heart broken... coyote... my final say

[mmaddie's mom]

PS: Thanks to all of you who put some good and useful information on this thread! You are appreciated!
dmb

 

[Frosty]

Somehow I got the impression that you lost all of them at once, which is why my first thought was raccoon. My apologies for that... How large of an area do you have for them to range? I am just wondering if electric fencing might be feasible...

Isn't it always harder when they have names?

 

[mmaddie's mom]

Quote:
Thanks Frosty

I have an acre... surrounded by my neighbors fields.

My husband and I are considering all of our options and some of the ideas shared on here and planning a few changes to make things better.

Names ? Yep... that's why only the special ones get names.

 

[CT_Todd]

Sorry I came across as harsh and unsympthetic. Which I know I did. It's more confusion than anything...Something I am really good at..

These posts though have made me paranoid about losing my first ever chickens so I've built my run and coop in consultation with NATO.LOL.Figured I'd put so much hard work into building the coop and run, I'd hate for the chickens to be gone in a heartbeat..KNowing I would not free range them, my run for 6 chickens is 12 x 20 x 16 x 12..

Someone put it best when we live and learn from all this..

 

[hiker125]

So very sorry about your babies. I too have coyotes and lots of hawks even though I live in town. My st. bernard/akita is a wonderful guard dog and keeps the critters out of our yard.

He is fabulous with all animals even kittens. He is a real caretaker and takes his job very seriously. He is also very good with all the kids that play in our yard. If the little ones cry, he comes and gets me. I would be lost without him. He was a rescue so I don't know much about how he was raised. there are goodo ones out there!

 

[Nekhebet]

mmaddie's mom :

I would never risk a dog for a chicken. You may do this and that is just fine with me... your dog, your livestock, your life.



I'd like to end on a happy note... yesterday I came home from work to find 9 beautiful babies under a hen that I had given up on... these chicks are the babies of my lost Head Roo, Miracle! I'm so glad that I have these last little reminders of him!

Thanks,
diana

I couldn't leave my dogs outside for the night. Advantage and heartworm medicine protection aside, a dog could get injured badly facing nasty predators like that! But I buy my dogs for companionship (and to deter burglars, who might go to another house if they see my dogs inside), and I don't know how I would deal with a coyote mangling my dogs up.

And congratulations, that is a very happy surprise for you, after dealing with the losses.​

 

[mmaddie's mom]

@ Ct_Todd... no harm/no foul

@ Hiker125... I'm lucky to have not only a very good dog who is great with my birds, but also a very good cat who sleeps in the coop with them.

@ Nekhebet... totally agree & thank you.

 

[badwolf7914]

Quote:
sounds like the akita... we had a GS Akita mix and she was the same.

 

[chauqg]

Here is a great source for information on how and what is needed to trap coyotes. Printed by the state of Missouri.

http://mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/trapping/guide-trapping-nuisance-coyotes

 

[aprophet]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/07/new.york.coyote/index.html

I found this interesting be careful if you are around them at all