Might be a spicy take but...

[Pampered chicken girl]

I don't like killing animals, that's just how I am. I don't slaughter my birds, I would never BUT I am willing to kill that coyote that I seen on the property if it comes back, I will kill a racoon, possum, or whatever tries to eat my chickens. Yeah, you have to have a strong coop but part of the "protecting the flock" is eliminating predators.

 

[Jurassic_Bawk]

You only have to do a good job of building or reinforcing the coop once. You will have to do a good job of killing a coon over and over again and you'll loose a bird or two on each occasion.

100% The old "fool me once" adage should apply here but apparently not everyone agrees with me lol. Glad you are keeping your chickens safe and not taking out your mistakes on the local wildlife.

 

[Iluveggers]

Get a dog or two. We only have squirrels & bunnies that get in the yard. Dog has got 2 bunnies. Squirrels are too smart & fast, but neither of them are threats to my birds (only the garden). Coyotes & fox don’t enter my property because of my boys diligence.

 

[sourland]

100% The old "fool me once" adage should apply here but apparently not everyone agrees with me lol. Glad you are keeping your chickens safe and not taking out your mistakes on the local wildlife.

Flock protection/predator control runs the gamut from 'they were here first' to 'I'll kill everyone in sight' to 'mess with my flock, and you are dead'. In my experience unless you free range, hotwire and a solid pen are the answer to a point. Habituated predators will harass flocks by racing around the pens causing stress and sometimes injuries/death from accidents when birds fly into solid objects. Predators put me out of business with my pigeon flocks. I have a love/hate relationship with raptors. Had it been legal, I would have controlled the problem. It's a personal decision for all.

 

[Painted Calls]

Flock protection/predator control runs the gamut from 'they were here first' to 'I'll kill everyone in sight' to 'mess with my flock, and you are dead'. In my experience unless you free range, hotwire and a solid pen are the answer to a point. Habituated predators will harass flocks by racing around the pens causing stress and sometimes injuries/death from accidents when birds fly into solid objects. Predators put me out of business with my pigeon flocks. I have a love/hate relationship with raptors. Had it been legal, I would have controlled the problem. It's a personal decision for all.

I feel sort of the same. I believe in predator proofing first. Then problem solving later. I do what I can as a responsible keeper to keep my birds safe. If I have to resort to a problem predator later that just won't get the picture, I'm not above taking care of that one predator.

 

[Krugerrand]

I'm planning on taking out the local raccoon family as they ate all of my pears and half of my pawpaws this year. So, they're more of a problem than just a threat to the chickens.

 

[Brooks_]

^^^
Good point.

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

It's not black and white for everyone.
Where I live there is basically no  native predators that threaten my birds. Those feral/roaming cats and dogs shouldn't ever be on my property. And foxes are a huge pest to farmers and the native wildlife! Just the other day I saw a fox chasing an echidna across the road
I've never personally killed anything that threaten my flock but I will continue to trap foxes, because it's the right thing to do.
I am sure it may be different in other parts of the world, but again you cannot assume it's black and white for every single person.