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

[Abriana]

sorry about your rooster

Thank you

 

[Birdsonghill]

Of course, there is no practical, fool proof, predator protection in some areas, for free ranged birds. You just try and improve the odds in your birds favor, as best you can. Long narrow lots with fairly tall fences, electrified wires help and with string/lines strung across them, every 20 feet or so, with fluttering tapes/rags/foil, will give you pretty good protection. Nets are good. Guard dogs/animals help, a lot. But things still happen from time to time. If not safely cooped at night, preventing the day time losses are meaningless. I have strived to minimize my losses over the years, as I learned, but unexpected and sometimes fairly bizarre things may happen! That's part of life in the real world of chickens. If you keep chickens, you will likely experience predator losses someday, if they are ever allowed to roam outside of Fort Knox type coops and covered, secure runs. Everything likes chicken.

.

 

[BecaHawaii]

We don't have a lot of predators here. Which is why we probably have the largest wild chicken population in the USA. Even cooped chickens don't seem to draw in predators.

Their food... Well that's a whole different matter. My chickens are fed in a Rent-A-Coop bucket. So no open food in the actual coop. My ladies are a little different from everyone else as they are first generation Jungle Fowl. I actually caught them an raised them from the forest around my house. Off track...

So besides the feed they receive from their "bucket" they get supplements of scraps and/or seeds. I have two Roo's outside of the coop and a broody hen (used to have 3 the neighbor did away with them) They are free range. The rest are all in the large coop. Because we live in Hawaii coop building and chicken raising is a bit different. Don't think that they aren't loved.

When we feed them their scraps and seeds we have to be careful that the wild pigs & local dogs, local Roo's, mongoose etc don't come in.

I swear every animal can smell even a asparagus.

I have found it helpful for our larger predators to place a 1x12 approximately 8" off the coop floor on the outside attached to the 2x4 of the coop structure. It lets the outside world know there is a barrier.

After typing that I realized everyone reading probably has enclosed coops. Ours is not except where they roost & lay.

So basically this whole small essay is useless.

Aloha!

 

[WestTNriverrat]

Savages!!!! We keep savages for help with predators....A Savage .17 hmr by one door and a Savage 6.5 creedmoor at another...both ready to go!

Agreed! I love my Savage .17. Gets beat around hard during coon season and has held up better than expected. Can’t complain about my Marlin 22 mag either.
Not sure they will last like my Henrys but almost 10 year in and so far so good.

 

[The Lazy L]

Other: Coons are shot on sight.

 

[PeckingAround]

We have a fairly large dedicated coop/pen area. It doesn't have cement floors, but the perimeter has about a foot or more cement buried, and a foot of cement above group, with hardwire cloth all around the bottom. There is only one door and it has a nice latch. It's covered on top and the nesting roosting area has a back wall and smaller side walls. There has been evidence of a raccoon trying to pull back the chicken wire where one of the walls are, so we are going to replace it with hardwire. They don't get to free range all day everyday, just when I am home which I am home more than not. Their coop is nestled under mesquite trees, and when they are out they have trees and another old barn to run under for cover. Our dog does a good job patrolling and keeps predators away while they are out. He isn't necessarily trained, he chases the chickens sometimes when he is bored lol but he never tries to harm them. He does seem to want to eat the babies though, he isn't allowed around them yet lol He likes to stay outside most of the time, and when the chickens are out he hangs around where they are usually. And of course when it calls for it a shotgun, or rifle works nicely. We live out in the middle of no where so we have a lot of potential predators, like foxes, coyotes, hawks, owls and raccoons. So far only an owl and a previous dog has gotten our chickens out of the last 5-6 years of chickening.

 

[Bobohunter1776]

Predators are one of the greatest fears a chicken farmer has. They can be cunning, fast, and very sneaky. Your chickens will be drawing in predators from the next county over! Well, maybe not that far, however somewhere back in these predators' ancient memories they have eaten wild chickens at some point and will come snooping around for a meal day and night. So keeping them safe from predators should be on every chicken keeper's top priority list.

How Do You Protect Your Chickens From Predators? Place your votes above (you may select more than one)

Feel free to share any other ways you keep your chickens safe in the comments section below.

View attachment 2517029

Further Reading:

Top 10 Chicken Predators
A Checklist To Avoiding Casualties In The Flock
Predators & Pests

(Check out more exciting Official BYC Polls HERE!)

First time they get a burst out of an airsoft gun, second they get shot.

 

[Davethebirdman]

Predators are one of the greatest fears a chicken farmer has. They can be cunning, fast, and very sneaky. Your chickens will be drawing in predators from the next county over! Well, maybe not that far, however somewhere back in these predators' ancient memories they have eaten wild chickens at some point and will come snooping around for a meal day and night. So keeping them safe from predators should be on every chicken keeper's top priority list.

How Do You Protect Your Chickens From Predators? Place your votes above (you may select more than one)

Feel free to share any other ways you keep your chickens safe in the comments section below.

View attachment 2517029

Further Reading:

Top 10 Chicken Predators
A Checklist To Avoiding Casualties In The Flock
Predators & Pests

(Check out more exciting Official BYC Polls HERE!)

I’m a huge fan of Pepper Spray and it really works!!!! I have police quality pepper spray gel that shoots 20 foot long sprays! I guarantee once they get covered in pepper spray they will never be back!!!

 

[Foxinthehenhouse]

My run is covered, I have large rocks at base of fence on the outside so no predator can dig under fence. Coop is raised so the chickens have a cool place to shade in summer. Have an automatic poop door which closed at dusk and dawn. In clicks to lock when it closes.

 

[BDutch]

We don't have a lot of predators here. Which is why we probably have the largest wild chicken population in the USA. Even cooped chickens don't seem to draw in predators.

Their food... Well that's a whole different matter. My chickens are fed in a Rent-A-Coop bucket. So no open food in the actual coop. My ladies are a little different from everyone else as they are first generation Jungle Fowl. I actually caught them an raised them from the forest around my house. Off track...

So besides the feed they receive from their "bucket" they get supplements of scraps and/or seeds. I have two Roo's outside of the coop and a broody hen (used to have 3 the neighbor did away with them) They are free range. The rest are all in the large coop. Because we live in Hawaii coop building and chicken raising is a bit different. Don't think that they aren't loved.

When we feed them their scraps and seeds we have to be careful that the wild pigs & local dogs, local Roo's, mongoose etc don't come in.

I swear every animal can smell even a asparagus.

I have found it helpful for our larger predators to place a 1x12 approximately 8" off the coop floor on the outside attached to the 2x4 of the coop structure. It lets the outside world know there is a barrier.

After typing that I realized everyone reading probably has enclosed coops. Ours is not except where they roost & lay.

So basically this whole small essay is useless.

Aloha!

Not all BYC members/visitors live in the US. I’m from Europe and we have way less predators here too. But we do have foxes, hawks, buzzerds, unleashed dogs and several mustelids such as polecat and pine martens. For chicks there are a lot more predators like rats, more big birds and cats.

Free ranging is possible if they free range only from after sunrise (7 h in summer) until sunset with enough hiding places and a secure coop for the night and early morning.

It must be great to have no big threats.