Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[13hensandaroo]

We've lost a few to coons, ripping down chicken wire on coup vents, crawling in and killing one or two, but mink/weasel kill just for sport leaving carnage. They are hard to control being able to weasel into small holes. For us it would be
#1 weasel
#2 raccons

 

[GardenTillers44]

We've lost a few to coons, ripping down chicken wire on coup vents, crawling in and killing one or two, but mink/weasel kill just for sport leaving carnage. They are hard to control being able to weasel into small holes. For us it would be
#1 weasel
#2 raccons

While we have every predator the region has to offer, our top 3 are mink, coons and dogs (neighbor's or feral). While the electric poultry mesh fencing has kept the larger preds at bay, the mink can slip through the mesh turn the coop into a slaughterhouse overnight and they are tough to keep out, so I would put them at #1. We have implemented a combination of safety measures discussed widely in many threads on BYC which has been working and we have not lost a chicken to predation in over 2 years.

 

[Threewyandottes]

None of my chickens have been lost to predators but there are always hawks in the air waiting for the opportunity that they will hopefully never get!

 

[FamilyFarm12]

Nothing has ever gotten my chickens except for my dogs when we first started raising them. Although a skunk has gotten in to steal eggs and a Fox has tried many times.

 

[Arla]

Hawks are really brutal. The actual chicken, Arla, lost her live to one.

 

[Stephine]

I think hawks are the worst - we built both coop and run mouse tight with hardware cloth so they are safe in there. When out during the day, electric poultry netting and a watch dog can keep them safe from ground attacks, but it is not easy to protect them from hawks while out and about. Eagles might be just as bad, but I have only ever seen one golden eagle around, but see numerous hawks every day. Most of the sounds we hear here are hawk sounds...

 

[atalantis]

om gosh, we lose like 55 million chikens each day bcks of us peeps!

 

[Stephine]

om gosh, we lose like 55 million chikens each day bcks of us peeps!

haha! That’s not loosing, that’s „using“...

 

[atalantis]

I guess, but the other animals also "use" them 2, and besides, only us humans kill for fun. it's unessecary

 

[Amer]

Disease is the worst predator, for production and backyard flocks, in my opinion. So... each other?