HELP!!!! COYOTE EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[A_Fowl_Guy]

Now our rooster is missing!!!

I’d put your birds up until the predator is taken care of.

 

[SillyChicken]

The problem with just targeting the wildlife is. as someone said, there will always be another that will take it's place, be it a fox, yote, or coons, weasels etc... Your best bet is to take responsibility for your birds and provide safe secure coops and runs for them. Only allow them out to free range when you are home. Getting a large dog can also help.

 

[Trux]

Do you have a chicken run?? If not you should consider building one to keep your chickens in while you can't supervise their free range time, otherwise your just going to keep losing chickens. They depend on you to keep them safe!

 

[DobieLover]

Now our rooster is missing!!!

You really need to put the remaining birds in a secure coop and/or run and lock them up until you deal with your security issue. As you can see, the coyote will not stop hunting the easy prey it has found until it has depleted the supply. The coyote is just doing what comes naturally to it to survive.

I would suggest you invest in some poultry netting or erect a fence to contain the chickens and string multiple hot wires on the outside of it to deter large predators. That means a charger with good output (I use 10,000 volts, 1.2 Joules) with proper grounding (for some strange reason, this is a feature that is often overlooked when installing an electric fence. Proper grounding does not mean pounding a single 6' ground rod 1' into the ground and clamping onto it.) I run the gamut of nasty predators where I am including coyote, fox, black bear and fishers to name a few, and have never lost a single bird when they have been within the confines of their pen.

If you go the electric fence route, I can pretty much guarantee that the coyote will not come back for another go at your birds after it's first encounter with the fence. It would be my preference to go this route as it will deal with all future predators lurking in the wings ready to take the place of the coyote should you shoot or trap it. Addressing this one predator is not going to solve the problem of it's replacements.

 

[jsr5]

We have had problems to. And i feel very sorry for your losses. Varmints seemed to target our favorites. We left ours in the run a couple days with electric fence on. And because. The predators seem to hunt more early morning and late evening. We started letting them out later like 9am and getting them back in the run before twilight. That and leaving them in when wr arent going to be there has helpped alot. Along with a cage trap and hunting of the varmints has solved our issues for the most part.

 

[Chickens4Life101]

I’d put your birds up until the predator is taken care of.

Ok. It is raining where we are so hopefully they'll all go in the coop so we can shut the door.

 

[Chickens4Life101]

We have had problems to. And i feel very sorry for your losses. Varmints seemed to target our favorites. We left ours in the run a couple days with electric fence on. And because. The predators seem to hunt more early morning and late evening. We started letting them out later like 9am and getting them back in the run before twilight. That and leaving them in when wr arent going to be there has helpped alot. Along with a cage trap and hunting of the varmints has solved our issues for the most part.

Ok, we will definitely consider letting them out later! Ours go in on their own, so unfortunately we can't control that.

 

[sunrise.superman]

Livestock guardian dog. Contact rescues in the area for LGDs, Great Pyrenees, Maremmas, working dogs only, etc. Sometimes there is a more senior dog safe w birds that needs a retirement home. They are serious about their jobs in keeping their charges safe. If you want to continue free ranging w no coop or locked up dusk to early morning. Even then the solitary young males that are no longer part of the pack will be desperate enough to hunt at 2 p.m. in the afternoon and unfortunately you have a known chicken buffet line at the moment.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Bait them in with treats and lock them up.

Electric poultry netting, a secure run, fresh pasture inside a chicken tractor there are options.

It is up to you if you want them to be safe or lost.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

As mentioned containing your birds is likely the first step and as also mentioned electric fence might be your next logical step unless you or someone you know have experience trapping... particularly coyotes.

As for trying to catch the coyote in a cage...in can be done, but most people with experience will tell you that it is not worth the effort or the money. Firstly, you'd need a very large trap and they go for over $150 for the cheaply built ones found at the farm stores.

Now it depends what part of the US you are in, as coyotes can very in size, with them being larger in the midwest and eastern part of the country, but I think it's fair to say that a coyote of any size is very likely going to ruin the cage trap after one catch.... and if it's in the cage for any length of time overnight ... there's a pretty good chance it'll bend the bars on the door and work it's way out... unless the trap is extremely well built ... which again the $150 plus farm store versions are not.

Now in the fairness of disclosure, while I have trapped a number of coyotes using other methods, I have never attempted to catch a coyote in a cage trap...so what I've related above about not being worth the time and effort comes from others who have actually tried using cage traps for coyotes.

For a BYC member that as recently been setting cage style traps for coyote, I'll tag
@cmom ...maybe they have something more specific to offer, based on actual experience.