Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[the funny farm6615]

the first year i had chickens, i got 20 older hens from a farmer, and my kids got 2 half grown geese and 6 pekin ducks (half grown) and lost 15 chickens, 4 ducks, and both geese in 1 week!!!! called the dnr and he told me that there was nothing that could be done, they were protected and when all chickens were gone that the owls would go away!

i dont think they even care

 

[oldchickenlady]

I noticed paw prints this morning on top of my black trash can lid that I have out by the chicken run. It is where I keep their food, sand, and PDZ. I looked up coon and possum tracks online, but they don't look like either one of those. I'm thinking it may have been a squirrel? Kind of had long fingers. I didn't find any attempts at digging under wire, no chewing on the lid, or anything, so I don't know...So far the girls (and my one RIR roo) have been out for over a week, running free in the daytime and back in the run at night. So far nothing has happened to any of them. I don't know if I'm just very lucky or if the predators just havn't figured out there is a new buffet in the neighborhood.

 

[RAWR]

Quote:
we've lost all ours to dogs

 

[crissyp]

ok, so what do you DO about the dogs ? foxes , coons and the like u just trap but what do u do when its a dog ? or your own dog ? my nabor raised thousands of turkeys and tied a dead bird around the dogs neck for a week. he said it worked . any comments ? has anyone else done this ?

 

[debo4702]

My neighbors know my rules now because one of the dogs from down the road ( and I live in rural area so it was way down) got in my coop and killed about 30 chickens and 2 peafowl. I was MAD!

I called the local SO they came out but wouldn't even do a report. Told me to handle it as I saw fit. The dog was tied to the tree..I caught him in the act. So I went to this persons house told them what happened and you know what....they could have cared less. i let them have their dog back but let everyone know that if your dog steps one paw on my property and even looks wrong at my chicks....well no more dog. PERIOD. Our biggest problem has been with racoons. We trap and shoot them. Sorry but I only catch and release when I go fishing. Too many farms around here that they would just be a problem for someone else. I only bother them when they bother our livestock as long as they stay in the woods I leave them be. Once they taste chicken they come back again and again. Hardware wire around the bottom and if they start digging then steel traps around the sites they like to dig in. Live traps have never worked for us. We got 4 in the last 2 weeks with this. Good Luck.

 

[Lofty Dreams]

I lost 15 of my chickens to those darn foxes. Most of them were my best chicken friends.

 

[obxWaMi]

I live on a small island and I've seen raccoon and possum, but not any of the other vicious wild animals here. I just recently saw the first raccoon in our yard. I'm just glad we don't live over on the mainland because there is a red wolf sanctuary there and bears that will come to the edge of the road to wave at passing cars.
Don't know about hawks. We have osprey, which are more interested in fish than chickens it appears. My girls haven't been bothered by them at all and we have a nest nearby and fledged chicks sit in the tall pines at the edge of our yard every day while mom and dad are teaching them to hunt.

 

[Papadavid]

On protected species: I think my animals are a protected species as far as I am concerned. The other "protected species" are protected as long as they don't kill my "protected animals". No catch and release here, it's catch and die.

 

[Hutton]

parasites are #1

 

[jimmythechicken]

we only had problems with hawks an a owl.everything else i can shot but not them.once the hawks found my chickens they killed all 6 of them an then killed my huge rooster last think that was an owl.my girls 10 an 12 hade me make a covered outdoor area of 20 ft by 30 ft an 6ft high an they cought the bug up to 14 chcikens an 5 turkeys.the love going out to play with them