Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[animalpro24]

Racoon's are awful. We had one come and take off the head or a chicken and then leave it. Coyotes are around here but haven't lost any to them. The worst for me would be
1. coon
2.Eagal/hawks

a dog chased down one of our roosters but didn't hurt him.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

I've lost chickens to (* are the most frequent offenders):

* Racoons

* Opossums

Weasel

* Cooper's Hawk

Red Tailed Hawk

Crows

* Bald Eagles -- quite a few losses

* Dogs

Bob cat (once that I know of)

Mountain Lion (three that I know of, plus geese)

Rats/Snakes have taken eggs.

 

[Thechefchicks]

WE had a guys 3 towns over have his coop ripped into by a bear and the one he didnt get that night he came back and finished the next night!! Knock on wood nothing disturbs ours not sure if its the motion light we have that flicks on when something walks near the door to our coop/run door

 

[Rusted One]

Our predator list has varied over the years. Used to be coyotes and feral dogs. So I built a stronger fence.
Then the chickens would fly out to graze and coyotes and owls got a lot of them. So I built a higher (9 ft) fence.
Then owls, red tail hawks and eagles (have actually SEEN these attacks) would swoop in and grab. So I built a 4' x 4' string grid over barnyard and tied orange tape flags at each 4' x 4' junction. This deters birds of prey !
Then racoons climbed over and grabbed and ate. Have numerous game cam pics. This would be dawn or dusk. All birds locked down @ night.
So then I put a VERY hot wire up about 7 ft all the way around my barnyard fence (9 ft) including pens where I lock down my ducks and geese @ night.

Success so far! No losses in several months .... with exception of rats swiping the occasional duckling or chick @ night. My mistake for not putting the brooding mommas in rodent-proof nurseries like I usually do.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Lost 3 to a mink last year. I chose weasel as that's what a mink is, a member of the weasel family.

 

[DingleBay]

My new coop "CackleBerry Castle" is almost finished. I used 1/2" hardware clothe. The guy at the feed store told me to make sure the birds are in the house every night (I guess I would anyway) as a raccoon would rip through the wire like nothing to get the birds. Has anyone had this problem?

 

[chickenboy10]

one of my red rock hens were ripet apart by a racoon

 

[MyChickenWishList]

I didn`t know skunks killed chickens too. I have every kind of predator here. Am just a new shed up and converting the old one to a fullsize coop. Will definitely make sure its predator proof and lock everyone up at night.

 

[AnimalElement]

New to the board first time posting. We lost 78 chicks in one night to a weasel that got into the building. There are 4 very large hawks that have been known to fly into my barns to take my hens out. The Skunk opossum problem I think we finally have a handle on this. The only thing left is a extremely large fox, seen out side my back door one night and gigantic raccoon.

The best trap I found for skunks and opossum are a large trash can (with wheels) place it under a shelf in the barn with dog food and a broken egg inside. They fall in and can not get out. Here is the problem, :} one night we caught a skunk and a opossum in the same can. My barn stunk for 6 months. We have caught up to two skunks in the same trap when we first start fighting back, now things are calmer. The Weasel we never caught, crafty..

The best deterrent for the hawks and owls has been the additions of the turkeys. The chicken run to the turkey when the hawks are around now.

Looking forward to learning more. We have had free range chickens for about 10 years now. LOVE them.... We have all types of breed but I am seeing that the black tend to do better as a free range in general.

 

[AnimalElement]

What type of trap do you use and bate for raccoons?