INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Jntnrmn]

@amwchickin
Chewy is absolutely lovely! He is EXACTLY what I would hope to have if I get a rooster.

 

[slutter]

We had a hard predator hit last night on my grow up coop. I just knew after seeing so many active raccoon the last few days, we were going to see problems! I am still reading hatch records to see who is gone, hard, expensive losses last night. Let me tell you, chicken wire is junk.. Please, choose a better option for your coops/runs. We have been budgeting for recovering one coop at a time with hardware cloth. I am feeling pretty well hopeless with keeping poultry here.

2 coops ripped open, lost teen chicks, goslings and a couple guinea keets. Disheartened beyond description. Many of the teenage chicks were just killed with heads gone or less. Found the entry points but it doesn't help those lost. This has put me a year behind where we hoped to be, stayed home and didn't go to our campground. Just saddened over senseless killing to just leave them lay. Raccoon are a very sadistic animal when it comes to a defenseless young bird. I post things like this to help others. I learn, painfully what doesn't work here, for us. Hopefully it will help others to not go through the same mistakes I have made.

I'm so sorry to hear about your losses! I hope you're able to get them under control...

@jchny2000
Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry for all the loss and extra work and the sadness of it all. It's just terrible!
We set 4 of those dog proof traps last night and 2 live traps, we got 3 in the dog proof and one in the live trap. There had been one in the other live trap as well but he bent the open area enough to escape.
I can only imagine the fear and stress my bantams experience by having those coons climb all over their pen. The bantams just sit there on top of their coop.the mister is thankful to whoever posted about the dog proof traps.
Good luck with your coops and again, I'm so sorry for it all, it's just so sad

Of course! They seemed to do the job for me! What do you bait with?

 

[MikeTodd]

With all this talk of predators, I am a little nervous. We fo have coons and opossums here but I haven't seen many unless they are roadkill. Our neighbors use just chicken wire on their run and said they haven't had a problem.
The top 2ft of ourbcoop on one side is open with chickenwire over the opening. This ventilation point is 9ft above the ground with coorrugated metal as the outside cover. Are these predators able to climb the slippery metal siding? I really don't have the additional funds to cover the area with hardware cloth.

 

[Greenthumb83]

With all this talk of predators, I am a little nervous. We fo have coons and opossums here but I haven't seen many unless they are roadkill. Our neighbors use just chicken wire on their run and said they haven't had a problem.
The top 2ft of ourbcoop on one side is open with chickenwire over the opening. This ventilation point is 9ft above the ground with coorrugated metal as the outside cover. Are these predators able to climb the slippery metal siding? I really don't have the additional funds to cover the area with hardware cloth.

I can't say for sure, since this is our first year with chickens. I know other will have more knowledge of this. But I would look at how things could get on your roof also. We didn't cover our eaves that well and are now considering redoing them with hardware cloth. We noticed the cats on top of the barn can jump to the top of the run. We also have trees close enough that any climbers could come on over. Anything on top of the run can come right up to the coop eaves and windows. A friend has seen weasels up the road from us lately, so we are looking for places they could get through.

 

[Leahs Mom]

We had a hard predator hit last night on my grow up coop.

You are right on the chicken wire. It's okay for outdoor runs when the birds have a shed/coop/barn that is shut tightly at night. But it definitely can't be trusted if it's their night pen.

How did the Buckeyes fare?

@jchny2000

We had just learned a family member had been releasing their trapped coons less than a mile from us...now I'm wondering how much of our problem used to be their problem! The amount of racoon activity has definitely more than doubled here. I'm kinda mad about it but then I convince myself we were releasing as well, no where near homes but I'm sure we created a problem for someone else too, so that just makes me feel bad.

THAT'S FRUSTRATING!

"If" I release I make sure there are no farms or residential homes with animals anywhere within the vicinity. That's just common courtesy.

The more I read about releasing and the fate of the released animals the more I am re-thinking that practice for myself.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I said in the previous post that chicken wire is okay for day runs if the birds have a locked house at night.

There is a disclaimer I need to add....

If you have stray dogs during the day that are strong and determined, chicken wire probably isn't the best for that either.

 

[Leahs Mom]

As far as dogs and other ground predators during the day, my birds run free. However, years ago I purchased a solar electric fencer from Premier 1 supplies and some poultry electronetting. I use it on the back perimeter of wherever they are running. Sometimes they get more than an acre; other times I bring it in closer like I did yesterday as I'm releasing young birds into the flock and the shorter area becomes a training ground until they are used to being out free.

The idea w/the electric net is that an animal that leads with the nose (raccoon, opossum, bear, dog, coyote, fox, etc.) touches the net and gets shocked and learns to stay away from it.

Since I'm gone all day long it gives me peace of mind for the daytime ground predators at least.

I also use it for the goats that are cleaning the woods.

It's great stuff because it can be easily moved and reset however you want to use it.

 

[Leahs Mom]

A thought for those of you that have outdoor pens/houses that aren't as secure as you'd like.

If you get a fence charger (I recommend Premier 1 over farm store...just better quality for the money), you can run a single wire around the base of your pens and perhaps another single wire at the top. Most folks have good success with that kind of setup for night time.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Mother2Hens
You can usually get the footstools at Meijer, Walmart, Lowes, etc. with the plastic lawn/patio furniture. They are made in different designs and I got the ones that are just straight across the top instead of the angled ones.

I really like them because of how easy they are to move around. I even use them in grow pens for the birds to go under and they like standing on them too.

And...
It's a handy place to sit down if you're out and around and just want to sit and hang out for awhile

 

[Jntnrmn]

@slutter
We baited with bread soaked in vanilla. I know most folks use strong smelling meat and whatnot but I was too worried something like a cat might stick an arm in the trap.
We use animal crackers in the live traps. So far we ONLY get racoons with the animal crackers. When we reviewed the cameras from last night we noticed at least 4 coons kept contemplating going to the other trap but just didn't trust the situation so tonight we gonna spread them out further away from one another.
I don't like the situation but I had to admit trap and release has not helped our situation in ANY way. We have a real problem here and I'm so worried about the chickens. The neighbor across the road had horrible carnage all over his yard from those daggone coons. I just can't imagine tha, THEY HAVE GOT TO GO!