MY CHICKEN JUST GOT BROUGHT INTO THE WOODS BY A BOBCAT!

[chixcoop]

I'm still shaking from the adreline rush... I was sitting at the table, and I herd a scuffle and squak, I saw a bobcat make a tight turn. I ran to go outside, grabbed a bb gun, but the bobcat was scampering into the wood with the chicken in its mouth! It ran when it herd me, and it looked like the chicken was dead. I am so sad. We went from 6 chickens to 4! I am thinking of keeping the chickens in the coop from now on... We do not have a rooster so that could be the problem. Would a rooster have kept the bob cat away?

 

[DestinyRosie]

a rooster probably wouldnt keep a bobcat away, since a bobcat is much larger and stronger and a rooster can only do so much to defend his flock, If you have a big dog or something else maybe it will help keep the bobcat away. If you want to get a rooster to see if it helps, i wanna see how that turns out because that'd be one heck of a super rooster. I could be wrong since ive never had a bobcat take my chickens. My dogs bark at anything that comes in the yard other than me and my family.

 

[Bnstorms]

We are having a similar problem with our free ranging chickens, except our predator is a family of foxes. We had 6 roosters guarding our hens, but we are down to just one.

Our temporary solution is to keep the dog nearby as a chicken guard dog, but sometimes the foxes will sneak by.

We are building a predator-proof, fully enclosed run before winter hits. Those foxes will only get hungrier as it gets colder.

Hope you find a solution!

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Can you reinforce your coop or do your chickens free range? Please don't resort to trapping or killing yet, there may be other options.

 

[chixcoop]

Can you reinforce your coop or do your chickens free range? Please don't resort to trapping or killing yet, there may be other options.

No, we free range our chickens. Our chicken coop is Fort Knox. Cinder blocks into the ground, pressure treated 2x4 and hardware cloth stapled to the bottom all around the base, we also have a roof. So I think that we may need to keep the chickens in their coop till next summer...

 

[DennisK]

I have had problems with bobcats, coyotes, and hawks - still do, but not so bad as before. Use to free range, but I had to build a yard for the chickens. The problem with hawks still exist, but it isn't very frequent as I now have three dogs that patrol the area - at least during the day. I also keep a radio near the coop. It is left on, tuned to talk shows. Coyotes don't seem to want to be around all that human jabbering. Bobcats don't seem to be smart enough to know the significance of what comes out of the radio, so the dogs are their only deterrent. The coop is far enough away from the house so that I don't have to hear the radio.