Should I try and kill this bobcat?

[IdyllwildAcres]

As I am reading this a bobcat , the bobcat who has taken 3 of my hens in the last few weeks, is stalking my hen house. I have been watching it on camera. It is waiting for daylight expecting the pop door to open up the buffet. My coop is fort knox, the run is vulnerable. The cat can wait all it wants the door will not be opening for it today I have turned it off, birds are on lockdown until further notice. This thing is persistent.

When I saw it on camera with Karen in his mouth I wanted to kill it. But decided to work on security instead. Last week I lost another, she sometimes lingered and has been left out in the run over the years I think that happened again. IDk, she is gone.

The run has 8' fence, and has been fine for 6 years, now the cat knows where the buffet is. Time to cover the run.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

cover the run and Hotwire if you can outside of it? do you have a guardian dog or neighbours male dog that can walk around the leave pee markings? that seems to help a lot with discouraging other predators, maybe it will work.

 

[McChooky]

Adding a couple strands of electric fence around the perimeter would also deter predators while free ranging. Wishing you the best!

 

[DarJones]

Like the thread on foxes that I started a few months ago, this one has gone sideways with few conclusions. Here are mine.

I killed 4 foxes in 3 months. Since I killed the foxes, I lost 2 small chicks to a hawk. I did not kill the hawk because it won't bother larger birds. A opossum tried to get a chick last week when I left the door open an hour after dark. The chicken escaped and the opossum got a dose of 12 gauge. I gave away 9 chicks to people who wanted breeding program culls for laying hens. I have 5 young roosters in a cage waiting to be slaughtered. This leaves me with about 25 chickens to select future breeders. I have a few (3 or 4) that look like they will be outstanding. 100% of the hens will lay blue eggs because I DNA tested last year's best roosters and kept three that are homozygous for oocyanin.

When a predator gets used to eating chicken, it will keep coming back until you do something permanent to stop it. Losing all your birds to predators is pretty permanent, but it is one option. I choose to selectively lose the predators.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

male dog that can walk around the leave pee markings?

Me and my male dog have been peeing out back for years, to no affect.

 

[mowin]

do you have a guardian dog or neighbours male dog that can walk around the leave pee markings? that seems to help a lot with discouraging other predators, maybe it will work.

Lol, read something on the internet and it must be true. Internet mith.

Trappers use different urines to mask their sent from the traps. If different pee scares predators, a trapper would never catch anything.

 

[Geena]

*

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

Lol, read something on the internet and it must be true. Internet mith.

Trappers use different urines to mask their sent from the traps. If different pee scares predators, a trapper would never catch anything.

no, this works at my house, not from internet. I only have small predators (raccoons, fox etc) since I'm more urban but they ONLY come when my neighbours dog isn't peed on the coop/run for over 24hrs. just a suggestion.

 

[mowin]

no, this works at my house, not from internet. I only have small predators (raccoons, fox etc) since I'm more urban but they ONLY come when my neighbours dog isn't peed on the coop/run for over 24hrs. just a suggestion.

Sorry. But it doesn't work.

 

[Geena]

no, this works at my house, not from internet. I only have small predators (raccoons, fox etc) since I'm more urban but they ONLY come when my neighbours dog isn't peed on the coop/run for over 24hrs. just a suggestion.

It may seem that way to you, but that's really just coincidental and anecdotal. I've had many dogs and although the dogs themselves will repel predators, their urine or feces absolutely does not.