There are a lot of coyotes around here, I can hear them howling to each other at night. My neighbor got some footage of a bobcat on his deer cam. I have Barred owls, I hear them in the woods. Lots of possums, lots of coons, lots of hawks, a few foxes. Most are never a problem.
So far, (over 10 years here) the only ones that have ever been a problem have been raccoons, about 10 years ago before we built a new coop and moved the birds to it, and twice when we had a renegade fox, one my DH shot, (several years ago) and last year another one, which one of my dogs caught. The first fox took out quite a few birds, over the course of the summer, before DH got him. We free range, but started not letting the birds out unless we were gonna be outside to keep watch, and kept the rifle handy. He'd dash through and be off with a bird if we turned our backs or got distracted for just a few minutes. DH shot at him several different days before he got him. He was bold as brass, that one, and slick.
The next fox, last year, wasn't so lucky. We'd acquired a funny looking little brown dog, a bassett hound mix, I think, who has turned out to be a great chicken guarding dog. She saved several chickens from the fox, and literally saved one he had in his mouth. he couldn't outrun Cleo and carry that huge hen besides. She caught him several times, but wasn't big enough to kill him, she just injured him. So he kept getting run off with no dinner to show for it. Finally, after one of his back feet was hurt enough that he was limping pretty badly, he moved off to a neighbor's to try for his chickens. My neighbor happened to be outside at the right time and shot him. So he shot the thing, but Cleo helped! And, she saved the chickens.
Cleo has run coons off who were after the outdoor cat's food, and removed several possums from the hen house. I watched her go in and carry something out, at first I thought it was a chicken, then I got closer and saw she'd gone in after a possum.
The possums haven't bothered the hens, but they will eat the feed and take eggs. I know some folks have had chickens killed by possums, but we haven't.
Had a snake in the coop kill a turkey poult that was too big for it to swallow. Killed the snake with a shovel, which isn't as easy as you might think unless your shovel happens to be sharp, which mine wasn't. Now, we keep a machete hanging in the coop in case we need it. DH has killed 2 other snakes in the coop over the years.
We let our birds out in the daytime, they go in and get locked up at night. 8 years out of 10 it hasn't been a problem! So we don't ever go on big predator killing sprees or anything, we just keep watch for an occasional predator that becomes a problem.
So far, (over 10 years here) the only ones that have ever been a problem have been raccoons, about 10 years ago before we built a new coop and moved the birds to it, and twice when we had a renegade fox, one my DH shot, (several years ago) and last year another one, which one of my dogs caught. The first fox took out quite a few birds, over the course of the summer, before DH got him. We free range, but started not letting the birds out unless we were gonna be outside to keep watch, and kept the rifle handy. He'd dash through and be off with a bird if we turned our backs or got distracted for just a few minutes. DH shot at him several different days before he got him. He was bold as brass, that one, and slick.
The next fox, last year, wasn't so lucky. We'd acquired a funny looking little brown dog, a bassett hound mix, I think, who has turned out to be a great chicken guarding dog. She saved several chickens from the fox, and literally saved one he had in his mouth. he couldn't outrun Cleo and carry that huge hen besides. She caught him several times, but wasn't big enough to kill him, she just injured him. So he kept getting run off with no dinner to show for it. Finally, after one of his back feet was hurt enough that he was limping pretty badly, he moved off to a neighbor's to try for his chickens. My neighbor happened to be outside at the right time and shot him. So he shot the thing, but Cleo helped! And, she saved the chickens.
Cleo has run coons off who were after the outdoor cat's food, and removed several possums from the hen house. I watched her go in and carry something out, at first I thought it was a chicken, then I got closer and saw she'd gone in after a possum.
The possums haven't bothered the hens, but they will eat the feed and take eggs. I know some folks have had chickens killed by possums, but we haven't.
Had a snake in the coop kill a turkey poult that was too big for it to swallow. Killed the snake with a shovel, which isn't as easy as you might think unless your shovel happens to be sharp, which mine wasn't. Now, we keep a machete hanging in the coop in case we need it. DH has killed 2 other snakes in the coop over the years.
We let our birds out in the daytime, they go in and get locked up at night. 8 years out of 10 it hasn't been a problem! So we don't ever go on big predator killing sprees or anything, we just keep watch for an occasional predator that becomes a problem.
