Official BYC Poll: How Do You Protect Your Chickens From Predators?

[cmom]

i have posts for the fencing but how big are the sheets of netting? my run is 175x200’. will snow fall through it or pull it down? do i need posts in the middle?

I use netting to cover my pens but my pens are smaller than yours. Mine are 60'x200'. I do have some wooden T-posts I made to hold up the netting because it will sag. My fences are 5' tall which is my height but I still have to duck some where it sags. About in the middle of the picture I have a very tall T-post that you can see in the picture.

 

[RebeccaRN]

I have had almost no predator attacks, but I have had a couple close calls with Cooper's Hawks recently. Overall though my area is pretty safe.

My chickens have lots of trees and bushes to hang out in, but most don't provide much cover in this season.

I try to always have a rooster or two for breeding and to watch for predators. My roosters have saved my hens more than once from Cooper's Hawks!

I lock them in their predator proof coop and runs at night. After (at least) six years I never forget anymore, unless it has been a very strange and busy day.

I got an automatic coop door set on a timer because I didn't trust my son to remember to shut their door on the nights I worked. It has been the best thing ever.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

My coop is elevated with a lock on the people door. The chicken door is very heavy I’d say around 20 pounds and very hard to lift from the bottom so we don’t have it locked. The run is just a chain link dog pen with a tarp over the top. No wire under the sidesor anything. We have very few daytime predators so the run is less of a concern. Also all gaps in the sides of the coop have hardware cloth to prevent snakes from coming in.

 

[ackie]

My coops are definitely lacking on security, but when I have losses, I set up live traps to deal with whatever the problem was. During the day, my birds have a zillion places to hide and I dont think I've had many daytime issues. My biggest risk is broodies on hidden nests.

 

[BReeder!]

A cage trap helps

 

[Shezadandy]

I just bought a realistic looking mannequin to keep away the hawk that recently attacked.View attachment 2517668

You must have timid hawks! Around here I had a hawk try and dive on a broody hen with chicks no more than 10 feet away from where I was standing. The aviary netting is what saved her.

 

[Ryguy3684]

We have a large, covered, run that they spend most of the time in. Now, they get about 2-3 hours, in the evening, of supervised free range time, and more on the weekends. If the dogs are out, I don't need to worry about predators. They look after the chickens well. A word of warning, the cds hanging in the trees doesn't always work. Our pullets were in the yard last summer and my wife went inside for about 15 minutes. A falcon came down and killed one. We had about a dozen cds hanging all around the yard. It didn't deter it at all.

 

[CHlCKEN]

I just bought a realistic looking mannequin to keep away the hawk that recently attacked.View attachment 2517668

Those eyebrows need some work, I’ll tell you that.

 

[21hens-incharge]

How do human intruders work? I keep key locks on our coop and was always worried someone may come and just try and steal them or possibly may not like them and kill them. I have an aggressive rooster that only likes me so it's pretty funny when people decide to mess with him. But I'm just wondering what do human intruders do?

I used to have just critter resistant latches (no key or code needed). My egg counts had gone from around 18 a day to just 2 or 3. I swore someone was stealing eggs. Hubs said I was nuts.....until there were footprints in the snow going around the house, through the side gate, straight to the coop and back out. That day I got 1 egg.
Luckily my birds have never been fond of strangers. To get in the run means leaving the coop to go to the run door. I am sure my hens all darted out to the run as a stranger entered the coop. Heading into the run they would have run back into the house. Chasing them would have drawn attention with all the screaming the hens would have been doing.
Padlocks went on that night. The next day I had my expected egg counts.

Humans can be the absolute worst.

 

[The Lazy L]

Other: Coons are shot on sight.