I have been reading these posts about people finding their animals dead. What are the alternatives to prevent these disasters? I just ordered an IP cam that should be fun. I have netting overhead to stop the hawks. My fencing is just light wire. Any animal can go under it. I have a radio on in the coop and a light. This Im thinking should deter wild animals but not a dog that is used to people. Luckily Im not in an area with a lot of dogs or should I say dogs with irresponsible owners. Electric fence? I want to increase the area so I would just be taking down again. What are people using? A shotgun and a cam giving me alerts is the best idea I have. Scarecrows?
Big dogs inside perimeter fencing. I've not had any predator problems in the past 6 years with this solution.
Consider a cheap $20.00 baby monitor. Ours has lasted 6yrs (Safety First). If we are home and the chooks are growling and/or turks giving out soft yelps (and if we don't hear one of the traps slam shut pretty quick) then it is spotlight and rifle time. No nighttime losses, yet.
Also simply spreading human hair clippings (ex:from an electric shaver) around the parameter of the area will also deter many ground predartors. A large dog would be your best bet I would think... also depends on your surroundings.
I use two of these during the day: And two of these at night: I have three coops and all are locked up tight at night. The donkeys patrol the property at night. They hate coyotes and stray dogs.
i use live traps baited with a mixture of peanutbutter and cat food.and a .22 pistol. tractor supply co. has a deal on live traps.for $36 you get a large trap and a small trap.
Quote:I'm a fan of yours. Love the boys and your vids of them! I didn't think of the other guys as guard donkeys. Your fencing doesn't look that high. Do the boys ever hop over it?
wow now thats a house on wheels. Do they have cable TV? How many do you put in one tractor? My home is 8'x20'.
Quote:They are 8' x 16' mobile hen houses built on old hay wagon running gears. Ideally they are designed at two square feet per bird, or about 65 hens per house. In reality, these birds like to huddle together on the roosts, so that a popular house will contain about 80 birds, which is about 1.60 square feet per bird. The least favorite house will be sparsely populated, with the chickens huddled together on just a few roosts. Each house contains roosts, food, water, nesting boxes and were built nearly identical.
