Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[SilverLacedLady]

The reason I voted dog is because today my 8 year old step-son Nathan lost his beloved light brahma named Chicken Josie to the family dog. Rocky is an 80lb. Chow/Lab/pitbull mix. and poor little Chicken Josie didn't stand a chance. She was only 8 weeks old.


my bad, i didn't mean to edit! Sorry!

 

[TheMainException]

For my free range bantams, hawks are the worst. I lock them up at night, so the night stalkers can't get them (although I did have a close call with a fox that I managed to scare, but I'll never be closing the coop that late ever again). During the day, our resident family of hawks spends the day watching them and once swooped them. I haven't lost any to any predator yet though, so I'm counting myself as lucky.

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

Dogs are our worst threat. Now that Ive got a 6ft high fence put up around the back I haven't lost any chickens to dogs. However a couple have stupidly drowned in our pond.

 

[oliviad51]

I think raccoons and possums.

 

[BuzzinBee]

In my neck of the woods (northeast US), by far... the worst predator is the fisher cat (small weasel). They will come in full daylight and kill just to kill... with me in full sight and they will attack you too, if cornered. We had 3 of them hit us.. momma and two young ones. The young ones got in a little over a 2 inch opening and decimated my whole flock. We trapped one and the other two left.

 

[Lbrad7]

Racoons are hawks are the bain of my existence!!! Coons are so freaking smart and hawks...well they are hawks.

I like to let my birds have some free range time but the Red Tails here in NW GA and SE TN are thick as fleas. You can't turn you back for a minute. They have even swooped down on one of my bird while I have been within 20 feet on my tractor.

 

[can you hear me now?]

have gotten many raccoons, one snake, and some oppossums

 

[Yessur Ebob]

Raccoons win hands down. The only other one close is rats.

 

[Cowgirl71]

I just voted skunk... Last fall I lost about a dozen full-grown chickens to the biggest, fattest, glossiest skunk I've ever seen.

After going down to the coop several times after dark, we finally saw him and shot him. After that the killings stopped. It was kinda funny because my brother shot him in the "stinker" because he was running away, which didn't leave my brother much else to shoot at. HE STANK REALLY, REALLY, BAD!!!

According to the poll, coons are the worst. I haven't had any losses to coons (I've only seen three or four on my farm in four years). Probably has to do with the fact that the previous owner shot enough coons and other fur animals - in one year - to buy a brand-new full-size Ford pick-up truck with the money he got from the pelts. Might explain why there's a scarcity of coons around here, LOL.

 

[Louieandthecrew]

Last year a hawk got in my coop and killed two young pullets and three weeks ago a snake killed my broody hen and ate almost all of her eggs. Only 2 chicks lived. That has been all of my preditors so far but we found a raccoon nearby, so I hope it doesn't get to the chickens