We have coyotes, bobcats, panthers, cougars, plus your regular chicken killers (raccoons, skunks, hawks). In three years we have not lost one bird to a forest predator.
We have since figured out the less our neighbors secure their birds, the less we see anything hanging around our chicken yard. They have constant problems with coyotes, raccoons, skunks, hawks, and snakes killing their birds. We think the predators don't bother ours due to the extra fencing around the chicken yard, the better built coop and our neighbors' birds are easier pickings.
That said, we have had one "massacre". Our neighbor's dogs had killed a lot of their birds, got bored one afternoon and in under 15 minutes while I went to pick up mail, killed 6 hens and mauled another 8. I was devastated since somehow the dogs got my 4 my favorite hens in the 6 they killed!
Since then we have read up on the laws in our state/county about killing dogs/animals who attack livestock/poultry.
Their dogs have been back about 4 times since the "massacre". Every time we see them, we shoot a gun off in their very general vicinity. We really don't want to kill them. Ticks the neighbors off that we shoot AT the dogs, but until they keep them away from our birds, we'll keep shooting.
