South Florida Predators?

[cvlcite]

Hey y’all I live in urban south Florida and I have 2 hens! I wanted to know if anyone knows about what possible predators there could be around here. When I say urban I mean like city I’m nowhere near any wildlife areas so I know I don’t have to worry about bears or anything. I’m concerned about hawks but again, the ones I see around here are the same size or smaller than my hens. Can anyone think of anything else that might be a problem? Thank you!

 

[50-45-1]

Urban setting...first thing i think of is loose dogs or feral cats.
Hawks will kill and eat your chickens. a sharp shined hawk is roughly 1/4 the size of a standard chicken and will kill a chicken easily.
at night in an open coop almost anything can kill a chicken including raccoon snake, possum, rats, owl just to name a few.
the best way to know what is moving around your yard while you are not looking is to set up a trail camera. you might be surprised.

 

[no fly zone]

Hawks of any size are a danger to chickens. I used to live in Hollywood, and I remember seeing a really big racoon in the parking lot outside my apt bldg once in the middle of the day. Large iguanas might pose a threat to baby chicks, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[HenKeepers]

Hawks, osprey, eagles, dogs, cats, ferrets, coyotes, foxes, possums, raccoons, snakes, owls. Be especially careful of dogs and cats.

 

[Lizzy733]

I lived in Tampa bay for several years and can say for urban predators... hawks, rats and raccoons would be my biggest concern aside from feral cats and wayward house pets. - At least for central Florida. If your yard is unfenced and there are bodies of water around, then even gators could be an issue.

 

[Folly's place]

Everyone loves chicken! You may not have cougars and bears in the city, but all the others will turn up sometime.
Have a very safe coop and run, and then have your birds outside when you are there, and can (maybe!) protect them.
Two hens are not a good number; sometime one will be gone, and the remaining bird will be VERY lonely. Get more!
Mary

 

[cmom]

I am rural on a dead end road near Ocala. As expected, I see a predator on my cameras most nights. Here is a bat on one of the cameras. I know it's not a predator but it was interesting.

 

[cmom]

Hawks, eagles, owls, coyotes, fox, bobcats, possums, coons, skunks, dogs and cats. You may not think you have any predators but I'm sure you do. Everything likes chicken. Here in Florida most of the predators roam at night. except in the spring when they are out looking for mates and feeding their young, then you may see them more during the day. Good luck and have fun...
Coyotes behind some of our coops. The date is wrong on the video.

 

[hayley3]

What trail camera is that cmom? I have never had a trail cam at night that clear and I have 3 or 4.
And wow I've never seen a pack of coyotes...that would make me a bit nervous and was the time correct 2:20 am. Scary to know they are outside your house.

 

[cmom]

Some of these pictures are from some different cameras in the same spots. Most of the pictures were taken with the camera I posted or one exactly like it. The other pictures are from other cameras. Here the predators roam at night so I wanted cameras that would take good nighttime pictures. The lights in the background of a couple of the pictures are other cameras that have been set off. I have the cameras in the video mode and take 1 minute videos. The cameras aren't actually giving off light it's the infrared that makes it look that way.