Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[graceless]

3 of my 6 chickens got killed by my mothers dogs tonight. I'm really wondering what to do because obviously the dogs and chickens can't get along.

 

[icemanchicken]

err I've never lost any chickens to a natural predator. However today i went out to feed my chickens and noticed that all my eggs were gone from under my broodie cochin, which im assuming is the handy work of a snake. So after making a note to go buy some golf balls i came inside to feed and water my 2 week old chicks. While i had the top of my storage box brooder my wife decides to open the door to the bathroom which is currently the home to our newly nursing dog. She runs straight into the room and kills three of the chicks and is in the process of killing another one before i could get in there to her.

 

[Gerbil]

Raccoon, I just lost my beautiful flock of Delawares to one of them.

 

[Stranazingarella]

Last year, I lost my whole flock to a racoon. We live-trapped it and relocated the jerk! I also have lost one free-range hen to a hawk that literally swooped down and carried her away. I have also suspected a few skunks and an oppossum. . . although they usually just want the eggs.

 

[maggiemmm]

Our 2 cherry farmer neighbors have either trapped or killed 115 raccoons since May. I have lost more ducks to weasels / minks than any other predator. I do have a Bald Eagle that sits on the top of an old Elm tree and looks longingly at my girls... but I know when it is there because every animal in the entire area shuts up..... not a peep, not a movement nothing. After losing three banties to the neighbor's dog.. ( she said she didn't like chickens and was glad they got killed) I fenced in the property. Weasels go for the ducks, raccoons for the chickens. ( lost 5 banties to raccoons) We now have Gitmo.. totally fenced, top wired, electrified fence at night, two feet of hardware cloth on the ground / 2 feet up the chicken wire fence.... . I wanted a fencer that would fry an elephant .. by my more reasonable husband said "NO" ... but it is strong enough to thwart any rampaging Rhino. So far so good..... in Northern Michigan you really gotta watch for Rhinos The deer in my garden is another story

 

[bigj]

my birds sit behind 7' of electric fence cranking out a reliable 4200 volts with alternating hot/ground wires every 3". Chicken Alcatraz! havent lost a single bird since.

 

[marthas_ear]

Coons. I can fence dogs out. Coons are cunning. BTW- just shoot the darn thing or flat rock it if you trap it. Most states have laws about "relocating" them.
Don't release it to become someone else's problem. They carry disease and are over-populated from scavenging human garbage and pet food.

 

[southpaw52]

So here's my story and I'm sticking to it!! Our neighbors have chickens - loose in the yard. We have chickens...locked up so tight nothing has gotten them ...yet. We have dogs, loose in the yard, fenced of course. Twice now our dogs have come up with one of the neighbors chickens. So, the dogs can't get to the chickens, and when we take the dead carcass from the dog, it looks as though something has eaten the chicked from top to bottom (or vice versa) straight through the inside. Gutted, but not chewed up outside.. Feathers wet from our dog carrying it, but not mutilated, just gutted.

I am wondering if something is getting them, from the neighbors yard and maybe going up the tree to eat. Then when done, it falls into our yard where our dogs find it.

Possible? We have walked the fence and not found anywhere our dogs can get there. If a chicken flew over the fence into our yard and our dogs got it I would expect it to be torn up from the outside in. Our dogs pay little attention to our chickens, and in fact I can take them into the coop with me. (They are Australian shepherds and have been told to "leave the babies alone!")

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Anne

 

[Hutton]

Mites and parasites are one of the bigest killer of chickens

 

[bnharast]

I lost 10 Black Astralorp hens last year to a lone female raccoon. I couldn't find where the bugger was getting in my coop. I lost one hen the first time, about 3 nights later, I lost another. My uncle came over and set a trap outside for whatever was getting in with our chickens, as we did not know at the time what our predator was. We baited the trap with sardines, and rather than go in the trap to get the sardines, the predator just reached in through the trap wire and stole the bait through the back. At this point we knew it was at least one coon. A few days later, I lost another chicken. This happened until I was down to about 5 hens, and we still couldn't trap that coon. The next time we lost chickens, I lost two in one night, and The next day we were revisited... and lost the last three. Coincidentally, my uncle brought his rifle with him when he came to get his trap, and just happened upon that one female coon out there ripping my chickens to shreds. He dispatched the coon, and voila, no more predation problems... until recently... and I'm pretty sure it's a hawk this time. I've had two bantams attacked in broad daylight. One completely disappeared, and the other was found in the corner of the yard with just his craw and part of his head ripped apart.

Hands down, I'd say the worst though was the raccoon.