I have a preadator

[Traffa]

Quote:
I am in country Western Australia....we have a few predators: birds of prey (4 types) tolerated, feral cats, foxes and crows where I live (I realise your predators may be totally different but some of the following may be useful). Ten years ago I redesigned my main coop and nothing has ever gotten in there. The "hen house" has a concrete floor (no burrowing in), the fly coop has the base wire going into the ground for half a meter (1' 6") or so slanted out from the base of the fence (again, no burrowing). For the first 3' of fence I have double wire.....chicken wire then aviary mess overlaid. I also put chicken wire across the top of the fly coop (stops crows, birds of prey and predators that can run up the wire to get in....feral cats and foxes).

The only other thing I will add soon is shade cloth as a third layer (over the aviary mesh) because crows and feral cats can pull smaller birds out through the fine mesh....a very unpleasant way to die..... Also chickens can't squeeze their way out when young.

Once I open the gate and let them free range I can't do much at all. I only put down vermin, not native animals.

We also have bobtail/blue tongue lizards that will come in and eat the eggs. I don't mind them (they look so contented with egg yolk spread across their faces) but they also bring with them the kangaroo tick. The design above keeps them out of the coop. Rats and mice are much more difficult to keep out so I place baits or traps in places my livestock, native animals and my dog can't get to. Oh....and the rodents attract snakes.....almost impossible to keep out so by reducing the rodent population they will (hopefully) hunt elsewhere (I don't mind them).


Hope that helps.

 

[NarutoTn]

i have some bad news we lost my favorite chickens and there is no holes or anything and the hen and her eggs she was sitting on was gone too.but i am glad we have pheonix chickens.we dont have the money to buy traps or bullets because we have a carborrator issue and we didnt have the right one and the people said would you like a store credit after my dad said we need the money back 10 times in a row.ughhh im going to head up to my grandpa and ask if i can borrow some bullets for wstever the critter is and i will stay up all night to kill it .!!!!

 

[Oven Ready]

I think you can discount the weasel theory, with a whole chicken to eat a weasel would only break the eggs and lick up what it could, it wouldn't take them away. You could certainly waste a lot of slugs trying to hit a weasel with anything other than a shotgun.

Sounds to me like a larger predator and there must be a hole big enough to get a chicken out of if they took your favorite while she was sitting. If it is capable of eating her carcass completely while in the coop then it's a predator that's a lot bigger than a chicken and must need a large hole to get in.

I'd be tempted to use a dead chicken outside your coop as bait and see what comes for it, rather than wait to see what is going into your coop.

Another way to identify your predator, without sitting up all night, is to dig up some dirt, put it round your coop about an inch deep and two or three feet wide out from the coop. Smooth the surface with a plank of wood, but don't squash the dirt down too much. Make sure there is no way into your coop without walking on the soft dirt. Tomorrow morning your predator will have left their signature round your coop, you'll be able to see their footprints and you'll be able to see where they are getting in to your coop - fix their entry point and do it again the next night, keep doing it until you only get prints going round your coop, not into it. If you can identify the prints it'll help with what kind of trap you need to need to make or buy. Even a snake will leave tell-tale marks in soft dirt.

Best of luck

 

[Traffa]

Quote:
Sorry to hear about that....took the hen and the eggs!!!!! We don't really have anything in Western Australia that could do that except a person. Can u narrow it down by posting a list of the predators in your area that could do this? Not a cougar, is it?

If it is an animal taking them then how does it get in? Any prints on the ground? One thing I have done tho not for poultry was to put a layer of fine raked sand on the floor area. If something is taken....should get a print. Even having a similar thing around the coop where chickens aren't walking. An predator isn't going to rake the sand again before they leave. Lol.

With the coop I described at my place a large animal like a cougar could get in but I'd see the damage it did....on it's way in since the whole Fly coop has netting over it. Foxes, feral cats here have been known to run up the wire, down into the coop, take a bird and leave the same way. If people don't have overhead netting they make the vertical wire loose so it's harder to run up (I'd rather have overhead wire so birds can't get in (even non-predatory birds can bring lice and disease to your coops). And when I say run up the wire that's like 6-7' tall at my place. Most people here will set a fox or feral cat trap then dispose of anything they catch that predates and is considered vermin eg. non-native.


You have to build a Chicken Fortress. Lol

 

[NarutoTn]

there is no holes!!!!omg

 

[NarutoTn]

all we have are 1 month olds of pheonixes and the hen and the roo were eatin in the coop .if you go to my paqge you will see the photo of them and their beutiful tails.

 

[Traffa]

Quote:
So you think it's oner them nasty human critters?

Lol!


Happens here occasionally, especially with people who win at Shows. The Club publishes the Winning Entries.......they disappear from the person's coops a while after that. I did very well with a hen at one Club Show (3 trophies and two sashes), got a phone call from someone I didn't know, wanted to buy a rooster, wouldn't leave his phone number...a bit suss (I said I had none for sale which was true and, in hindsight, probably saved my flock since I didn't give him my address). My address on the country property is a PO Box. Difficult to access poultry from that.......Ha.

 

[Oven Ready]

there is no holes!!!!

Then it's not possible for anything to get in and eat your chickens, except something that can teleport itself.
Ok, I'm sorry, that's facetious and you've lost a lot of birds but you have to agree that if you are sure there is no way some animal can get in then there are only four possibilities.

1. There is a way something can get in - you just haven't thought of it yet. - very likely
2. The predator is living in your coop. - not very likely
3. Your chickens are eating each other. - very unlikely
4. Some nearby kids are seriously messing with you. - that's just sick and if it is kids you should get the police

Go with the dirt or sand paw printer tonight and see what happens, if it is kids then they'll leave their tracks too.​

 

[Traffa]

Quote:
What are Phoenixes? I saw the pick, the rooster looked really cool. You say u found them dead.....heads off, injuries, half eaten? I've had poultry die for reasons other than predators. Snake bite or poisoning because they ate the leaves of a bulb that was super toxic.

I also noticed that you said you and your mum are starting a business selling poultry....good on you. If you have had people come to your place to buy then stealing is always a possibility. Better to take poultry to a market day and avoid people entering your property (bio-security risks as well).

I was thinking of getting a Miramar (not sure of the spelling), a shepherd dog from Europe....some breeders here in Western Australia. They look like a large white labrador, when they stretch out, paws on your shoulders, they are around 6 feet in length. Brilliant dogs. Not cheap tho. They can be trained to patrol your property and protect livestock. Here they are used rarely but when used live WITH the sheep and food is left out for them. Nothing gets near the flock. They say a crow will fly around the property rather than confront this dog. Lol. If you have large cat predators in your area....maybe not such a good idea.

Takes some dedication....they will bond with one person. Say. for instance, I visit and you have one there. If I go near livestock (alone, not with you), first they will warn me, low growl...then more aggressive growl...then well, I'm outa there by then!


I've seen them in action on a wheat and sheep property north of Perth. They sense a fox/wild dog is nearby, will herd the sheep away from this area and patrol. No lambs are taken with oner these dogs around. They will kill the predator if given a chance but I believe they won't be lead away from their bonded flock. Wouldn't be surprised if some of the smaller predators you mentioned would give one of these dogs a wide berth. Can be trained to protect poultry.

I have a blue heeler....she does the same thing......naturally, I didn't train her (rescue dog). In fact, I'm thinking of getting a pup so she can train it. She dislikes any conflicts between livestock, has stepped in between two rams head butting. Surprised me when she did it....no end. Also, stops roosters treading the hens,....considers this an aggressive act. Lol. Won't let my sister's kelpie near my poultry. A fight ensued when Suzy (Red Cloud kelpie) wouldn't move away after her warning.

 

[aprophet]

a coon will go in and out of a 4-5" hole, an old 30-55 gal barrel with a board leading up the side and bait in the bottom of the barrel will trap most animals long enough to dispatch them good luck