Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[LittlePeck]

The worst predators are the ones that kill my chickens! At different times of the year I have assortments of beasties. Here's a list of all I've lost chickens to:

fox
snakes
raccoon
opossum
owls
hawks
dogs

My newly-built coop stands six feet tall. Halfway up is hardware cloth, everything is else is poultry wire, including the top. Under the soil all along the outside of the coop is poultry wire buried in the ground to at least two feet. Yet the predators have still gotten in. Breaks my heart.

 

[cabinchicky]

Definitely doesn't work. My game cam shows the opposite.

If you are out in the wilderness where there are few raccoons and even fewer humans, it may work.
In the suburbs where there are 100 X as many raccoons and even more humans, they don't care what the scent is, they're hungry.

She is in Ohio and no suburbs, middle of farms and woods and it is working for her. I realize it may not always work but that it sometimes can. Personally I don't do it since I have 2 ft dig barriers on all my fence a gates.

 

[Em Ty]

I've lost chickens to a raccoon, hawks, and coyotes. The raccoon got the most before I figured out it would wait for my automatic door to open and then go into the coop to kill. Hawks are beautiful and it's admittedly cool to see a coyote hit a chicken at full speed and the resulting explosion of feathers. When I free-ranged I found that the roos had two different warning calls; one for a hawk and another for a coyote.

I went away for a weekend and came back to find three chickens missing. There was a tell-tale scattering of feathers that indicated a coyote hit, but no sign of the other two chickens. Hawks leave a pile of feathers and bones, but I didn't see any sign of hawks, so I walked the road thinking that maybe they ventured onto the road and got hit by a car. It was unlikely, but I couldn't see any other signs. I woke up the next morning at 6 to a third, completely different warning call from the roos. I went outside and, 10 feet away on my laundry line pole, was a bald eagle. I've seen them about 40-50 feet away, but to see how big they actually are that close was surprising. They would have absolutely no problem carrying off my dual purpose chickens. I got to watch it for about 10 minutes before it flew away and, though I didn't get to see it strike, seeing one that close was definitely worth 2 chickens.

I really don't like coyotes, though I did get to see a coywolf up close and personal several times but, for my money, I've got the biggest hate-on for raccoons. I've been attacked by their kits for no other reason than I've been there, and they just seem to kill for fun.

 

[harleycrouch1]

I am having a problem with my chickens getting killed and I put them in a fence and stuff is still getting them should I do Electric fencing Or what

 

[chicken4prez]

Hawk and Raccoon are our most killers

 

[sr26]

When I Was younger, we lost 3 bantams to a weasel or mink. 1 at a time, weeks apart and always after making the coup even harder to get in to. Have also had friends with rat problems.

 

[chicknmania]

I've lost chickens to a raccoon, hawks, and coyotes. The raccoon got the most before I figured out it would wait for my automatic door to open and then go into the coop to kill. Hawks are beautiful and it's admittedly cool to see a coyote hit a chicken at full speed and the resulting explosion of feathers. When I free-ranged I found that the roos had two different warning calls; one for a hawk and another for a coyote.

I went away for a weekend and came back to find three chickens missing. There was a tell-tale scattering of feathers that indicated a coyote hit, but no sign of the other two chickens. Hawks leave a pile of feathers and bones, but I didn't see any sign of hawks, so I walked the road thinking that maybe they ventured onto the road and got hit by a car. It was unlikely, but I couldn't see any other signs. I woke up the next morning at 6 to a third, completely different warning call from the roos. I went outside and, 10 feet away on my laundry line pole, was a bald eagle. I've seen them about 40-50 feet away, but to see how big they actually are that close was surprising. They would have absolutely no problem carrying off my dual purpose chickens. I got to watch it for about 10 minutes before it flew away and, though I didn't get to see it strike, seeing one that close was definitely worth 2 chickens.

I really don't like coyotes, though I did get to see a coywolf up close and personal several times but, for my money, I've got the biggest hate-on for raccoons. I've been attacked by their kits for no other reason than I've been there, and they just seem to kill for fun.

That is true that the roosters have different warning calls for different predators, and also different degrees of intensity in their warning calls, apparently depending on how serious they think the threat is. that is cool you got to see the eagle up close.

 

[Beekissed]

I've lost more chickens over the years to black snake than to any other predator. This season alone I've lost 19 chicks. That makes them the winner in my book, as they can slip right past the dogs without notice and there's not much anyone can do about it. Moth balls seem to work sometimes but they haven't this season.

 

[Ohenry]

Dogs, coons, and opossum's. Oh and fox's when they have pups in the spring will wipe out a whole flock.
Dogs are number 1, especially with chicks. My dog is a reformed killer that will still kill a chick if given the opportunity.

 

[Clarks Chickens]

Weasels are nasty little jerks. If you build a fence, you won't stop em'. They can fit through holes the size of a stinkin' quarter.