enclosed coop with an attached run? photos would help. My coop is sealed up tight against predators. So at night I lock the flock up (when most predators are out). My run is made of dog run panels and I bought some cheap bird netting for the top to keep predatory birds out (a lot of people use chicken wire for the top).
Locking the flock up in the coop at night is the best way to avoid problems with possums, fox, etc. or use a live trap (Amazon sells them).

so as of now they stay in the dog kennel that is the coop they will free range during the day once fully grown they are friendly with me as ive raised them and go and hand feed treats daily and spend time with them as far as photos i will try to post more again i always have a ahrd time getting on this site right i actually wrapped it 2 in chicken wire added foam filler in any gaps added couragted roof so far no more loss