Need to Vent - Coyote

[strawberryfields]

Oops! I made a mistake...

Fox are protected species, coyote usually are not. Fox can only be hunted "in season" (by trap usually)... But if they are getting your chickens you have every right to kill them.

However, my experience is that the DNR, depending on who you talk to, has a different take on what is legal and what is not legal, so you may want to check out the local laws that pertain to your area.

Thanks,
Melissa

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

So scary. Best wishes sorting it all out.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

6 am or the early morning hours are the prime hunting times for coyotes and many other predators. I suggest that for your peace of mind you lock the chickens up at night, which includes early morning, and let them out to free range after 9 or 10am. You might consider an electric fence for your chickens if letting them in and out of a safe pen at night is too inconvenient.

 

[strawberryfields]

ALL of my birds were taken during day light hours by fox and coyote. My birds roost high at night, I do head counts morning and night.

My birds were all taken between the hours of 10:00 am and 6:00 pm.

The DNR expressed disbelief at best. I was finally able to contact an experienced trapper and he found evidence of both fox and coyote. I have seen the fox. I THINK I saw a coyote once... but we hear them sometimes around here and many people insist we have them here.

It is a MYTH to believe that fox and coyote are only nocturnal. Check out YOUTUBE for all kinds of videos taken of fox during the DAY LIGHT hours. It will very much surprise you.

 

[strawberryfields]

For my own self, I chose not to have an electric fence. My problem was that the birds were flying over the existing fencing.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Quote:
It is true that coyote can and sometimes do hunt during the day, but early morning hours are when they are most active. If I had coyotes coming in the day I would either cage the birds or get a good guard dog or donkey and electric fence. They also make something called coyote rollers. I have seen hundreds of coyotes in my lifetime, both day and night. cIf you have a population of coyotes you should be able to hear them singing on occasion.

The electric fence, if installed at the correct height and no access areas (trees, buildings, etc.) near the fence is a suggestion to prevent the coyotes from coming in. Chickens need a covered run to keep them inside a fence.

 

[gsim]

Quote:
It is true that coyote can and sometimes do hunt during the day, but early morning hours are when they are most active. If I had coyotes coming in the day I would either cage the birds or get a good guard dog or donkey and electric fence. They also make something called coyote rollers. I have seen hundreds of coyotes in my lifetime, both day and night. cIf you have a population of coyotes you should be able to hear them singing on occasion.

The electric fence, if installed at the correct height and no access areas (trees, buildings, etc.) near the fence is a suggestion to prevent the coyotes from coming in. Chickens need a covered run to keep them inside a fence.

I have a large run that would be a real doozy to cover. Knowing that, I did a 6 ft tall fence set in cement protected with a fence charger and 4 courses of hot wire. My chooks have yet to fly out of it. It could be that they could, but just do not because it is large enough so that they are happy inside. (up to now, I have relied on local resident crows to keep hawks away)

 

[strawberryfields]

That may just work very well for your chickens. Hawks may still be a problem though. We have those, too. Chickens don't generally seem very motivated to fly that high or far, except to roost perhaps, or if you have a particularly determined breed or individual. Some chicken breeds are more likely to want to move around more - to explore, so to speak.

My pen, my chicken pen, LOL, is about 100' X 100', give or take. It is huge - it has been an ongoing project, believe me! It is a struggle every spring to get the top back on - but we are learning what works and what doesn't work and this year it is holding up to all the snow. I still have to separate it where the snow melts off the top of the pole barn... but it should be a much easier project this spring.

I used poultry netting for the top... and lots of poles to support it through out the pen... I should also tell you that if I just had chickens, I might consider leaving the top off... it really is a difficult thing to deal with. But we have some birds... that do require the netting.

In any case, I wish you the best of luck. Sounds like your doing really, really well with your birds.

 

[This'l'do]

I think my first job come spring is to build a huge pen with the electric wire. I feel bad doing that to them as they are ex battery hens and I had been giving them a free ranging life. My dogs are great guard dogs unfortunately cannot be trusted around the chickens on their own! Would a donkey really be effective?

 

[Cetawin]

I will tell you this...yotes are crafty creatures. I have seen one jumping on top of a chainlink dog kennel to get it to collapse and then going in as a group. So whatever run cover you build...make it sturdy.