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

[chiknhurder]

I have coyotes, red fox, coons, possums, bobcats, cougars, red-tailed hawks and a variety of owls but the real problem has been my neighbors 3 dogs, a German Shepard, a Lab and a Corgi mix (the most aggressive of the 3).

I let me chickens out after noon each day and let them free range. One day I was sitting in my office and saw them run across the front yard in front of my window. I thought they looked odd, like maybe they were being chased, but I didn't see anything nor did I see any shadows on the ground that birds of prey cast on the ground.

Later that afternoon, I went out to check on them and I caught the Lab sitting over my just matured and freshly killed French Black Copper Marans rooster. I didn't see the other 2 dogs so I don't know if they ran off with the chickens before I got out there or not. There was another Black Orpington that was pretty mangled and barely alive that I put out of her misery and nothing but a pile of feathers left from my French Blue Copper Marans hen. The fourth chicken, another French Blue Copper Marans hen, just disappeared with no trace of her and no feather pile. It's possible that the other 2 dogs didn't do anything and that another predator, possibly an opportunistic hawk, coyote or fox happened by before I went outside. Kept dogs typically kill the birds and leave them lie where another predator or a feral dog would eat them. My neighbor ended up paying for the chickens, which weren't cheap because they were a somewhat rare breed that had been shipped from out of state. Her total on the 4 was just over $300.

Three weeks later, I went outside just before time when they go to roost to check on them to see if they were making progress toward the coop and I noticed all of my hens huddled together next to my workshop. I noticed 2 of them were missing, a Buff Orpington and a French Blue Copper Marans, and as I headed toward the coop, they all followed me closely. As I approached the pen that surrounds the coop and run, I spotted a red-tailed hawk sitting on one of my Buff Orpington hens. The hawk had already killed her and was in the process of eating her. She was 2 feet away from being able to run under my storage shed where they spent a lot of time on hot days.

The hawk flew off and into a tree about 130 yards away and watched as I cleaned up the mess, looking for the other bird that I was short. Eventually, my French Blue Copper Marans, the only survivor from my original 4, came cautiously out from under a shrub by the pen.. I got the rest of the chickens in the coop and locked them in for the night. When I went out the next morning to let them out, the hawk was still in the same tree waiting. I went in and got my .22 with bird shot and shot in it's direction, knowing that I'd never hit him and even if it did it wouldn't have killed him, but it did scare it off and I haven't seen it since.

Since the loss of those 5, I haven't lost another one and have replaced the ones that were killed. I've also added 5 Barred Rock pullets to the flock. I haven't had an incident since but I've become aware that I wasn't doing something right that everyone else was doing wrong. My chickens weren't smarter either. They just hadn't been bothered because it wasn't time for it to happen. When it did, I realized how important it was to make them safe.

What dog owners don't understand is that the dog didn't just kill a few chickens that can be replaced. It also set my egg laying back considerably. I got the replacement birds on the 1st of November at 6 to 8 weeks old and they probably won't be laying until March or April. That's 6 or 7 months without the four of the 9 hens that I had laying and a mature rooster.

My rooster.




My Black Orpington




What was left of one of my French Blue Copper Marans

 

[LucyAndClaire]

I have coyotes, red fox, coons, possums, bobcats, cougars, red-tailed hawks and a variety of owls but the real problem has been my neighbors 3 dogs, a German Shepard, a Lab and a Corgi mix (the most aggressive of the 3). I let me chickens out after noon each day and let them free range. One day I was sitting in my office and saw them run across the front yard in front of my window. I thought they looked odd, like maybe they were being chased, but I didn't see anything nor did I see any shadows on the ground that birds of prey cast on the ground. Later that afternoon, I went out to check on them and I caught the Lab sitting over my just matured and freshly killed French Black Copper Marans rooster. I didn't see the other 2 dogs so I don't know if they ran off with the chickens before I got out there or not. There was another Black Orpington that was pretty mangled and barely alive that I put out of her misery and nothing but a pile of feathers left from my French Blue Copper Marans hen. The fourth chicken, another French Blue Copper Marans hen, just disappeared with no trace of her and no feather pile. It's possible that the other 2 dogs didn't do anything and that another predator, possibly an opportunistic hawk, coyote or fox happened by before I went outside. Kept dogs typically kill the birds and leave them lie where another predator or a feral dog would eat them. My neighbor ended up paying for the chickens, which weren't cheap because they were a somewhat rare breed that had been shipped from out of state. Her total on the 4 was just over $300. Three weeks later, I went outside just before time when they go to roost to check on them to see if they were making progress toward the coop and I noticed all of my hens huddled together next to my workshop. I noticed 2 of them were missing, a Buff Orpington and a French Blue Copper Marans, and as I headed toward the coop, they all followed me closely. As I approached the pen that surrounds the coop and run, I spotted a red-tailed hawk sitting on one of my Buff Orpington hens. The hawk had already killed her and was in the process of eating her. She was 2 feet away from being able to run under my storage shed where they spent a lot of time on hot days. The hawk flew off and into a tree about 130 yards away and watched as I cleaned up the mess, looking for the other bird that I was short. Eventually, my French Blue Copper Marans, the only survivor from my original 4, came cautiously out from under a shrub by the pen.. I got the rest of the chickens in the coop and locked them in for the night. When I went out the next morning to let them out, the hawk was still in the same tree waiting. I went in and got my .22 with bird shot and shot in it's direction, knowing that I'd never hit him and even if it did it wouldn't have killed him, but it did scare it off and I haven't seen it since. Since the loss of those 5, I haven't lost another one and have replaced the ones that were killed. I've also added 5 Barred Rock pullets to the flock. I haven't had an incident since but I've become aware that I wasn't doing something right that everyone else was doing wrong. My chickens weren't smarter either. They just hadn't been bothered because it wasn't time for it to happen. When it did, I realized how important it was to make them safe. What dog owners don't understand is that the dog didn't just kill a few chickens that can be replaced. It also set my egg laying back considerably. I got the replacement birds on the 1st of November at 6 to 8 weeks old and they probably won't be laying until March or April. That's 6 or 7 months without the four of the 9 hens that I had laying and a mature rooster. My rooster. My Black Orpington What was left of one of my French Blue Copper Marans

Oh, that's awful! Those dogs should be tied up. I've had problems with hawks too. My first chick I'd successfully hatched got killed by one, I got there just as the hawk was killing her and also my Silver laced Wyandotte (story told above) got attacked by one. Luckily, since we have had no sign of any predators.

 

[3Fish]

A snake in the grass or this case the rosemary. Not much can be done about a snake if your birds are small enough to be eaten. We had no clue that the snake had moved into the overgrown rosemary bush on the left in the picture below. One warm summer morning we walked into the coop and had done a head count before even realizing that i had my back a couple of feet from the snake the whole time. It had already eaten a sweet but runty wyndote that was a family favorite and looked like it was content to wait for another! For my sake I'm lucky it wasn't poisonous but it was only doing its snake thing. Our flock today would make minced meat of a snake that size and fight over the scraps.

 

[sueiris]

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[chiknhurder]

Oh, that's awful! Those dogs should be tied up. I've had problems with hawks too. My first chick I'd successfully hatched got killed by one, I got there just as the hawk was killing her and also my Silver laced Wyandotte (story told above) got attacked by one. Luckily, since we have had no sign of any predators.

The lady has only lived in the neighborhood for about a year and right off the bat, her corgi mix tried to bite me several times in my field when I was burning brush. If I didn't have a long stick in my hand for poking around in the fire with, he probably would have succeeded. I don't mind dogs and have owned plenty myself but I have a big problem with a new dog in the neighborhood coming on to my property and trying to bite me. Kill the dogs? I could easily but then it's not really the dogs fault. It's a ignorant human being. She's quickly smartening up because her dog destroyed a bit over $300 worth of birds and shipping. She began penning the dogs up but every once in awhile I see them roaming. I have taken shots at them with my .22 rifle but more just to scare them and to make her aware that I'm through warning her. When her and the sheriff were standing here in my yard the day her dogs killed the birds, I told her that if she didn't keep them up I would see to it that they were no longer a problem for me or other neighbors who have complained.

Missouri law tells me I can kill a hawk if it's taking chickens but federal laws apply to all migratory and predatory birds. If someone were to report me killing the hawk, I'd be in deep poop but it is an option open to me if it happens again. The feds are hard to deal with and they want you to exhaust all means of keeping the hawks away from the chickens including keeping them locked up and spending thousands on fencing and roofing to keep them out. Hawks are definitely not endangered where I live nor are they threatened. They are thriving because there is plenty of livestock to feed on.

 

[chiknhurder]

A snake in the grass or this case the rosemary. Not much can be done about a snake if your birds are small enough to be eaten. We had no clue that the snake had moved into the overgrown rosemary bush on the left in the picture below. One warm summer morning we walked into the coop and had done a head count before even realizing that i had my back a couple of feet from the snake the whole time. It had already eaten a sweet but runty wyndote that was a family favorite and looked like it was content to wait for another! For my sake I'm lucky it wasn't poisonous but it was only doing its snake thing. Our flock today would make minced meat of a snake that size and fight over the scraps.

I was mowing my field last summer and the chickens liked to follow me to see what I would scare out with the mower. I looked across the field and one of them was killing a small snake by stomping it and pecking at it. I looked to be about an 18 inch black snake or ribbon snake. Both are common around my house. Before I could get over there another hen got involved and they were playing tug-o-war with it. Finally one ran off with the snake flying back out of the edge of her beak and when the others saw it, they all joined in.

We have a lot of leopard and tree frogs around here and I've seen them catch the frogs and eat them but that was the first time I saw them kill and eat a snake. I also picked a 4 foot black snake (black rat snake) off of the huge white oak that you can see in the left hand side of my avatar photo. He had just started up the tree when I caught him and threw him in a covered bucket. I hauled him my usual 10 miles for relocating animals and turned him loose.

 

[tbutler]

I just got my first chicks in February. I did all my research and made sure there was hardwire cloth over every inch of my run and added chicken wire just for security. After falling in love with my RIR, barred rock, my beautiful rooster that had just started crowing the sweetest crow, and an Orpington, my dog figured out how to open the latch and she and her partner in crime went on a killing spree. Two white Wyandottes did manage to escape, but they haven't eaten or had much to drink since. I'm afraid they are very traumatized! I have since put a big heavy rock in front of the door and I'm looking for a better type off latch.

 

[The Lazy L]

A snake in the grass or this case the rosemary. Not much can be done about a snake if your birds are small enough to be eaten. We had no clue that the snake had moved into the overgrown rosemary bush on the left in the picture below. One warm summer morning we walked into the coop and had done a head count before even realizing that i had my back a couple of feet from the snake the whole time. It had already eaten a sweet but runty wyndote that was a family favorite and looked like it was content to wait for another! For my sake I'm lucky it wasn't poisonous but it was only doing its snake thing. Our flock today would make minced meat of a snake that size and fight over the scraps.








Another good reason why chicken wire should NOT be used.

 

[Terry S]

Thank everyone for their advice. I was going to use chicken wire to fence until I read about the hardware cloth. I will definitely use that instead.

 

[chiknhurder]

Thank everyone for their advice. I was going to use chicken wire to fence until I read about the hardware cloth. I will definitely use that instead.

Hardware cloth can be broken into as well. I have 1/2 x 1/2 inch hardware cloth on my coop and there are places where some young pullets have started a small hole in it just from jumping up on the wire and hanging on the side when they want out. I am going to place 2 inch by 4 inch welded wire over the hardware cloth to keep anything with teeth or claws that could rip a hole in it.