mystery of the missing chickens.

[borristherat]

would a decent heavy nylon mesh as a roof solve a cat problem?

 

[nzpouter]

.223... or a 303... depends on the range... shotgun'll be good for shorter distance..

 

[borristherat]

nzpouter...........LOL.

congrats on hosting the world cup. in 95 mins you should have beaten tonga.

 

[dainerra]

the OP is in the UK, so the guns aren't an option.

I'd vote for fox. A 6ft fence is VERY easy to get over and avoiding the dogs every 2-3 days would be no problem.

 

[MuckyPuppy]

We live in the UK and we know that we have winged predators (live near a wooded area) as well as the usual fox, dog and cat.

Talking about the coon ..... We have read recently about people seeing raccoons that may have once been pets roaming around and there was the story of the family with 20 pet raccoons in Portsmouth. So that may be something that may be a worry in future years if they get as out of hand as the grey squirrel. Everytime I have seen a newspaper article on them the amount of people that say "Awwww, How cute. I want one!" is amazing. I think they may find them to be less cute if they catch one pulling chicken parts through a fence while the chicken is still alive or chewing the toes off their pet rabbit.

 

[nzpouter]

Quote:
Thanks..

41-10, not a bad score, but need more aggression...

 

[mrpekinduck]

Foxes can easily climb fences like that so tyr some barbed wire along the top of the fence.

 

[Zonoma]

Quote:
I liked it better when I thought it wasn't- mostly because I think it's a fine solution.

 

[rancher hicks]

A large size coon could very well carry a chicken over the fence. But since they are nocturnal that might not be the case. Now a large Eagle might be able to take off in a 40 x 60 meter run. Can you post pics?

Is the coop locked? I believe a recent issue of Practical Poultry magazine had an article on chicken thieves. Do you have a time frame of when these disappearances might have occurred? Are there signs of bent wiring on the fencing? Perhaps a hole in the coop somewhere?

Perhaps it is a Stote. Not sure it's spelled right.

 

[borristherat]

many thanks for all your replies. i think i have identified the problem.
yesterday i put a nice heavy duty 1 inch mesh net over the pen and then went and hid in the top of the barn (well armed just in case) about an hour later a large goshawk landed in a tree next to the chicken pen.
so prevention rather than extermination is the only option.