How Can I Stop Predators From Harming My Poultry?

[mowin]

The WILDLIFE rehabilitation service told us to relocate them in a densely wooded area AWAY from People. 10+ miles away from the homes and your home. I go by what the Expert of 40+ years told me.

Relocating will normally be a death sentence for the critter. Not knowing where to forage for food, now in others critters territory and having to fight for that territory. Also, unless you're in the middle of nowhere, it's going to be difficult to find somewhere 10 miles away from another house.

 

[IvysAnimals]

If you don't own the land or have specific permission from the landowner it remains 100% immoral to dump a pest animal there.

If it's public land it's almost certainly also illegal.

Solve your own problems instead of passing them on to someone else.



To be blunt -- because I don't need people dumping pests into the tree farm that backs on my property over the brow of a hill -- when you CHOOSE to not fence your property you CHOOSE to accept losses to predators.

Buy a fence, not a live-trap.



Did they provide you with a map of acceptable areas?

How were you planning to figure out where this "10 miles from any people" zone is?

If the land is not your personal property and you don't have specific permission from the owner it's still immoral. Dumping pest animals is no different from dumping garbage.

We bought the property and had poultry BEFORE they even had that illegal. You know that We didn't relocate the fox but killed it, right?

 

[mowin]

We bought the property and had poultry BEFORE they even had that illegal. You know that We didn't relocate the fox but killed it, right?

Why didn't you mention that? I get the live and let live motto, but only if the critters are letting my livestock live.
However, I've fenced in 2 acres of my backyard, made absolutely predator proof coop and runs, and only free range the last few hrs of the day if I can. I also have 3, 50lb dogs that patrol the fence. I let everything walk by, but if a critter tries to get in the fence, or happens to get in, it gets eliminated. The only predators I really worry about are the hawks and eagles.

 

[Hensintexas]

We have been having “fox trouble” and have lost 14 free range chickens because of it. A fence is the first line of defense against any 4 legged predator, but foxes are smarter than most, and they’ll dig like maniacs going for that duck or chicken dinner. So, bury at least 18” of fence.

Our net has gone up over the reinforced pen. We have a trap that the foxes laugh at. Even if we caught one, it would meet a swift end, because I refuse to dump my problem on someone else’s property. There is a lot of open land where we live, most of it privately owned. I understand the idea of being humane, but how humane is it to release a fox where someone else may have livestock at stake? If it is attacking your birds, you can kill it - whether it’s just one fox or five of them.

 

[3KillerBs]

We bought the property and had poultry BEFORE they even had that illegal. You know that We didn't relocate the fox but killed it, right?

You kept talking about trapping and relocating.

 

[IvysAnimals]

We have been having “fox trouble” and have lost 14 free range chickens because of it. A fence is the first line of defense against any 4 legged predator, but foxes are smarter than most, and they’ll dig like maniacs going for that duck or chicken dinner. So, bury at least 18” of fence.

Our net has gone up over the reinforced pen. We have a trap that the foxes laugh at. Even if we caught one, it would meet a swift end, because I refuse to dump my problem on someone else’s property. There is a lot of open land where we live, most of it privately owned. I understand the idea of being humane, but how humane is it to release a fox where someone else may have livestock at stake? If it is attacking your birds, you can kill it - whether it’s just one fox or five of them.

I killed the fox, this happened last summer. We didn't relocate the fox like the wildlife rehabilitator said, we didn't just dump it on someone else and make it their problem

 

[Devorah]

HELLO! The group of ducks that I have now are 3-1 years old. I've had some issues with predators coming around more than ever, of course. We've had the regular Cats, Fox's, Coyotes, Raccoons, Bald Eagle, Turkey Vultures, Crows, Rats, Mice, Possums, Deer, and as well as peoples dogs and I'm sure, more. We got a female and male wood duck from a breeder that would only sell in pairs and only 1 couple. Sadly, I had a Fox come into my duck pen one time and attack my only Female Wood duck, Violet, that I had left. My male was so scared and acted wild because the guy we got him from never handled them and only came in to give them food, so he flew away even though his wings were clipped. This made my whole family upset so we had to call a wildlife service to ask them how we can get rid of the fox. They told us that if the fox was in your pen, you can legally shoot and kill the fox or set a safe-non harm trap and relocate him more than 10 miles away. We did the Trap for about 2-3 weeks and he didn't want to get in, but he came in our pen again... My family was very upset because we really didn't want to kill or hurt him but that's our pets. Just like a dog, you don't want them to get hurt so you try to keep them safe. We also have a Bald Eagle come around and stalk our birds so we did try to get netting but it was so weak and expensive, we couldn't get that to work. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to stop predators, especially rats/mice, from coming and trying to harm our birds or eat their eggs? Our family really doesn't want to hurt any wildlife, we just want to protect our ducks and goose. We have a 40ft long and 10ft wide pen for them outside with a rubber pond, large food bowl, duck house, and the ducks we have in there. We can't put concrete under the fence and we can't put fencing under either. We had large bolder-like rocks on our property and some plywood we used to block them from getting in. The pond does over flow and cause some weak spots in the ground that are more likely going to be dug under from predators. The fence is like a regular dog fence so I don't want to lower it in the ground and have the ground protected but another issue with the fence being short and them just climbing over. I also have a neon orange net on the outside of the fence, that probably won't help much. What can I do? I've had 4 of my ducks be attacked out of the 30+ that I have/had. I don't want to see my babies get hurt and I don't want to hurt any...

DUCK BREEDS:

Cayuga - 4
Pekin - 7
Rouen - 4
Fawn Runner - 9
Blue Runner - 2
Blue Swede - 1
Magpie - 2
UNIDENTIFIED INCUBATOR BABIES - 3

I’m no expert as I have just begun this journey renovating an inherited barn coop with attached run for a dozen chicks (who have not arrived yet!). Among my research, I found this excellent article on predator-proofing:

https://www.cwrescue.org/predatorproofhousing

Good luck!

 

[IvysAnimals]

I’m no expert as I have just begun this journey renovating an inherited barn coop with attached run for a dozen chicks (who have not arrived yet!). Among my research, I found this excellent article on predator-proofing:

https://www.cwrescue.org/predatorproofhousing

Good luck!

Thanks!

 

[IvysAnimals]

Pictures of your setup would be nice so we know what better to advise.