Protecting Pasture Chickens from Coyotes, Owls and Hawks

[cmom]

I have pastured my birds too but not anymore due to the losses. I do have large pens. I have electric wire around the coops and pens and heavy duty netting covering the pens. Several years ago I had a coyote jump over a 5' fence into a smaller pen it jumped back out and so did some of the birds. It did kill some of the birds. I got a shot at it but had bird shot in my gun. I pretty sure I hit it but of course didn't kill it. I have my pens covered with heavy duty netting to protect the birds from aerial predators. I caught this one the night before last.

 

[50-45-1]

Wow, what a beautiful owl!
Now that you have caught him, what are you going to do with him?

 

[cmom]

I called some wildlife people and they came and got it. Here is the same owl busting through some crappy netting that I have since replaced. It went through the netting three times. Each time I replaced it with more of the crappy netting because that is all I had at the time. When I bought it online I thought it was different. The ad was deceptive. I bought more good heavy duty netting since. I moved the birds to another coop and pen which was covered with heavy duty netting. I put a camera in the original pen it had killed a couple of birds in and it came back. The owl found the pen I moved the birds to, it couldn't plow through the netting and got caught in it. I have several coops and pens but for whatever reason it was after my White Leghorns.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Donkeys help but they’re better suited for protecting larger lifestock that makes a rucus when under coyote attack. On my family’s cattle farm in central Florida I would often coyote hunt at night around the resident donkey. If there’s plenty of space the coyotes just slip around the donkey without it knowing its there.

What kind of trapping does your state allow? Florida only allows snares and live traps. I got pretty decent at snaring coyotes in the woods on a 1500 acre hunting lease I used to manage. I could wipe out a pack in a couple of weeks after my scent left the sets, but there was always a new pack ready to move in a couple of months.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I see you’re in Texas. Considered having people hunt the coyotes? A good coyote hunter can take several in a night. Its only sticking a finger in the dike but every little bit will help. Especially for killing the individuals that have already learned the routine and how to most efficiently get your chickens.