Tell How Predators Got Your Chickens. Save Somebody Else From The Bad Experience

[lcr123]

I had my two young pullets in an Extreme Chicken Coop which is a lightweight wood and wire coop I assembled from a kit. Chickens were inside, locks were fastened. Two stray laboradors showed up in my front yard and hoping to hold them and find their owner, I let them in the house. Unfortunately, the housekeepers were cleaning and are scared of dogs (!) so I let them out into the backyard. My daughter was home and even keeping an eye on the dog and chicken situation. I left to put up found dog signs and knock on neighbors doors and ten minutes later my daughter called to tell me that the dogs had killed one of the chickens. Rushed home and sure enough, they had ripped the latch right off the nesting box, reached in, and broken the neck of my white pullet. The dogs' owner was apologetic and gave me gift cards, but it was still sad and shocking. Moral...even "good" dog breeds such as Labs can't be trusted around chickens, and many kit coops aren't really secure from predators. I nailed the nesting box lid shut after that and I hope our 6 foot backyard fence prevents any more accidents!

 

[cheeka]

JordanFamily, sorry for your loss, coons are bad news... good plan to lock them up at night... Love the video clip on your avatar, very funny!

lcr123, sorry for you loss as well, so unfortunate that you were doing a good deed and paid the price with the loss of a nice pullet. Hopefully your neighbor will be more responsible in the future - No Dog can be trusted alone with birds unless it is a fully trained LGD. Even my sweet little Pug who thinks the chicks are her babies... I don't believe she would do anything, but I don't take chances - besides, with the LF Roosters I have, they could really hurt her... she did get her cheek pinched really hard last year, could've lost an eye... so... best to supervise all the time!
I have one of those little (kinda cheesy) coops too, it required some adjustments before I would put my gang inside... I put latches on the nest box lids so I could padlock them closed... and I reinforced the side panels that can be removed to attach additions - such flimsy toggles were included... I also used heavy duty staples (on the inside) so I could attach hardware cloth from the bottom on up, no digging in from the outside... it's threaded right through the seams of the coops panels. there are a few pictures of that on my chicken dome album...

I've had 2 losses since the end of July, a 17 month old RIR hen who laid the darkest brown RIR egg I've ever seen... she disappeared during a really bright sunny afternoon, not a cloud in the sky... but I left them alone for 10-15 minutes because the phone wouldn't stop ringing... I will never answer the phone again if my flock is out. and I lost a 7 week old pullet - she must have squeezed through a tiny gap at the end of the roost - where the pole sticks through... that's the only spot I could find for escape, but the little pile of feathers was right next to the pen as though she was trying to figure out how to get back in... poor baby...

 

[lcr123]

Thank you for the ideas for reinforcing my coop, the latches are definitely the weak links. I had a lab mix, a Rat Terrier, a cat and a Rhode Island Red who all lived peacefully together for several years (okay, in reality, the cat was terrified of the hen, the Lab deferred to the hen over food, and the Rat Terrier loved to chase the hen but never hurt her)....I lost the lab mix and the hen to old age and the Rat Terrier to coyotes....planning on getting a collie pup this winter and will do a lot of supervised training before I let the chickens free range and the dog off leash at the same time...I replaced my murdered white pullet with a big rooster who is gentle to me and the hen but pretty intimidating to a pup I would think

 

[Araucana16]

Okay, I realize this may not be the place, but are you all saying that if I have a run made out of chicken wire I will lose my birds? Does it absolutely have to be hardware cloth?

It's just the run, my coop will be solid plywood with oak reinforcement criss crossing the sides to make sure that even if a coyote or fox breaks the hardwood there is oak to keep it back. I can rebuild the run... but I really wouldn't like to

 

[tenhens]

How do I enjoy my chickens when I'm afraid of predators all the time? I have a neighbor close by with a yellow lab who is occasionally off its leash and an owner who says she probably wouldn't kill them she just might like to play with them...ugh!!! I guess I just had hopes they could roam the yard when I was out there gardening etc...but even that seems risky...

 

[cheeka]

Araucana16, the critters that can chew through chicken wire are mostly nocturnal, so if your birds are cooped at night, they would be safe, you would just need to inspect your run regularly for intrusions, chicken wire will keep a hawk out if it's covered... cloudy days does bring out the nighttime beasts tho'... it's best to supervise regularly.

tenhens, you can enjoy your chickens roaming while you are also outside, you must simply keep an eye on your yard, make sure you round up any wanderers and share eggs with your neighbor so she'll be more apt to keep her dog leashed when your birds are out...

it's always a risk to open the doors to the outside world, but I think it's worth it for the chickens sake... to have grass and bugs and sunshine... but I've lost birds too... so I stay with them.

 

[tenhens]

Thanks so much for the support cheeka. I love them so much and I agree, being able to really flap the wings and feel the grass on their feet ads so much to their quality of life!

 

[lcr123]

In my opinion, If you only let your chickens out during the day into the run (as in, 9 am to 4 pm, not near sunrise or sunset) and secure them in the coop at night, you will probably be okay. Is there an additional fence around your property? Motion sensor lights? Anything to make a predator less bold?

 

[tenhens]

no fences, just stonewalls. I feel like an overprotective mother lol

 

[cheeka]

lcr123 gives a piece of very good advice. wait til the sun is fully up and predators are mostly back in their beds, but they wake before dusk. they are bold, opportunistic hunters, they may have the skills to catch much faster food, but they will always take the opportunity for an easy meal.

I have lost birds on lightly rainy afternoons and bright cloudless sunny afternoons... it's much higher of a risk if they are outside of a run... my gang lives in their run, with coops attached... I don't always feel badly when I decide that I will not let them out. they have tons of room... just limited sunshine, and no grass.