Post attack damage control

[GiddyUpGo]

Hi all, new here and hoping to get some advice now that we've lost our first hen to a predator.

We've had chickens for about a year and they've always free-ranged during the day, then we lock them up at night. Our coop is very tight ... we built it from hardware cloth screwed down and it even has a wire floor to keep out diggers. But our property is less secure. We have five acres and only a low fence surrounding the perimeter. But we haven't had any problems because we don't really have any daytime predators here (at least I didn't think we did) and the chickens usually stay close to the house. Well, today when I went to put our hens to bed one of them was missing, and we found her feathers way out in the back pasture. I don't know if she ventured out there and got grabbed or if something drug her out there, but I'm now rethinking whether or not we ought to be free ranging our chickens. I do have a much smaller fenced in area (about 30 foot square) we could turn them loose in ... I was thinking of running some hot wire along the top and bottom and just letting them hang out in there, but poor things, they really do love their freedom.

Now that whatever got Fuzzy knows where the chicken is, it's likely to come back so we plan to keep the chickens in for a while. So I guess my question is, will this predator keep coming back every day for the conceivable future or is it likely to give up at some point? Obviously our setup isn't 100 percent safe but we went a whole year with no problems, and I'm wondering if we'll ever be able to let them out again or if we should just wait until we can put hotwire up on the smaller area.

I've always known free-ranging comes with risks and I guess I was sort of okay with the idea of losing an occasional bird but what worries me now is this one predator coming back and just picking off the rest of them one by one. My neighbor has free-ranged her chickens for years and says that this time of year predators get bold because they're about to have litters and are hungry, so maybe we keep them close for a few months and let them range again in the summer? I don't know. Would love to hear some advice from people with a similar setup I guess.

We are in California so major predators are bobcat, fox, coyote, and raccoon. We have mountain lions too but they are pretty strictly nocturnal. We don't have minks or weasels or anything like that, and I've never heard of any hawks around here killing chickens.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Welcome @GiddyUpGo from New Orleans.. We have a much smaller yard and free range our hens everyday. Our flock has lots of places to hide from air born creatures, shrubs, low tables and citrus trees. We also have possums, raccoon, coyote, dogs and cats as well as birds of prey.
Can you keep a rooster? They are great at sounding the alarm, thereby giving you a heads up and beginning the protection process. In some cases your rooster will be able to handle the problem himself.
Whatever got your last chicken will have to be gotten rid of, as you said it will come back.
You will have to handle that in a way you are comfortable with. If you trap and release in a wilderness area often the animal finds it self in someone else's home turf and has to fight for every drop of water and morsel of food before finding it's way out and into another animal's turf.
If you release it too close to your home, it will come right back.
Hawks you can do nothing about, except provide hiding places for you flock.
Good luck I sincerely hope you can find a way to protect your flock, without spending an arm and a leg.
Please keep us up to date on how you handle this. Game cameras can be very helpful in finding out what type of predator you have, thus helping to figure out how to rid yourself of the predator and better protect your flock

 

[Hei 20]

Hi all, new here and hoping to get some advice now that we've lost our first hen to a predator.

We've had chickens for about a year and they've always free-ranged during the day, then we lock them up at night. Our coop is very tight ... we built it from hardware cloth screwed down and it even has a wire floor to keep out diggers. But our property is less secure. We have five acres and only a low fence surrounding the perimeter. But we haven't had any problems because we don't really have any daytime predators here (at least I didn't think we did) and the chickens usually stay close to the house. Well, today when I went to put our hens to bed one of them was missing, and we found her feathers way out in the back pasture. I don't know if she ventured out there and got grabbed or if something drug her out there, but I'm now rethinking whether or not we ought to be free ranging our chickens. I do have a much smaller fenced in area (about 30 foot square) we could turn them loose in ... I was thinking of running some hot wire along the top and bottom and just letting them hang out in there, but poor things, they really do love their freedom.

Now that whatever got Fuzzy knows where the chicken is, it's likely to come back so we plan to keep the chickens in for a while. So I guess my question is, will this predator keep coming back every day for the conceivable future or is it likely to give up at some point? Obviously our setup isn't 100 percent safe but we went a whole year with no problems, and I'm wondering if we'll ever be able to let them out again or if we should just wait until we can put hotwire up on the smaller area.

I've always known free-ranging comes with risks and I guess I was sort of okay with the idea of losing an occasional bird but what worries me now is this one predator coming back and just picking off the rest of them one by one. My neighbor has free-ranged her chickens for years and says that this time of year predators get bold because they're about to have litters and are hungry, so maybe we keep them close for a few months and let them range again in the summer? I don't know. Would love to hear some advice from people with a similar setup I guess.

We are in California so major predators are bobcat, fox, coyote, and raccoon. We have mountain lions too but they are pretty strictly nocturnal. We don't have minks or weasels or anything like that, and I've never heard of any hawks around here killing chickens.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Callender Girl]

I am very sorry that you lost one of your girls. It's been traumatic for me when a predator has taken any of mine.

I USED to let my chickens and ducks free range all over my property. Until one of the drakes was snagged by a mink far from the house. I now have fencing that concentrates all of their wandering to the south side, where I can see out windows from all the rooms.

You are right that predators will return, and that kept me up for many a night. Everything wants to kill chickens, and it's darned hard to outwit all of them all of the time. My strategy is to employ as many deterrents as possible, and hope at least one will work.

If you just keep them in the smaller area for a while, maybe they will acclimate to that and be okay. At first, my ducks spent DAYS trying to figure out how to get back to the area where poor Hadley was killed. Luckily for me, they eventually gave up and, because they are runner ducks with pathetic flying skills, a 2-foot-high fence was all it took to discourage them. Most of my chickens are heavy breeds that don't fly well or lazy girls who just aren't going to make the effort to clear the fence.

Although the circumstance that brought you here is sad, it is always good to welcome a new member to the group. Keep us posted on what's next.

 

[cmom]

So sorry for your loss. Sad to say that is the risk you take when free ranging. You will loose a bird/birds sooner or later. My guess would be a fox, but it could have been any of the predators you mentioned. I too free ranged in the past until my birds were discovered. The predator will be back since it made a kill. It will lurk and look for an opportunity and you may never see it. I got tired of loosing birds to predators. Now my birds all have nice large pens. My land is mostly open pasture. The birds have more shade in their pens than in the pasture. When I have let the birds out it isn't long before they will all go back into their pens where I think they feel safe. We have a lot of predators here. They mostly roam at night but once in awhile one may show up during the day. I put electric wires around my pens and coops, concrete under the gates and good heavy duty netting covering all of the pens to deter aerial predators, all due to losses in the past. I also have several game cameras up around on my property. Now I think the predators teach their young to stay away. Initially I heard some predators test the electric wires. They will certainly give the predator a good zap that they won't forget. I do think the adults teach their young a chicken isn't worth getting a good zap for. Good luck...
I have previously posted this video.

 

[GiddyUpGo]

Thank you to everyone who replied. Does anyone use one of those portable electrified net fences? It seems like a pretty small investment to create a decent amount of safe space, but the reviews are so mixed I'm not sure if I should take a gamble or not. Lots of people saying they sag and stop working when they touch the ground. Others saying it's hard to get the stakes into rocky soil (our soil is soft now because of recent rain but it is also rocky). Just curious what people's real experiences are with these things.

Those of you who don't free-range, how much space do you allow per chicken in your run? Our coop is quite small since we always planned to free-range and intended the coop to only be a place where they could sleep and lay eggs. So if we aren't going to free-range them anymore we will definitely need to set up a bigger space for them. We have five chickens left after the attack yesterday and will probably add three when chicks come up for sale in a few weeks.

Thank you again!

 

[GiddyUpGo]

Welcome @GiddyUpGo from New Orleans.. We have a much smaller yard and free range our hens everyday. Our flock has lots of places to hide from air born creatures, shrubs, low tables and citrus trees. We also have possums, raccoon, coyote, dogs and cats as well as birds of prey.
Can you keep a rooster? They are great at sounding the alarm, thereby giving you a heads up and beginning the protection process. In some cases your rooster will be able to handle the problem himself.
Whatever got your last chicken will have to be gotten rid of, as you said it will come back.
You will have to handle that in a way you are comfortable with. If you trap and release in a wilderness area often the animal finds it self in someone else's home turf and has to fight for every drop of water and morsel of food before finding it's way out and into another animal's turf.
If you release it too close to your home, it will come right back.
Hawks you can do nothing about, except provide hiding places for you flock.
Good luck I sincerely hope you can find a way to protect your flock, without spending an arm and a leg.
Please keep us up to date on how you handle this. Game cameras can be very helpful in finding out what type of predator you have, thus helping to figure out how to rid yourself of the predator and better protect your flock

I've resisted getting roosters in the past ... when I was a kid we had a rooster who was mean as hell and I don't want something that's going to harass my kids. I have a very vivid memory of that rooster chasing my sister over a fence.

I might consider one though, I didn't know they could be useful ... I thought they were just as vulnerable as the hens, meaner, and tended to make a lot of noise in the middle of the night!

 

[cmom]

This has worked for me. Most predators here explore with their noses at first and mostly at night. When I first put the electric wires up I did hear probably coyotes test the wires. Now they totally avoid the coops and pens. Apparently a bird isn't worth getting zapped for.