Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[Island Roo]

As for body count, our worst have been dogs followed by racoon.

Now my biggest concern is eagle (electric fence installed). People loose lots of chickens to eagles arournd here. I've seen giant bald eagles sitting on the post of the duck pen trying to figure out how to get at the ducks who are protected by a net over the pen.

I'd love to let my chickens free run in an acre of land protected by electric fence. Does a rooster really provide protection from raiders from above?

 

[Yukonchick]

Ya, I'm going to have to cover the whole run with chicken wire due to all the birds of prey up here in the Yukon. Lol, Everything is a predator up here, Lynx, wolves, foxes, coyotes, marten, mink, weasels, bears.....hmm did I miss anyone. No coons, skunks or possum up here though.

 

[Yukonchick]

Yes they do but against an eagle, I think it would cost him his life. I know they,ll put up a pretty good battle against smaller hawks.

 

[Yukonchick]

Ya, I've lost chickens to racoons when I lived in southern BC. I hate them. No racoons up here in the Yukon but we got lots of other predators that i will be contending with this summer.

 

[Yukonchick]

Now you got a mink stoal for the wife,

 

[tapre]

While all my losses have been to foxes, I have heard gruesome stories of what racoons like to do with the chickens they get their hands on. My aunt's salmon faverolles were mauled by them, and though her two show chickens survived she was unable to show them anymore. At least the fox gave my chicks a quick clean death and actually killed them with a purpose.

 

[angelicflamesva]

Okay, we are in the middle of building our coop & have our chicks inside in the brooder right now...so any suggestions would be very appreciated! We are in Oregon & are surrounded by national forest, in the past year that we have lived here we have seen skunks, coons, opossums, an eagle, hawks, an owl, a bobcat, a lynx, a cougar, bears and a family of foxes....plus we have 2 cats and 2 large dogs & our neighbor has a large cat & our neighbors 1/2 mile down the street have about 100 feral cats (sadly I'm NOT exaggerating)....our coop will have a closed in run attached to it with 1/2 in hardware cloth buried 12in deep & covering the whole thing & it is inside the larger "open" daytime run that is 12ft x 60ft with larger 6ft metal fencing & we were planning on putting 1/2 in hardware cloth around the bottom 2ft of it & buried 12in deep with bird netting over the top @ 8ft high.....do you think that will keep them safe or should we add more or do anything different?

 

[hickchick55]

My best suggestion is to live somewhere they don't allow dogs (not possible, I know). My flock has been attacked 4 times in a little over a year. Once was a coyote which dropped the hen when the bullet whizzed by her. All the rest were neighbor's dogs which don't belong anywhere near my girls. Luckily the two pit bulls down the road were bothering other people and other dogs and they are gone, but we are the only ones on our road who don't have a dog.

 

[wheatnroses]

For the first couple of years all was peaceful and then this place was discovered!!!! around here the predators are abundant. There are fox dens on both sides of us, we are being over run with coyotes, we have lots of owls, hawks, and eagles both golden and bald, my vote is marked for the coyote, because that is my fight right now along with a big badger we just can't seem to get rid of. My girls have always been free range but I'm afraid that is over now. We just can't protect them. 7 foot high pens with hardware fabric, netting over the top and wire below the ground with electric wire around the bottom and maybe the top too I'm not sure yet. Like all of you It breaks my heart when one of my girls is hurt or worse and you can't beat mother nature. I don't know about the worst the tragic end result is the same.

 

[chickenonmdma]

foxes and raccoons with an occasional coyote pack sweeping through, i thought it was bad here till i saw a dude holding up a dead lynx. you all get it tho. bury your fence a half foot or more, cover the top and close the doors on your coop every night. personally, i do not enjoy killing, so i load the double barrel with bird shot to give whatever tries to test the defenses something to think about. 24 hours in a havaheart trap will usually keep the coons and foxes from coming back after we drop em on BLM land a few miles away if they force the issue. relocation or killing should be saved for only the most voracious of predators because a new animal will move into the territory when a spot opens and they will test your defenses with a fresh perspective and enthusiasm. its all about defense.