NY chicken lover!!!!

[Beer can]

I doubt a red squirrel would harm a chicken, highly doubt it, they are not meat eaters. Chicks on the other hand I don't trust them, I've seen red squirrels kill and take off with birds out of a birdfeeder, why I don't know, maybe protein deficiency?
Weasels will eat mice and rats, probably a rats worst enemy. My father-in-law swears they won't harm chickens, he had one he fed pieces of hotdogs yrs ago, never bothered his chickens, only had problems with opossum and raccoons.
I know better, when I was a kid a weasel over a three night period took out almost all of my father's whole flock, over 30 chickens, just took their heads off.

 

[Gramma Chick]

My father-in-law swears they won't harm chickens, he had one he fed pieces of hotdogs yrs ago, never bothered his chickens, only had problems with opossum and raccoons.

Weasel did nt bother the chickens because it already had a food source ..- Hotdogs / F in law
Hungry animals look for more prey ...then chickens become part of the menu

 

[nposluszny]

I doubt a red squirrel would harm a chicken, highly doubt it, they are not meat eaters. Chicks on the other hand I don't trust them, I've seen red squirrels kill and take off with birds out of a birdfeeder, why I don't know, maybe protein deficiency?
Weasels will eat mice and rats, probably a rats worst enemy. My father-in-law swears they won't harm chickens, he had one he fed pieces of hotdogs yrs ago, never bothered his chickens, only had problems with opossum and raccoons.
I know better, when I was a kid a weasel over a three night period took out almost all of my father's whole flock, over 30 chickens, just took their heads off.

Yea, when we had our ermine, we didn't have chickens so it wasn't a problem for us. And I can totally picture my Dad feeding the little guy to keep him around. We are just plagued with mice, rats once every few years. That's what we get for living within a mile from a large dairy farm I guess. I know down south of me (way sount n' out from Canajoharie), my friend's parents had a fisher in their garage. Said it ate their cat, I believe them.

 

[Desiree Brown]

I have been watching this crow in my backyard. all the birds chase him out. I figured he was going after their nests. well I think I was right because that crow, just this morning, has snagged 5 of my littlest baby chicks. my boys are penning up mama now

 

[Aria]

The Automatic Door opener DID NOT CLOSE....as a result
something got into the Coop. What???? The coop was
filled with feathers AND 6 hens and 1 rooster were GONE.

Nothing left but feathers. What was it? We have set a trap
and trying to catch the THING.

Does anyone have an Automatic Door? We need to purchase
a new dependable one. Thanks Aria

 

[Beer can]

The Automatic Door opener DID NOT CLOSE....as a result
something got into the Coop.  What????  The coop was
filled with feathers AND 6 hens and 1 rooster were GONE.

Nothing left but feathers.  What was it?  We have set a trap
and trying to catch the THING.

Does anyone have an Automatic Door?  We need to purchase 
a new dependable one.  Thanks Aria

Sorry to hear that.
@Pyxis I believe had something on here recently on a automatic pop door she bought.
I've been lucky rolling the dice on not having my coops/runs predator proof, I don't even shut their pop door, only during super cold windchill. I have outside dogs I think that helps.

Rather than taking my chances forever, or spending big money predator proofing, sometime I'm going to run a few strands of real electric fence around their coops and runs. Electric wire is pretty cheap and a good small plug in fencer isn't bad either, much cheaper than a solar/battery one.
Those electrified poultry fences are nice but expensive, can short out or become less effective in grass or snow. Real electric fence has a lot more joules/zap, cheap, and can be run around your whole setup, a few strands or several, coop and all relatively easy.

 

[PhoredaBurds]

The Automatic Door opener DID NOT CLOSE....as a result
something got into the Coop.  What????  The coop was
filled with feathers AND 6 hens and 1 rooster were GONE.

Nothing left but feathers.  What was it?  We have set a trap
and trying to catch the THING.

Does anyone have an Automatic Door?  We need to purchase 
a new dependable one.  Thanks Aria

I'm so sorry to read about ur coop! What a mess to wake up to. I have auto doors that slide up and down. Sometimes the doors do get stuck a little ways from completely closed (d/t shavings in the track), so I still have to check the birds at night. I also use an electric net fence around the chicken house for their runs. My geese seem to deter the hawks. So far the combination has kept the predators out, but I'm guessing it's just a matter of time before i have an attack too. I still have to fight the mice in the coop and have rabbits that live under the chicken house.

 

[cutipatooti]

The Automatic Door opener DID NOT CLOSE....as a result
something got into the Coop.  What????  The coop was
filled with feathers AND 6 hens and 1 rooster were GONE.

Nothing left but feathers.  What was it?  We have set a trap
and trying to catch the THING.

Does anyone have an Automatic Door?  We need to purchase 
a new dependable one.  Thanks Aria

Sorry to hear this. My guess would be fox or raccoon

 

[Pyxis]

@Aria I think I posted a reply to you before but you may have missed it. I have a Chickenguard door and it is great. You can set it to close on a timer, by light level, or mix and match. It runs on batteries and one set of batteries lasts a year. Mine hasn't failed once so far.

Just a heads up that GFF is having a 30% off sale, which is very, very tempting. Anyone want to split an order?

 

[Gramma Chick]

The Automatic Door opener DID NOT CLOSE...So Sorry
.It is always best to check it .I even check if someone else closes the coop

Nothing left but feathers. What was it?

Probably a fox ..if there are no bodies left