Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[Folly's place]

Chicken wire will NOT keep predators out! Hardware cloth, everywhere!
Mary

 

[Aunt Angus]

Hi, I don’t understand. Covering the vents…isn’t that for air circulation? Ours are covered with chicken wire.

They mean to cover the vents with hardware cloth. That's def best practice.

 

[ChickensInNM]

Personally, mine have been lost to the resident bobcat, but from reading others' posts, I would have to say dogs.

Yeah. Lotsa wild dogs in my area. I heard a neighbor pop off several shots early one morning. For every shot, I heard a yip. So that guy must have good aim. He has a lot of livestock.

 

[ChickensInNM]

Like I said on the other thread, I believe that the worst predator to have is a bird of prey (owl, hawk, etc.). Most are protected species, so you can't really do anything about it. At least with the other predators you can take care of business.

I saw 3 hawks circling over my neighbors house one morning. She likes to let her Chiuahuas "run free" . So I chased the hawks off by yelling, and throwing rocks. It always works. For a time. Then I told her what I saw, and she didn't seem to care. Ok, I won't tell you, but I'll chase off the hawks.

 

[The WinterWolf]

Dogs. I have lost a lot of my interest in dogs because of my dumb neighbors.
(wow i said it!)
they had two German Shepards who killed two hens and injured two more, attacked people, cows and livestock, escaped twice, and got rid of them only when we called the sheriff and the whole neighborhood was out with guns. i really hope they don't get new dogs because the are obviously terrible dog owners. if any of y'all are bored enough to listen to my story, i'll tell it. let me know

 

[ChickensInNM]

Dogs. I have lost a lot of my interest in dogs because of my dumb neighbors.
(wow i said it!)
they had two German Shepards who killed two hens and injured two more, attacked people, cows and livestock, escaped twice, and got rid of them only when we called the sheriff and the whole neighborhood was out with guns. i really hope they don't get new dogs because the are obviously terrible dog owners. if any of y'all are bored enough to listen to my story, i'll tell it. let me know

I love my dogs too much to let them wander. There are old timers who don't ask questions when stray dogs are harassing livestock, and it's seriously strict where I live in that regard, and strays are killing or harassing. No one even has to call the Sheriff to ask permission. I don't want the whole story, or couldnt sleep, but what state are you in? I was passing through Wyoming once, and I had a foster dog with me. He got loose, and no one could catch him. We had to call the Sheriff, who pitched and moaned because he actually had to work . Not being a city girl, and knowing how Wyoming USED to be, I said, Look. It's not right, him harassing people and pets this way, if yall have to shoot him, you have my permission. He said, and I quote: We don't put dogs down in this state, unless they're actually out there harassing livestock. He said that would be a felony. Probably a lie, but whatever. Oh really, I thought. But him running down the interstate and becoming road kill, is more humane?!? Thankfully, we caught his crazy butt. I did finally find him a home on a farm. Way out in the boonies, near Canada.

 

[The WinterWolf]

I love my dogs too much to let them wander. There are old timers who don't ask questions when stray dogs are harassing livestock, and it's seriously strict where I live in that regard, and strays are killing or harassing. No one even has to call the Sheriff to ask permission. I don't want the whole story, or couldnt sleep, but what state are you in? I was passing through Wyoming once, and I had a foster dog with me. He got loose, and no one could catch him. We had to call the Sheriff, who pitched and moaned because he actually had to work . Not being a city girl, and knowing how Wyoming USED to be, I said, Look. It's not right, him harassing people and pets this way, if yall have to shoot him, you have my permission. He said, and I quote: We don't put dogs down in this state, unless they're actually out there harassing livestock. He said that would be a felony. Probably a lie, but whatever. Oh really, I thought. But him running down the interstate and becoming road kill, is more humane?!? Thankfully, we caught his crazy butt. I did finally find him a home on a farm. Way out in the boonies, near Canada.

i'm in California. and in this state, if they attack livestock, they can be shot. but these dogs were different. they hurt their own OWNERS. (and they still kept them )

 

[Aunt Angus]

i'm in California. and in this state, if they attack livestock, they can be shot. but these dogs were different. they hurt their own OWNERS. (and they still kept them )

That's crazy. Like, literally crazy. What did they expect to happen??!!

 

[Alderen]

Thankfully we haven't lost any of our girls to any predators however, we do have hawks, dogs, cats, raccoons, opossums, and coyotes in our area. Our coop/run is relatively close to our fenced dog enclosure and for the most part, the dog keeps many of the predators away. We've also taken precautions to predator-proof as much as possible.

 

[BDutch]

Last month I lost two bantam pullets, probably to a hunting cat. The chickens were used to domestic cats. Two of then hunt mice and songbirds. And two probably don’t hunt at all. The chickens were hardly alarmed if these neighbour cats came by (they often do and two of them even eat from the chicken feed)

But this one cypress cat (size +) really chases my chickens and I suspect this cat to be a nasty killer cat. Im more carefull now to let them free range, and the chickens only have quality time now if Im in the garden.

I think my bantams are learning that this cat is dangerous because today they were fleeing immediately after seeing him/her.