Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[chickencoops]

I have lost many this last year due to ? We have cayotees, hawks, owls, eagles, racoons etz. It really suck as I've had chickens for years and havn't had any problems. Whatever it is leaves the carcass and comes back until gone with feathers eveywhere. It must happen at night as I have never seen anything and am around alot. I am planning on putting some kind of roof( chicken wire ) over thier running area and start over.

 

[mdion61]

fisher cat

 

[RedwingII]

Lost one hen this year to a raccoon, we found a few places we had the wire underground it was broken ( the chicken wire was only up two years). We added coated wire on the outside of the chicken wire on the outside of the coop.

 

[Simplistic Dreams]

I have heard that Man is always a hard one to get rid of.
Someone around here lost their whole flock after someone used wirecutters to get into the coop and put some neighborhood dogs in with the hens while they were sleeping.

 

[Lonnie]

I think the worst predators are the ones we seldom see. Such as the black tail weasel in Illinois. They are nocturnal, small, intelligent, lightening fast, and deadly. They can squeeze through an inch and half hole.

 

[Skyesrocket]

Weasel hands down because they don't kill a few chickens for food. They will kill an entire flock and take nothing but the heads leaving dead bodies everywhere.
Weasels have wiped out my chickens twice in the past 10 years. And it just leaves an empty helpless feeling. Someone else mentioned that you never see them and that is so true. Out of sight out of mind untill they kill another flock.

 

[cook_kaka_ook]

I lost a couple of pullets already. No traces of blood or loose feathers in the scene of the crime. Could the culprit be a two-legged-predator?

 

[matthewschickens]

I voted raccoon but I have lost just as many to a fox. The reason that I picked coon is that they are ruthless killers and they do not eat the hole bird. A fox, on the other hand, kills the bird and then uses all of it to feed his family. I do not like either but I picked coon for the reasons above.

 

[saleen429]

My family has lost 2 of its flock in the last 2 wks due 2 a hawk issue.

This is the first real problem we have had in the 1 yr we have been raising our pets

 

[OkieDave]

I have had a dog come in and kill everything it could catch. leave one lay and run to the next. just playing. if they are confined, he'll get them all. sad.