- Jan 15, 2015
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Hello,
I am a new member that's also new to poultry/foul. We live in NH and started the summer with five ducklings (no chickens). In the last three weeks, corresponding with the cold snap we've had up here, we've lost two females to predators. It looks like one Runner female fell victim to a raccoon (hole in fencing has since been repaired and reinforced) and the second (female magpie) was taken by a hawk yesterday.
Is there anything special you all can recommend to protect against predators in the cold season? We had no problems during the summer/fall, but I think the scarcity of prey up here has made our little flock much more vulnerable. We had aviary netting across the top of our pen in the summer, but had to take it down after a couple snowstorms because it was destroyed.
I ran and cross-crossed orange "caution-type" tape across the top of the pen this morning as a temporary fix and we're going to replace it with sturdier wire this weekend, but is there something else we should be doing? I don't want to lose any of my remaining three (male runner, male Swedish, female Cayuga).
Thanks!
CMV
P.S. - We also have a dog, two indoor cats, and a turtle.
I am a new member that's also new to poultry/foul. We live in NH and started the summer with five ducklings (no chickens). In the last three weeks, corresponding with the cold snap we've had up here, we've lost two females to predators. It looks like one Runner female fell victim to a raccoon (hole in fencing has since been repaired and reinforced) and the second (female magpie) was taken by a hawk yesterday.
Is there anything special you all can recommend to protect against predators in the cold season? We had no problems during the summer/fall, but I think the scarcity of prey up here has made our little flock much more vulnerable. We had aviary netting across the top of our pen in the summer, but had to take it down after a couple snowstorms because it was destroyed.
I ran and cross-crossed orange "caution-type" tape across the top of the pen this morning as a temporary fix and we're going to replace it with sturdier wire this weekend, but is there something else we should be doing? I don't want to lose any of my remaining three (male runner, male Swedish, female Cayuga).
Thanks!
CMV
P.S. - We also have a dog, two indoor cats, and a turtle.
As TwoCrows said predators have plenty time and once they know where they can get a meal there is very high chance they will return. I've had experience of this and would highly recommend you make Fort Knox for your birds. Predators can climb dig and chew their way in. 
