Official BYC Poll: Who’s Your Worst Chicken Predator of All Time?

[akroberts1085]

Probably not mice, somethin larger. Rats?
Mary

I have actually been out there to get the eggs and seen them scurrying away and out of the nest box.

 

[TheChickenGirl16]

I have actually been out there to get the eggs and seen them scurrying away and out of the nest box.

Jerks!

 

[akroberts1085]

Jerks!

Demons, jerks, full on domestic terrorist. Yesterday I had 4 in the nest box and they all had yolk on them. I locked up my girls in hopes of them taking those buggers out. Today I got 10 eggs from 11 chickens. Darlin my RIR is molting so she's the hold out. I completely despise mice. What I would love to be able to do is dig down 4 feet and put in razor wire, barbed wire and a wire that I bought at The Home Depot, then electricify it and take it so far up to ensure they cannot come in to my property.

 

[TheChickenGirl16]

Demons, jerks, full on domestic terrorist. Yesterday I had 4 in the nest box and they all had yolk on them. I locked up my girls in hopes of them taking those buggers out. Today I got 10 eggs from 11 chickens. Darlin my RIR is molting so she's the hold out. I completely despise mice. What I would love to be able to do is dig down 4 feet and put in razor wire, barbed wire and a wire that I bought at The Home Depot, then electricify it and take it so far up to ensure they cannot come in to my property.

Sound amazing!
Wish I had finances to do something extravagant like that! We could turn the power up so high that they get BBQ’d on contact!

 

[GottaHatchEmAll]

My own dog. Ever since my chicks hatched she's been barking and growling at them and going up to the brooder and pawing at them inside the brooder. If I'm sitting on the floor with them in my lap, she comes over and tries to get at them

 

[TheChickenGirl16]

My own dog. Ever since my chicks hatched she's been barking and growling at them and going up to the brooder and pawing at them inside the brooder. If I'm sitting on the floor with them in my lap, she comes over and tries to get at them

You’re gonna have to watch her!
I really hope she doesn’t cause any fatalities….

 

[Blue is my chicken]

Where I live their isn’t too many predators (fingers crossed, tapping wood. Don’t want to jinx it !)

The worst I find are the foxes.
I had my entire flock killed (at the time I had 30/40 birds!) during the day whilst their were people doing works the other side of the hedge!
The only reason I went out at all to check them was my drake managed to fly out of the pen to our house (which was only like 10 meters away! It was on the other side of a barn which blocked the view of the pen) and was frantically quaking.
I was only 7/8 years old at the time and I remember going out catching this terrified duck and my parents telling me not to look at the pen, they said it was just dead bodys.
The only other one to survive the initial attack was my broody hen, Red.
The drake kept calling and calling we thought he was mourning the loss of his mate but the next day his mate returned she was badly injured but made it back to him, he knew she was still alive.
Red hatched out two ducklings (she was sitting on duck eggs but was a chicken).
We put them all in a smaller enclosure that was more secure but sadly the foxes came back and managed to get in and kill them too.

It was awful and it took a few years before we owned poultry again.

Sorry for the sob story

On a light note I have 10 happy healthy ducks.

Foxes are the worst! But I don’t have any raccoons or anything like that so I don’t have much else to compare them too.

I was in England but have recently moved over to Ireland. They are both fairly safe countries for predators.

 

[BDutch]

My number 1 and 2 are losses to the Unknown and mr. Disappearance (free ranging). Lost chicks to a rat. An adult to a fox and one to a buzzard.

My mother had chickens killed twice by neighbour dog.

And I voted fox, bc my neighbour had the most awful experience twice with a fox and surplus killing. What a mess.

 

[sniper338]

It really depends on your set up.. your coop design. If you free range is another factor. Depends what you do as to what animals would be the worst predator.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Foxes are the number one here but they only manage to get a small amount each year, perhaps 1-3, and those being the least intelligent chickens