predator

[rustychick2000]

Help. I have made posts on here before about my two bantam that I bought and had trouble getting the hen laying. Well I finally got her laying and I successfully hatched one of her eggs. She was killed yesterday. EXACTLY one week earlier the rooster was killed. About a month before I lost a lot of chickens to a couple raccoons but we solved that problem

lol. Well I am absolutely sure that what killed my bantam hen and rooster was a fox. He seems to attack in between noon and four of clock. I need to get rid of her before he gets rid of my chickens. I have tried snares and live traps but all I have caught is a couple cats and a baby possum. Please help and info is appreciated

 

[steve102]

We also have heavy predator population. Bears, Bobcats and some impressive sized Coyotes are common. We love the Rocky Mountains.

We have chosen a 3 tier set up:
1st electric poultry net 1.4 stored joule
2nd security lights
3rd hardware clost enclosed run.

I have put a lot of time and daily effort in to these girls. I cannot buy it back regardless of how much I would throw at it.
The point I'm trying to make is that Preventive measures are better than Recative

 

[rustychick2000]

Well I would but that sounds like a lot of money. Plus we let our chickens and guineas free range all day

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Electric poultry netting is a great way to provide free range with adequate protection from ground predators. The above poster uses a good size charger to have 1.5 stored joules, I use a .7 stored joule charger with 164' of netting. If first put up will deliver over 4,000 volts but with grass and net sagging will be just over 3K volts so once a week you need to readjust the net and mow grass so it doesn't ground out and loose shock power.

With the kit's you can purchase from Premier Fencing (for example and where I got my 164', 48") fencing kit, charger kit and a hotgate will run you $375. I got the ac/dc powered option so can use a battery if moved the fencing far from outlets.

They take 3+ hours to put up the first time with a helper. Takes less than an hour by yourself for weekly maintenance of slight move of ends to mow and tighten back up. With that size area every two or three weeks you'd want to move the entire thing to fresh forage and to save your lawn. Takes less than two hours with a helper as you know what your doing and it's all unrolled ready to slide to another location.

The only thing that wont be stopped by this netting is hawks, owls and very determined bear. Take food inside house each night and bear will leave it alone. If your birds and animals have not dealt with fencing yet then electric nets are perfect. The birds quickly learn to stay away from fence so flying over wont occur unless they have learned to fly over non electric previously. Predators inspect barriers and after one zap are trained to leave it alone.

New predators move into areas all the time. If you shoot and trap then new predators move into area sooner. Train the animals in your area with electric first. Coyote and dogs that have learned to jump fences wont be deterred with electric as they'll just jump it and likely not even know it zaps you. Why using electric first is a good idea to train animals before they realize they can jump or fly over.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If you completely free range then you have to accept the loss of birds. Without adequate cover and trees they are sitting ducks so to speak. $375 pays for itself when (25X $15) 25 pullets are pardoned from dinner invitations.

 

[treedr]

We have been suffering predation. One bird a day at all different times. Turns out to be a bobcat. Not easy to trap or shoot. We free range so we just ordered electric netting which will arrive in a few days. We are just hoping that the cat doesn't learn that it can jump over the wire long enough for us to add a couple of strands of wire above the netting.