How can you tell that your coop is under siege?

[the1much]

baby moniters work on the "fm" wave length,,,,,, so dont say nothing in ya coop that ya dont want people going by in their cars,with their radio's on the right channel or ya neighbors listening to the radio in the house,,, ta hear hehehe

 

[joebryant]

Thanks, everyone, that's all very interesting, gruesome, sad, and macabre, but very interesting. the1much, first indication of a predator's interest in my coops, and I'll have one of those monitors in both of them.

 

[justusnak]

I have a baby monitor in my coop...and any alarm, I am right out there, guns a blazin! I have the one plugged in the coop, and 3 recievers in the house.....kitchen, bedroom, and family room. When they are all on, and the roosters get to crowing...its in stereo! LOL

 

[smores.eragon.willymom]

It's 10:30 at night and I just heard my two girls making a racket. I went out there and saw a huge possom sitting on the fence right above the coop. Scared the hell out of me. He, however, was not at all scared of me. I had to turn on the hose to scare him off. Will he keep coming back until he gets a hen??? We don't have our rooster anymore and now I am so scared for my girls.

 

[joebryant]

smores.eragon.willymom :

It's 10:30 at night and I just heard my two girls making a racket. I went out there and saw a huge possom sitting on the fence right above the coop. Scared the hell out of me. He, however, was not at all scared of me. I had to turn on the hose to scare him off. Will he keep coming back until he gets a hen??? We don't have our rooster anymore and now I am so scared for my girls.

smores... I hope that your hens are in a tight, secure coop. If not, you might consider putting them in a dog crate and bringing them in for the night. Tomorrow you might consider what to do for future protection. I hope you have a crate or someplace else in your house to keep them tonight. Good luck!
Keep us posted.​

 

[Imp]

A few years ago. I was getting ready to feed the chickens and close up the coop just after dusk, when I heard a huge commotion. As I was running towards the coop I saw 3 pullets 2 hens and 1 racoon come flying out of the coop. Each went screaming a different direction. To this day I think the racoon was the most scared. Or maybe that was me. No one was hurt, but it took me about 3 hours searching with a flashlight to find the last pullet. Last summer the same racoon + it's mate came into the yard walked through the chickens (they backed away a little bit) and proceeded to free range with the chickens for cherries, about 2 hours. I spent about 2 hours glued to the backyard as guard, but they almost completedly ignored one another. Since it was the end of the cherry season, It dawned on me that they probably been sharing the cherries for a few weeks while I'm at work.

 

[Emzyyy]

Try a baby monitor in your coop

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
That is a marvelous tale that I'll remember and tell others about.

 

[silkiechicken]

Coons will attack at night when the cherries are gone, while possums are opportunists. If they find an easy meal, they'll take it.

 

[Imp]

Quote:
Oh, I do realize that. The coop and run are secure. I just think that they are too fat and well fed fed from all the cat and dog food available here that they may be less inclined to bother with predation. Haven't had any problems in several years. They are more aggressive in the spring when they show up with babies. Last spring they swam to the bottom of my 4' deep pond and dragged out the 5- 2' long black channel cats and ate them. Made quite a mess in the yard. It was very surreal to wake up to splashing water and look out the window to see catfish sliding out of the pond and across the lawn in the dark. I'm sure there is a horror movie in there somewhere. ( I was glad to get rid of the catfish- I didn't know that the 1" fish I got at the fish store would get up tp 6' long.) There are still 3 small catfish left in the pond so I'm inviting the racoons back next year for another fish feed.