Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[NewBoots]

My cat after babysitting my 12 chickens for six months helping me heel them into coupe yowl to tell me when one was loose etc..well he's killed three now in 4 days didn't know till caught him with fourth and they are big birds.. No bodies I've found none but I had to beat him off my nh red... I'm so dumb so broken hearted please no negative comments this is hard enough he showed zero signs of aggression to those chicks since hatch.. I'm appalled and so sad...

ee
I am so sorry for your loss. I can only imagine how you are feeling.

 

[JadeFarms]

 

[Ratchnick]

What is that a gila monster or something?

 

[JadeFarms]

What is that a gila monster or something?

It’s a tegu, lol, not poison, but have a mighty strong bite! Also, tegus get larger than gila monsters.

 

[Ratchnick]

I bet it would appreciate an egg or chick snack

 

[JadeFarms]

I bet it would appreciate an egg or chick snack

Eggs are his favorite food. I am on a mission to kill off brown anoles, and Cuban tree frogs. So they are fed to him (and used as fishing bait).

 

[nuthatched]

Hmmm, Coyotes usually. Not too often though.
When I was younger, we had problems with raccoons and hawks something awful, now, we've never had any raccoon or hawk issues in the last 8 years.
Once we had some french bulldogs ( i know, we were shocked too, frenchies!) somehow get in the run and massacre 7-9 hens, 2 ended up torn by our front door, a few we had to shoot, 2 we couldn't find, we imagine they either died from their injuries/shock somewhere or were carried off by other things. we found feathers, 2 streets over.
One of our current chickens is a survivor (she wedged herself between the fence and coop, we had to use wire clippers to reach her) of that but she's had a limp and slight balance issues since.
You better believe my mom found those dog's owners.
we've never had any of our cats or dogs bother them, the dogs have tried to herd them and the cats keep their distance. (they love hunting mice in the coop though! Josie is a mighty huntress)

 

[BigV]

My vote would go to Falcons.
Let me explain. When I first began raising backyard chickens (about 7 years ago) hawks were my worst enemy. I have a 200 foot section surrounded by an electric chicken fence so 4 legged predators were not an issue. My coop is inside a 20’x30’ pavilion. I put plastic snow fencing around the outside to keep the hawks out. I left an open 10” section along the bottom to allow the chickens to free range in the yard. I also installed a hawk stopper net extending out from the pavilion. These precautions stopped all hawk attacks. But, a falcon took up residence in my neighborhood about 3 weeks ago. It has since killed 4 of my hens. It flys right through the hawk netting and can easily fly right under my fencing surrounding my pavilion. The damn falcon even got into my coop through my electronic chicken door!
Yesterday I lowered the snow fencing so there is no open space at the bottom. This has stopped the attacks, but my poor hens can no longer leave the pavilion to free range in the grass.
Hopefully the falcon gives up and moves away. Only time will tell...

 

[MidGaMarine]

I chose the hawk simply because they have less conscience about nabbing your birds. I've been right there and have them swoop in and take a chicken. With most other predators there's a season for them and they can legally be dealt with. Here, it's illegal to trap, kill or in any way harm them.
I LOVE to free-range my birds. They seem more hardy and productive. It's more cost effective and a beautiful sight to watch them strutting the yardanya fields chasing various things to eat. Sadly, I have been forced to resort to keeping them shut up due to losing about 75% of my flock in three days.
Did I mention I was outside with the birds and witnessed the abduction on three occasions?

 

[Fluffyflufffluff]

All of our casualties have been to an opossum.

for me. rats are the worst. they even stay inside cages, wait until they can consume another one.. usually, a rat can take around 5 to 6 chicks a night.