Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[Spanishchick]

I honestly think that it depends on where you live. There are different predators in different regions of the country. Racoons are #1 where I am and man is #2 because there is a big problem lately with people stealing chickens at night!!!
I can't believe people can be so low.
Of all the chicken owners I know they had problems with their own dogs during a careless moment or because they didn't know dogs killed birds!
I recently ran into my own lesson with my dog, although nothing died probably because I surround my dog with animals. Or maybe I was just lucky. Again so that boils back down to man because it's the owners responsibility to keep, tame, his/her dog.

I can't blame a wild animal.

I wonder why on my father in law's ranch which is overseas (cattle ranch w/chickens, horses, mules, donkey's and goats) none of the dogs kill chickens and also why in other countries where dogs run through the streets and are rarely tied up, nobody complains that a dog killed anything?

I've lived on 4 continents, 6 countries, and in most countries chickens roam around free.

 

[Beekissed]

Maybe because those dogs run free all the time and get to satisfy their natural instinct for hunting, scavenging and engaging in normal pack behavior that they don't have to take out their lack of these things on the first thing that runs and squawks in their world? Dogs that live on couches don't have much mental or physical stimulus in their world to satisfy their natural instincts.

My dogs have always lived outside and have gotten to engage in all natural dog behaviors of running, playing, guarding a territory, killing animals that come into their perimeters, barking at or fighting/killing potential threats, experiencing natural foraging and scavenging behaviors and they don't give chickens very much notice at all. They get to eat mice and birds they catch and they also get plenty of meat scraps from the animals we kill, so they get to have a more natural diet in addition to their regular food.

I'm thinking those dogs you see in other countries get to live that sort of life..a natural dog life.

 

[teradragon]

I lost 2 chicks to my dog last night. He's a miniature poodle, I had no idea he had it in him. I can't really blame him, just myself for trusting him in the first place. He's being locked in the kitchen whilst I am out today so he can't get to the chicks!

 

[Crickett]

I lost one of my baby silkies. I keep hoping she's hiding, but mama and the other baby are fine. I don't think it was my dog, but there are some strays around. And mama pecked at Susie today. I think it scared Susie, but she just yelped and didn't retaliate.

 

[PoultryPedia]

Crickett, So very sorry about your baby!

 

[cstronks]

Although this isn't an issue for many, but Bear can be a tremendous inconvenience to a chicken owner. I have only had an encounter with bear once...and it was ugly. Usually, the bears leave the coop alone. I have seen them licking the honeysuckle bushes in my yard while my chickens were clucking and galavanting in the run. However, one night, a bear got testy by my coop and managed to cause some severe damage. He didn't take any chickens, and I'm not sure he even wanted to, but his paw went straight through the window, and he tore most of the chicken wire to pieces. After examination, it appeared that the bear was standing/leaning against the coop, possibly trying to get on top, and he realized that the sides weren't strong enough to climb. I had to buy a new window and essentially rebuild my run. No loses (to which I was truly astounded, because he easily could have broken the door down, however the monetary damage was the effect of losing a handful of birds. At least $200. I still love the bears though! They are the most entertaining creatures around!!

 

[MrsBachbach]

In my case, even though I live in the country in a predator rich enviroment, the plain ole neighborhood dog is the worse. They would wander by and kill the whole flock just for the fun of it and leave them lying all over the property. After two attacks by the plain ole dog and at least one attack by what I believe was coyotes, I purchased a Great Pyrenees. Five years later, so far, so good.

 

[Sjisty]

Our worst overall predator would be hawks. We have had a couple of coyote losses and a few years ago lost 7 chickens to a fox. Dogs coming into the yard run a close second. The one alligator that came to visit went away hungry. We have barred owls but they don't bother the chickens. Our own dog loves the chickens and is absolutely trustworthy with them.

 

[HatchCraft]

For me It's bobcats, beautiful but deadly. They learned how to flush the chickens off the roost at night and kill them through the pens wire with their long claws. Had a cat dart out and take a bird in front of me when I was turning them out for a little exercise. Hawk are a close second . Love the pair of barred owls that have nested in my yard for years. They would never even look at a chicken in the yard. Horned owls are evil.

 

[callieisspooky]

For us, bobcats and foxes will carry off one bird at a time, but raccoons create carnage like I've never seen. Whole flocks massacred with torn body parts thrown everywhere. It's an absolute nightmare. The only good thing about raccoons is that they have been strictly nocturnal, and therefore easy to lock out once we put in the half inch chicken wire. But bobcats and foxes have struck mid-day. Impossible to prevent unless we keep the flock from free-ranging.