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

[Silkiesaz]

I am out there every day being loud and talkative, giving treats and just generally trying to deter coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, possums and so on from coming to close.

 

[Cryss]

how can you make nest boxes the chickens can use during the day that will prevent snakes from accessing them?

My nests are inside the coop 18 inches above the floor. The entire bottom half of the coop, including floor and walls, are covered in 1/3 inch hardware cloth , except for the human doorway. In 4.5 years only one very tiny snake made it just barely inside through a very tiny gap in the human door. That’s been repaired. The snake was too small to swallow an egg but I guess the best thing is to keep them out.

 

[ValarieF]

I have 5 dogs and a 9mm and I dont miss dont mess with me feather babies!

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

My 7 hens and 1 rooster, 6 ducks 2 drakes and 2 guinea fowl free range all day 365 days a year mostly cause their coop is too small for them all to be in during the day and we don't have a run or anything either. I've always free ranged my birds for the most part no matter what kind of coop we had/have.
My current coop has a latch on the people door and I have to tie down the nesting box door (Idk, why there's no latches on it) cause it gets really windy here and the wind makes it lift up a lot and it's a bit of a security risk for the flock at night if a predator could somehow get in from there. The coop is elevated on cinder blocks and has a almost completely solid wood floor.
We have no bush's, no trees, they have a lot of things to hide under or around and aerial predators are not really a problem here and the ducks are very good at keeping there eyes on the sky I feel like. I'd say dogs, skunks and swift foxes are the only predators that we've had issues with in the past. All of the ventilation has gable vents and hardware cloth in place so nothing can get in from those places. We have been searching for a bigger and better coop but haven't had much luck. I've been able to make due with what we currently have though. Two of my ducks haven't been in the coop with everyone else for the last four or more months now mostly to help one of them get her wing feathers back in better shape and so there's more space for everyone. And the drake that's in with her would fight the other drake during the day and night more often when he was in the coop at night.
Hopefully this was easy to read.

 

[Jojosine]

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.

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Further Reading:

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

(Check out more exciting Official BYC Polls HERE!)

My husband occasionally urinates outside (we are far away from neighbours ) as apparently that deters larger predators, because they can smell hormones in the urine indicating that this is a very large predator LOL!

We also grow mint around the hen house, because that is meant to deter rats. I haven't seen rats, so maybe that is true.

 

[Dakota8472]

My husband occasionally urinates outside (we are far away from neighbours ) as apparently that deters larger predators, because they can smell hormones in the urine indicating that this is a very large predator LOL!

We also grow mint around the hen house, because that is meant to deter rats. I haven't seen rats, so maybe that is true.

i'm a fan of my doggo and me peeing all around the chickens coop. I also try to get the dog to drop his doggo loggos in the brush line of the trees where i don't walk to make it quiet clear this 50 lbs pit bull is on the job....... the predators don't need to know he's passed out in bed with me.

 

[Molpet]

i'm a fan of my doggo and me peeing all around the chickens coop. I also try to get the dog to drop his doggo loggos in the brush line of the trees where i don't walk to make it quiet clear this 50 lbs pit bull is on the job....... the predators don't need to know he's passed out in bed with me.

Had a st Bernard that killed predators. One day in the winter I seen a oppossum in the snow eating his dog logs.

 

[Dakota8472]

Had a st Bernard that killed predators. One day in the winter I seen a oppossum in the snow eating his dog logs.

i bet he ate it cautiously lol. and thats what i want paranoid predators. I think jerseys great harrassing these feral cats. but he's getting to on top of them before they get away now. i dont need him catching something, by catching something lol.

 

[AGeese]

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.

 

[Oisian]

I have enclosed runs with hardware cloth and both run and coop have paved floors and there is a double wide section of pavers on the outside of the coop/run also. There are a lot of stray dog packs and feral cats around here. Even humans are not immune to dog attacks, and it's necessary to take precautions. There's a black racer snake living in the garden and he keeps a lot of the vermin down, but obviously I have to keep him out of my serama area, the big girl egg layer hens can cope with him if he gets in their area. I have padlocks and cameras and motion activated lights for the two-legged varmints. I do have electric fence but currently [see what I did there] it's just fence and not electric at all. My own fault, I thought I had bought a solar one, but hadn't. We are working on fencing in the whole 2 acres but it's super expensive, so I'm working on one section at a time. I just completed fencing in the coop 'compound' using pallets left by the construction guys. Just needs a gate and it's done. I'm planning a faux Japanese garden in the center and surrounding the coops, so it will be concrete, gravel and pavers. Killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.