HELP! Chickens going missing

[Unknowen]

I know, poison makes me nervous. I'm extremely cautious. My only animals are the chickens and my 2 year old Russian Wolfhound. Which is why to this point I've only been using poison at night when everyone is safely locked away. We live far enough away from neighbors that if they have animals there is absolutely no reason for them to be on our property. My biggest concern with poison is if something dies and the chickens find it and eat it (my puppy is NOT allowed to roam unsupervised). Traps are ideal, but I've tried traps with no luck. I'll give a trapper a call tomorrow and see what they say.

I really hope I can get this problem resolved because I'd really hate to lose all my chickens! I've wanted to have chickens since I was like 10 and I finally got them! The chickens I have were free, so I really can't afford to replace them unless I find someone else getting rid of some.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Don't use the poison anymore. Never a good idea. Most likely a fox or coyote. You don't see them because they are good at what they do. What kind of traps are you using?

 

[roosterhavoc]

You need foothold traps or snares. You said there is woods all around your yard? Go back there and look for a trail to and from your yard. If there are any briars look for even one piece of hair on a thorn at about 2-3ft height. Gotta get down to their eye level and look around. If you don't see anything keep looking you will eventually.

 

[Unknowen]

We have a trail that goes around the perimeter of the woods between our house and the logged area. I've been through that trail at least once a day looking for signs of animals. I took all the little offshoot deer paths too, and haven't found anything. No hair, pawprints, animal poop (other than my dog's), nothing. The traps I was using were the hav-a-hart ones. The big cage where you put the food in the back and the animal steps on the plate to trigger it to close. I always set it on a very light trigger. Where can I get foothold traps? I didn't see anything like that at the Co-op.

 

[enola]

Make sure it is legal to use foothold traps in your area. They are not legal everywhere.

Our neighborhood suffered many fox attacks last summer. They completely wiped out the free ranging flocks, got most of the guineas too.

 

[Unknowen]

I just checked. Small ones are legal, and honestly I'd use them even if they weren't if it would get rid of my chicken murderer. They're legal up to about a foot in diameter, plenty big to get a fox or coyote. The only thing is I'm not familiar with how to use them. Do I bait near the trap? Or put it near a path? I don't even know where this critter is coming from, so I don't know how I'd trap him without bait.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Your wasting your time with the havaharts. You may catch a raccoon or a opossum but I doubt they are your problem. You have to know a little bit about trapping to be successful with foot traps. Basically you bury the trap so the pan is just under the surface with lightly sifted dry dirt on top. You would ideally set this trap on or slightly off to one side of a trail you think the animal is using with scent and or bait in a hole in front of where the trap is so they step on the center of the trap while sniffing and trying to get whatever is in the hole. You can do the same thing but instead of digging a hole you can jam a stick in the ground and put lure/urine on it. You would need a 1.5 size foot trap for fox and bigger for coyotes. Don't use snares if your dog runs around in the area. It takes some knowledge but once learned you will be able to take care of predators quickly. Just make sure you do some research before you set any traps. They have to be anchored to the ground or large enough tree so the animal can't get away.

 

[ivan3]

I just checked. Small ones are legal, and honestly I'd use them even if they weren't if it would get rid of my chicken murderer. They're legal up to about a foot in diameter, plenty big to get a fox or coyote. The only thing is I'm not familiar with how to use them. Do I bait near the trap? Or put it near a path? I don't even know where this critter is coming from, so I don't know how I'd trap him without bait.

One of our members, on the `old/old' BYC (back in `05), FoxTrapperSteph, knew what she was about. Copy/paste her posts from the first two Stickies: hay set/steel traps - into notepad/Word and save. http://backyardchickens.yuku.com/forums/71/Predators-and-Pests/Predators-and-Pests#.U7ei9p79H1G You could try a live rat/hamster/guinea pig (often offered for free if one picks them up from previous owner) in one live trap and zip tie the two traps together and cover - fox might enter as it sees live bait in second trap's holding area. A thread on modifying live traps: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/232969/modifications-for-standard-havaharts-save-time It really doesn't matter how well you master snares/footholds/etc. if live free rangers are the `known' tasty alternative available alongside the fancy fatal feast. You really need to consider ALL penning options (garage? Basement? etc.) until the unknown pred(s) is retired &, or, you've arranged secure daytime foraging fix. Keeping good ventilation of hot chooks? Box fans are' cheap (sometimes given away - never mention poultry). Chooks don't sweat, but spraying water on ground (sand) in front of fan when heat index is over the century mark will allow the chooks to lose a bit of heat through their feet via evaporative cooling : You might consider cobbling together a chicken tractor for the summer (72" -1"x2" welded wire/48" .5" hardware cloth can often be purchased by the foot in farm stores, check tractor construction ideas/plans/pics in the COOPS subforum - at least chooks could be `out' during day without further sacrifice so's to solve pred mystery. To make quick work of cutting wire panels for tractor, Ace Hardware sells Pro-Grade model 15408 wire cutters for ~$7.00 - get wood screws and fender washers to attach to 2'x2's/2"x4"s tractor frame. Good luck!

 

[Unknowen]

The old post is perfect information! Thanks!
I would NEVER take someone's pet hamster or guinea pig to use as bait. We previously had 3 ferrets that we had to find a new home for when we moved. We put them on craigslist and got a few calls. We almost game them to this one guy, but then got a phone call from a ferret rescue group. Turns out the guy checks craigslist for free little critters to feed to his snakes! That would have been horrible! People posting their pets to rehome want a good home for them (usually).
I would use a feeder rat from a pet store though.

Something got my poison the night before last, and I wasn't missing anyone when I closed them up last night. Hopefully whatever was attacking them bit the dust. If I lose another though I'm gonna have to find a way to lock them up and place traps.

We can't really afford to make anything else big enough to hold them all. I do have box fans up in their coop, but if they stay in there too long they start panting and holding their wings away from their bodies. I'm scared if I leave them in there all day they'll have a heat stroke. We don't have a garage or basement, or that would have been my first thought. I have a pen that we made for my dog when he stays outside unattended, but they can fly right over the 6ft fence (even the little ones!).

How much heat can they take without it being too serious of a problem?

 

[roosterhavoc]

Depends on the breed how much heat that will bother them. Can't you be out there for a little while when you let them out? Just screwing around outside every now and then making some noise will deter most predators for the near future. Except hawks