How to prevent weasel and fox/coyote/dog attacks?

[TheDuckCrew]

My baby girl slushie was killed by a weasel or a fisher cat on sunday. i found her all bloody in the house, barely moving. we rushed her to the vet, and they couldn't save her. her mate chubby was killed later that night by a fox, coyote, or dog. they were both pekins.

i now have two boys left, Toby and Lucy. We have them in the garage at the moment to keep them save. we are buying a new shed and bumping up security. i just want to know some precautions i could take to keep any weasels, foxes, coyotes, or dogs from ever getting my babies again. slushie was attacked inside the house, and chubby was killed outside. the twins (lucy and toby) only free range now under supervision. we want to make them safe again. what should we do? thanks. i don't think i can lose anymore.

 

[Summerlin]

Quote:
Oh man, I am so, so sorry!

I don't have any advice for you, just my sincere condolences. I was actually hoping to see some good feedback for myself (and not expecting such a sad story leading into it

). My two older chicks are currently in a rabbit hutch, the two babies are still inside the house and we're going to start putting the coop/run together this weekend (if it EVER stops raining).

In the meantime..with no fence, I'm a basket-case when I let the two older ones out to scratch around. I'm terrified to leave them alone for more than a minute or two at a time. We have a lot of hawks in the area, but my main concerns are the stray dogs (one in particular) and we're having a lot of trouble with coyotes around here.

I'm considering guineas, for the alert system..maybe a baby monitor/camera..I don't think a dog would be the practical choice for us..aside from that, I don't really have any direction.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

You might want to check out the link in this thread to get some insight into the habits of these animals so you have a better chance at preventing further damage.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=175470

 

[TheDuckCrew]

thank you. my parents are thinking about getting a big dog. they've wanted one for awhile, and we're having a tag sale soon, so we'd make a lot of money. (last time made over $300!) someone had actually shot slushie with a bb gun before she died. the vet found the bullet. she said it didn't really do any damage because they had tried to shoot her from far away. i talked to my friend today and he said he'll come over anytime if we catch anything and shoot it for us. we don't have a gun, and wouldn't know what to do with a mad wild animal caught in a trap. we just buried slushie and i was crying so hard. we never found chubby's body, so we are just going to make a tombstone for him and put it next to slushie's grave. this is the hardest thing i have ever had to deal with.

 

[OutdoorFun4]

Dealing with predators brings lots of opinions and emotions. A very personal choice.

Can't add much other than I'm sorry. I know from reading your posts that they meant a lot to you. Take care.

 

[TheDuckCrew]

well i used to info from the link pumpkinpup provided, and we are going to go a local wildlife trapper that my dad is friends with and get some traps. my friend will come down once we catch it and kill it. i'm thinking i'll want to continue to use the trap even after we catch one. i know it probably sounds horrible, but i want to kill as many as i can. i don't want them getting my babies ever again.

 

[nzpouter]

I thought you cant' even kill a rat..??

 

[TheDuckCrew]

Quote:
excuse me?

 

[LynneP]

We have fisher cats (pine martens) all around us and they're part of a restoration project so we can't trap them. The only way to keep them out is to build Fort Knox for chickens. Seriously. Some ideas in our home page llink under the avatar. other than a bear, there is no predator more determined than a fisher cat.

 

[Blueroo63]

all I do is shoot anything that comes our way,and yes keep the traps out and set because chances are there's more then one I can asure you ,in one night i cought 2 coons reset trep net night the boar came up got him and next night nother young one and ...
until 7 were cought and killed and I have cyotes come up even in the day and I shoot them so don't worry about peoples that thinks everything has a right to life .if they are killing yours it's time to fight back good luck,and sorry for your losses