Kitty Cat

[Jaxon4141]

Raccoons and larger predators play an important role in keeping rodent populations in check. Killing larger predator, just because they're predators, leads to other other problems like an over abundance of rodents. I live in an area that has a large population of raccoon. One of are local restaurants feeds chicken scraps to raccoons outside a picture window for the entertainment of their customer. It is fun to watch them fight over chicken scraps and I wouldn't want to hurt there business. I also have foxes in the area. Foxes main diet is rodents. I would rather have a fox family around than to be over run with mice and other rodents. So I just make sure that my chickens are secure from these predator and I can peacefully enjoy what wildlife live in this area without trying to trap or kill everything that also shares this land.

 

[Mattemma]

I think I would rather get rid of the coons and then deal with the rodents.The hawks can get those rodents too. I had over a dozen coons and each of those are likely infested with roundworm and dropping millions of eggs. I would rather get rid of the coons.They were good though for picking up a ton of ticks.Hopefully the cats roaming around are getting the ticks now!

 

[6RandomBrownLayers]

Well, I ended up getting an opossum last night. I have had the trap set for over 5 months with sardines, marshmellows, squirrel guts (I hunt squirrels), turkey gizzards and probably more. And in 3 nights I caught a cat and an opossum.

 

[Jaxon4141]

I think I would rather get rid of the coons and then deal with the rodents.The hawks can get those rodents too. I had over a dozen coons and each of those are likely infested with roundworm and dropping millions of eggs. I would rather get rid of the coons.They were good though for picking up a ton of ticks.Hopefully the cats roaming around are getting the ticks now!

All wild animals have roundworms. Raccoons carry no more than any other wild animal. Hawks do not take nearly as many rodents as a ground based predators. Rodents are responsible for more human deaths than any other animal on this planet. Just do a browser search for diseases caused by rodents and see how long a list it is. Me personally, I'll take the predators over rodents any day. I know how to protect my chickens without having kill any of them.

 

[joan1708]

I know this controversial and not everyone will agree with me. But I think in an urban setting, your attracting other peoples pets by having chickens. People and pets live too close together. It's almost like having a female dog in heat in your yard and killing all the male dogs that come around. Or putting out bird feeders and killing the birds that try to eat the seed. You might need to consider keeping your female dog, bird seed and chickens protected and then everybody gets to live.They are doing what they do by instinct. I live in the city, I feel like it's my fault if a predator gets to my chickens because I didn't protect them. I would never let my dog run free, I have baby gates and doors to ensure my dogs don't bolt out the door when the garage door goes up. But none of us are perfect. I feed a feral cat because I want a cat around outside to help with rodent control. I trapped her and got her fixed. I didn't bring her here. She was born under a neighbors outside shed. There have been no more kittens since I got her, her mother and her sister fixed. No one wins if some one traps her and kills her. More feral cats will come that have not be vaccinated or sterilized. IMO if you have chickens in the city, your yard should be dog proof and your coop raccoon, possum, cat and rat proof. You shouldn't have to trap raccoons, possums or cats unless they become relentless because they have been successful in getting to the chickens at some point.

I know my avatar is a lady with a rifle ready to protect her chickens, but she's in the country, and I just like the picture.

In my mind an agricultural setting is different. Farm dogs are held to a different standard, and people live farther apart and fenced yards are not realistic. If the dogs and cats can't stay on their own property and they kill chickens, their days should be numbered and the SSS is justified IMO.

 

[nzpouter]

kill anything that will kill chickens

This... if it's in your property and it has the potential to harm your animals, do you prefer to wait till one of yours get killed?

 

[RedDrgn]

You could always try my neighbor's method for cat control (because they were marking his motorcycle). He'd put out a Havahart trap baited with sardines or shrimp, and when he caught a cat, he'd take the garden hose to it (while it was in the trap) and then let it go. It usually only took one hosing and that particular cat wouldn't be seen in the area again.