Super Frustrated! Predators are figuring it out!

[StormyRidgeChixLady]

The Last 2 yrs in June I have had major problems with predators, more racoons than possums, but both. I believe its they're breeding season and are very active and hungry. They dig and tear down my chicken wire and kill my chickens. Usually this happens when I'm out of town and there isnt much activity on the farm. I will just have someone come over and feed and water. Both years they reduced my chicken population by 50% in about a weeks time. Last year i sat outside the barn and in 1 night i eliminated 8 racoons and 3 possums. So this year i started trapping early and when get something here and there but not much so i figured i had gotten a handle on the situation. To no avail, i went out of town in June for a few weeks, and lost all my ducks and 15 chickens to predators. The people watching my house got 1 coon while i was gone. Within the first week of coming home i got a possum and 6 coons. I also caught a groundhog in a trap but let him go because i didnt think they were a danger to the chickens (please tell me they arent) So im down to 13 chickens, only 1 setting hen. So I let her sit on her eggs and she hatched out 11 babies 9 days ago. Yeah! I have set 4 traps everynight since the beginning of july, with different baits, and i move them around, sometimes i keep them in the same place, and i caught 1 possum last week. Yet sometimes i can tell something has been out in the feed room etc. Tonight I get home an hour after dark to close the door to the chicken house which is inside their 'secure' chicken yard and, i believe a coon, had killed the momma hen and had tried to drag her out the yard thru the door but couldnt get her thru and left her. ?????? My 1 setting hen, ripped off her nest of babies!!!! How horrible!!! I am so frustrated, I dont know what to do. I read on another post about using hardware cloth instead of chicken wire, so that will be my first move. But have they figured out the traps? What else can i do to get rid of them or trap them? Any advice at all? Those poor babies! I know they'll be fine, but still how horrible. I had been keeping all the chickens in the house til i baby proofed the chicken yard which was 2 days ago. How is it good enough to keep them in and not the preds out? So i guess everyone will be locked up in the chicken house again. And so early in the night? I just dont know!

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

I am SO sorry for your losses!! That is SO SAD about your momma hen!!!!!!

I wish I knew what to tell you, I'm sure someone around here can help you!!

 

[StormyRidgeChixLady]

Thank you. I usually am very good with this, but im getin out smarted and need some fresh ideas. So hard to get attached, to raise them and care for them, and then for your chicken house to just be a buffet for other animals. This was her 2nd brood. I normally incubate but she loved bein a momma so i thot I'd let her. Goooooo!

 

[Renee]

Sorry about the loss of your chickens.

I don't think you will ever get rid of the predators. They breed too fast, and when you kill one, it just creates a new territory for another one.

The only way to protect your chickens is with a predator-proof coop and run. Chicken wire is useless, as you already know. 1/4 inch hardware cloth is enough to keep raccoons and oppossums out of your coop. Be sure that it is attached with roofing nails, not with staples. Some people sandwich the wire between two pieces of wood to make sure it is secure.

Good luck.

 

[bird]

Sorry to hear for your lost...Can you install electric fence (wire) just above the ground - the type that can't be grounded out?

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Goodness - those poor chicks having their mother killed. No offense intended but you should have put up hardware cloth along time ago. Plenty of people say that chicken wire keeps the chicks in but not preditors out.

Like what was said above, you won't get all the preditors but you can do all you can to prevent the preditors from getting to your chicks. Since the preditors have been successful at getting chicken dinner at your place over and over again, they'll keep trying until you do something to really prevent them from getting in.

Good luck and I hope you don't lose any more.

 

[Buster52]

Get a good dog.

 

[StormyRidgeChixLady]

Thanks for the advice and condolences.

No offense taken, but it does make me feel a guiltier than I already did. I already mentioned how horrible I felt and knowing that i have been doing everything I can do or knew to do. Which is why I joined this site, for help. I didnt know about hardware cloth and mentioned that I read it it a post last night and that it was the first thing I was doing today. Everyone 'around here' uses chicken wire. Honestly knew nothing about hardware cloth. If I had I wouldnt have been wasting the lives of my chickens and my time stalking predators.

Thanks Buster about the dog idea. I have seriously been considering it. I have 3 dogs, but have been worried about them gettin in a tangle with a coon. Maybe its just time for them to earn a living.

 

[citrusdreams]

A chicken coop and run needs to be secure from predators before you can even think about getting a handle on what's going on outside the coop and run.

The hardware cloth needs to be put up asap and your entire coop and run checked for any holes that might possibly be open to predators. The top of the run needs to be checked for security. The bottom needs to be reinforced to prevent them from digging under and getting in.

I agree that you need a dog, but make sure you can contain it to your own property, especially while you're gone, or you'll have that problem to deal with as well. I'd install an electric fence around the paremeter of your chicken coop and run to contain an area for a dog or LGD.

 

[Big Chicken Little]

You could run several "hot wires" around the base of your coop and run area 6" and 12" off the ground. Also if it is a real problem set out leg traps and shoot them. Wire traps do not work well for racoons.