Predator problem

[McChooky]

This was the bobcat, it killed over 13 chickens and ducks
View attachment 3911422

There was eventually another one that started killing them too, it just tore the fencing off the roof and squeezed in a gap half a foot wide. We saw it pacing up there on our trail camera carrying one of my roosters.

This was the bobcat, it killed over 13 chickens and ducks
View attachment 3911422

There was eventually another one that started killing them too, it just tore the fencing off the roof and squeezed in a gap half a foot wide. We saw it pacing up there on our trail camera carrying one of my roosters.

The op lost all those chickens because her pens aren't predator proof

 

[Polish and Silkies]

The op lost all those chickens because her pens aren't predator proof

It was going through the roof which had a layer of wire and tough harder cloth all around. I had put horseshoe nails to hammer the fencing in and the bobcat just tore it off. How am I supposed to make that harder to get it?

 

[WingItRanch]

It was going through the roof which had a layer of wire and tough harder cloth all around. I had put horseshoe nails to hammer the fencing in and the bobcat just tore it off. How am I supposed to make that harder to get it?

I'm so sorry. That's really tough. Sounds like you're doing everything you can.

 

[FloridaChook]

It was going through the roof which had a layer of wire and tough harder cloth all around. I had put horseshoe nails to hammer the fencing in and the bobcat just tore it off. How am I supposed to make that harder to get it?

maybe get a pack of razor blades? glue some thumbtacks down, tripwire snares

 

[McChooky]

This was the bobcat, it killed over 13 chickens and ducks
View attachment 3911422

There was eventually another one that started killing them too, it just tore the fencing off the roof and squeezed in a gap half a foot wide. We saw it pacing up there on our trail camera carrying one of my roosters.

After it was all said and done my neighbor spent $5000 in cameras, traps, chickens, a shed and 2 guardian dogs. Predators still killed them at night because the shed wasn't predator proof.

 

[McChooky]

It was going through the roof which had a layer of wire and tough harder cloth all around. I had put horseshoe nails to hammer the fencing in and the bobcat just tore it off. How am I supposed to make that harder to get it?

If you post pictures of your set up and hardware cloth we'll gladly offer you some tips on how to prevent predators from pulling it off.
This is one of the videos I watched before building mine.Hope it inspires you and helps thanks!

 

[WHB3]

Hello, so I’ve been having a predator visit every night for the past week. I have no clue what to do I’ve tried everything I could from nailing up more wire to setting up traps. I’ve lost chickens ranging from hatchlings to full grown chickens. So far it’s been week old chicks, about 20 of them the first night, 9 nearly full size chicks, and 3 fully grown ones. All my tiny babies were gone, no feathers or bodies anywhere.

I tried setting some of the cages that had that trap door, but it never seems to go inside. I put the dead chickens inside of it and they’re always gone the next day. Sometimes it digs from the backside of it to try to go underneath but the chickens definitely can’t fit through it, so it must be going inside? It’s not like it goes inside and leaves before it sets it off either, the door’s never closed. I’ve had 2 bobcats kill lots of my chickens before so I have plenty of foothold traps, and I set those when the cages didn’t work. I set 3 around a pile of the dead chickens and cat food so if it goes to it, it’ll get trapped. The traps didn’t go off but it dragged on of the chickens away.

I’ve found some dead with no signs of anything, some without heads, completely torn apart and feathers/ organs everywhere, or just gone. I’ve heard owl do that, which we have some living in our abandoned horse house, but they don’t dig and can’t get in anywhere except the dirt. Raccoons eat them starting from their head, and skunks kill them by attacking the head/ neck, but eat their stomach. I don’t think raccoons are common, I’ve never seen one here. But then again bobcats don’t live here but I’ve had 2 which was too crazy to believe until we trapped it. I believe it’s a skunk doing it because we’ve gotten a few already, but how is it so smart?

There was 1 time when it went into one of my coops and pooped a lot, but didn’t kill anyone. There was NO sign of it getting in, no digging, torn wire, open holes, nothing. I’m not sure why it didn’t kill them but I’m glad it didn’t.

Below are pictures of everything, including some dead birds, nothing really graphic.

View attachment 3908675View attachment 3908682View attachment 3908689 View attachment 3908691View attachment 3908698View attachment 3908700View attachment 3908702View attachment 3908706View attachment 3908708View attachment 3908713
This one got dragged from the pile not too far, but didn’t make any traps go off, I put it nearly on top of it.

I was going to stay up tonight and see if I can see it come by. I’ve been locking my chicken up with cinder blocks covering the doors but I have so many different coops that I can’t keep doing this forever. I would appreciate any advice or insight you have on this kind of problem. I can answer any questions regarding fencing and protection on my coops!

Do you live where there are weasels, ferrets, or mink? They're quite adept at tunneling, and defeating wire which doesn't provide a continuous barrier across the 'floor' of the coop.

Hello, so I’ve been having a predator visit every night for the past week. I have no clue what to do I’ve tried everything I could from nailing up more wire to setting up traps. I’ve lost chickens ranging from hatchlings to full grown chickens. So far it’s been week old chicks, about 20 of them the first night, 9 nearly full size chicks, and 3 fully grown ones. All my tiny babies were gone, no feathers or bodies anywhere.

I tried setting some of the cages that had that trap door, but it never seems to go inside. I put the dead chickens inside of it and they’re always gone the next day. Sometimes it digs from the backside of it to try to go underneath but the chickens definitely can’t fit through it, so it must be going inside? It’s not like it goes inside and leaves before it sets it off either, the door’s never closed. I’ve had 2 bobcats kill lots of my chickens before so I have plenty of foothold traps, and I set those when the cages didn’t work. I set 3 around a pile of the dead chickens and cat food so if it goes to it, it’ll get trapped. The traps didn’t go off but it dragged on of the chickens away.

I’ve found some dead with no signs of anything, some without heads, completely torn apart and feathers/ organs everywhere, or just gone. I’ve heard owl do that, which we have some living in our abandoned horse house, but they don’t dig and can’t get in anywhere except the dirt. Raccoons eat them starting from their head, and skunks kill them by attacking the head/ neck, but eat their stomach. I don’t think raccoons are common, I’ve never seen one here. But then again bobcats don’t live here but I’ve had 2 which was too crazy to believe until we trapped it. I believe it’s a skunk doing it because we’ve gotten a few already, but how is it so smart?

There was 1 time when it went into one of my coops and pooped a lot, but didn’t kill anyone. There was NO sign of it getting in, no digging, torn wire, open holes, nothing. I’m not sure why it didn’t kill them but I’m glad it didn’t.

Below are pictures of everything, including some dead birds, nothing really graphic.

View attachment 3908675View attachment 3908682View attachment 3908689 View attachment 3908691View attachment 3908698View attachment 3908700View attachment 3908702View attachment 3908706View attachment 3908708View attachment 3908713
This one got dragged from the pile not too far, but didn’t make any traps go off, I put it nearly on top of it.

I was going to stay up tonight and see if I can see it come by. I’ve been locking my chicken up with cinder blocks covering the doors but I have so many different coops that I can’t keep doing this forever. I would appreciate any advice or insight you have on this kind of problem. I can answer any questions regarding fencing and protection on my coops!

Do you live where there are fox, mink, ferrets, or weasels? If so you'll need an apron of heavy guage wire, securely 'nailed' to your coop's wood base plate. You can also put down lines of cayenne pepper along the outside of your coop(s), but know that your chickens will eat the pepper (own't harm them) if given the opportunity. ;-) Poop looks like it could be a fox, or a member of the weasel family.

 

[Polish and Silkies]

Do you live where there are weasels, ferrets, or mink? They're quite adept at tunneling, and defeating wire which doesn't provide a continuous barrier across the 'floor' of the coop.

Do you live where there are fox, mink, ferrets, or weasels? If so you'll need an apron of heavy guage wire, securely 'nailed' to your coop's wood base plate. You can also put down lines of cayenne pepper along the outside of your coop(s), but know that your chickens will eat the pepper (own't harm them) if given the opportunity. ;-) Poop looks like it could be a fox, or a member of the weasel family.

I don’t think those live here or anywhere close. I have however caught 2 small skunks, they looked like babies. But after those, we haven’t caught anything or seen more digging. Tonight was the first night I didn’t lock them away in their houses and when I checked in the morning everyone was still here and alive! I think the 2 baby skunks were the problem, but I don’t know how since they were so tiny.

 

[Tcline4]

Hello, so I’ve been having a predator visit every night for the past week. I have no clue what to do I’ve tried everything I could from nailing up more wire to setting up traps. I’ve lost chickens ranging from hatchlings to full grown chickens. So far it’s been week old chicks, about 20 of them the first night, 9 nearly full size chicks, and 3 fully grown ones. All my tiny babies were gone, no feathers or bodies anywhere.

I tried setting some of the cages that had that trap door, but it never seems to go inside. I put the dead chickens inside of it and they’re always gone the next day. Sometimes it digs from the backside of it to try to go underneath but the chickens definitely can’t fit through it, so it must be going inside? It’s not like it goes inside and leaves before it sets it off either, the door’s never closed. I’ve had 2 bobcats kill lots of my chickens before so I have plenty of foothold traps, and I set those when the cages didn’t work. I set 3 around a pile of the dead chickens and cat food so if it goes to it, it’ll get trapped. The traps didn’t go off but it dragged on of the chickens away.

I’ve found some dead with no signs of anything, some without heads, completely torn apart and feathers/ organs everywhere, or just gone. I’ve heard owl do that, which we have some living in our abandoned horse house, but they don’t dig and can’t get in anywhere except the dirt. Raccoons eat them starting from their head, and skunks kill them by attacking the head/ neck, but eat their stomach. I don’t think raccoons are common, I’ve never seen one here. But then again bobcats don’t live here but I’ve had 2 which was too crazy to believe until we trapped it. I believe it’s a skunk doing it because we’ve gotten a few already, but how is it so smart?

There was 1 time when it went into one of my coops and pooped a lot, but didn’t kill anyone. There was NO sign of it getting in, no digging, torn wire, open holes, nothing. I’m not sure why it didn’t kill them but I’m glad it didn’t.

Below are pictures of everything, including some dead birds, nothing really graphic.

View attachment 3908675View attachment 3908682View attachment 3908689 View attachment 3908691View attachment 3908698View attachment 3908700View attachment 3908702View attachment 3908706View attachment 3908708View attachment 3908713
This one got dragged from the pile not too far, but didn’t make any traps go off, I put it nearly on top of it.

I was going to stay up tonight and see if I can see it come by. I’ve been locking my chicken up with cinder blocks covering the doors but I have so many different coops that I can’t keep doing this forever. I would appreciate any advice or insight you have on this kind of problem. I can answer any questions regarding fencing and protection on my coops!

If you use hardware cloth on all the walls and the roof venting, you should be good. But your predator apron also needs to be hardware cloth. I've hear snakes will kill chickens too. I've stapled 2' wide hardware cloth all around the coop and their run. I have racoon, bobcats, bears and coyotes. And chickens will kill mice, voles, garter snakes and lizards that get into their coop.

 

[chickencoop57]

My money is on raccoon. My losses were similar, and with small chicks, they'll just put the whole thing in their mouth so there won't be bodies

Coon or maybe a Ringed Tail Cat.