Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[spartacus_63]

Racoons are definitely the worst for me. We have a lot of coyotes here but the chicken yard is fenced with welded wire and I've never seen any evidence of coyotes inside the wire.
I have had raccoons kill an entire flock. They are worst when the babies are juveniles and learning to kill for themselves. They will kill and leave the carcass.
I now use live traps every night (mostly). Although I have trapped more possum than coon, the possum are not as lethal and are happy eating the food.

 

[Vandersnoot]

I don't know if this post is allowed but let me know i can take the image down but I've lost 2 chickens to the oppossum and I found him in the coop the second time and didn't know what to do to get him out. Plus they are horrible for my horses and can kill them. Plus my 2 neighbors have horses and they were trying to get him because he ended up killing one of the baby horses

 

[Wild-Turkey]

I’ve had the most trouble with bears and domestic dogs. Haven’t lost any yet luckily but have almost lost them multiple times to loose dogs and bears. I live in a town where people let their dogs run around constantly, hear stories of them getting run over by the train or getting killed by territorial yotes all the time.

 

[br2600]

It's been awhile since I posted. I got wiped out last year by a fox when I was letting the chickens free range without keeping a watch. Might have been something else, but the MO looked like what a fox would do, plus foxes have been spotted. So I replaced the flock with New Hampshire Reds when a gal in the next county was having to cut back due to a move. Got two pullets and two laying hens for five dollars each. Then lost one of those birds. after that I decided not to free range unless I was out with them, in plain sight with a varmint rifle ready.
Last fall a bear attacked the coop. Tore off the back side. Two chickens were wandering around the yard, and I thought that the third bird was a goner, but as I was making a temporary repair on the coop, she came down from out of a tree. Smart bird! I went to the farm and feed store and bought a fence charger, insulators and wire. If the bear tries it again he's going to get a 7000 volt surprise. It won't really hurt the bear, but he will think twice about trying for a chicken dinner.

 

[whatsthequestion]

We lost our two top roosters to owls in one attack this week. They were in and out in less than 2 minutes. I'm still in shock.

 

[Chickenclaude]

A raccoon pulled one of my girls out thru the chicken wire and left only bones down to her wings...I had seen footprints and thought that they were secure I think it lifted the reinforced clear tarp and snuck up on her. No breach is visible. Sneaky sucker.

 

[PopoMyers]

I can't believe I neglected to put skunks on the lists.

How about unknown? One of my pullets is missing and we have yet to find any evidence of what happened.

 

[PopoMyers]

We lost our two top roosters to owls in one attack this week. They were in and out in less than 2 minutes. I'm still in shock.
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Did the owls come at night, which I would assume? Game camera? One of my pullets are missing with no sign. Thinking it's an owl at dawn.

 

[Ivan lee]

I hate Raccoons man! They killed my 2 Buff Orpingtons!

 

[mjmkjun]

Weasels and Raccoons for coop break-ins are my varmints. Hardware cloth is best investment. Leave no gaps--and set those small fencing nails close together. Cover seams with a strip of wood. A weasel can squeeze through small gaps that a raccoon cannot. Both will pull and test the mesh. Poultry netting is cheaper but doesn't hold up to those two predators. Poultry netting is only effective for separating chickens within a building/coop. I speak from experience and many losses. Also, I installed a battery operated light w/sensor. It'll help me see my target if it is bold enough to hang around.