Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[longleg]

No. The magpie had the chick down about 30 feet from mom and the babies. I think I had heard some chick chirping while I was on the telephone, but ignored it because if one of the babies gets separated from mom, it will call out for mom, so I didn't give it much thought....now, after the fact, it was probably the chick calling for help. I know that the hen is not very aggressive. For instance, when my two other hens (her sisters), approach her and her babies, she lets them get pretty close before giving a defensive posture; same with our dogs and cats (even my feral cat, amazingly doesn't bother my doves or canaries). When I came out of the door mom was with the other chicks and did not try to intervene with the magpie. I don't know how the magpie got to the chick, whether it had wandered off a bit, or if the magpie carried it to the spot. Nonetheless, now I don't let the family out at all if I can't be there the entire time.

 

[drumstick diva]

Oh how sad, I am sorry to hear that

On the new members thread the no. 1 predator is either their dog or a neighbors. That's what they post most of the time. Some of them just go out and keep buying more chicks, which get devoured again. They don't take precautions with their dogs Actually it makes me ill to keep hearing that.

 

[longleg]

No, like I said, our dogs and cats know better than to bother the other ranch/farm animals. Once a dog kills a chicken, they'll never stop. Dogs need a job, and once they've had the thrill of the chase (a new job), I've never heard of anyone changing the dog's desire to kill. I've heard all kinds of remedies; none that work. The old ranchers around here that raise chickens will kill a dog or give it away, once it's killed a chicken. My point was that I've raised lots of chickens before, but have never had a magpie kill a chick.

 

[cindyloos]

The family dogs. My granddaughter is raising chickens. So far it's been fun, and some work keeping things clean, & the peeps fed & watered. But this morning, granddaughter (9 yrs old) neglected to secure their pen. Her father came home to discover all 3 dogs feasting. A tough lesson. She expected to give some up for meat, but this massacre will be hard. And I've discovered that I am WAY too emotionally attached to these little critters.

 

[longleg]

I am so sorry for your and your grand daughter's loss (especially at 9 years old). It's a tough lesson and I've shed many a tear over the same type of accidental mistakes.

When our daughter was showing animals in 4-H, and later in FFA, she learned a lot. However, as a mom, I learned that I had to be pretty hands-on with her for a long time. Less and less with each year. She showed all kinds of animals from 10 years old through 18. We paid for her first animals, and then from her winnings she bought the rest and paid for all food. vet, etc.. She did all of her own feeding, watering, cleaning stalls, etc., besides playing high school softball and basketball. She was a busy, tired, but a determined young lady. However even at age 18 (when she knew it all), after she'd come up from the barn, either my husband or I generally went down to the barn and double checked the animals (checking gates, putting medicines away, lids on containers, etc.). We weren't babysitters, just realists. And when things were not done properly, we had many a discussion.

My hope is that your grand daughter is not so discouraged that she doesn't want to get any more chickens; and I hope you can overcome your sadness too. It's never easy to get through. However. the rewards for your grand daughter could be huge (both mental and physical). My daughter ended up getting 3 nice local college scholarships because of her involvement with 4-H and FFA. Agriculture isn't the area of her college studies, however, her sense of responsibility that she learned while caring for animals, and getting through all the pressures of showing them, have certainly contributed to her ongoing success in college and life.

Perhaps you (or someone) could do a double-check, if she decides to continue. I wish my husband and I had someone to double check us too!!

Best wishes.

 

[Condi]

I chose raccoon, those thieving little beasties sneak in while the ladies are sleeping, they dig under or climb over, and when you catch them the boot and scoot for the trees.

 

[ValedasLascas]

Totally agree about the birds of prey and magpies. We spend much of the day protecting our free range chicks and the hawks will take them from about 3 mtrs away. All our ducklings are kept inside until they are big enough to be safe. Very small chicks are kept in the "playpen". The solar powered electric fence protects the stock from almost everything else but there does not seem any way to protect our babies from the hawks.

Vale das Lascas

 

[brideofchaos]

For me, most recently, it was a flock of monster ravens. In the past, a fox and a raccoon.

 

[MysteriaSdrassa]

For me it's hands down, no contest,, head of the race with not even a close second,,, Racoons. Those dirty, thieving little rat bleepards are smart, crafty and able to figure out simple opening mechanisms. They will dig under, crawl over or chew thru things if they want at your birds bad enough. They will use teamwork and will kill just for fun and a family of coon can kill off an entire small flock in one night if they are on a rampage. But the single most thing that irritates me to no end about coons is their tendency to eat the head and leave the rest of the bird lie and go after another. That just makes my blood boil.

 

[MichaelZ13]

Racoons are the worst! They will find a way in, somehow, and will only give up when they are buried in your garden with several ounces of lead in them. When they show up, bad things always happen.

Bears, however, will tear up your chicken tractor like paper, if they get a mind to. Thankfully, however, they usually do not cause too many problems.