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

[okallthis4eggs]

Haha. Think I like the poarch...I'm going to add one on mine I think. With logs to match the cabin. What kind of roof did you use?

It has a metal roof I got from a friend that was left over from a job. So its like a shed roof that drains to the back. I put the green boards along the roof line to make it look like it has a gable roof. Didn't like the look of the flat shed roof. The porch is nice to keep it dry in front of the coop.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

My fortress is now envious of Fort Knox... Looks very secure and very well built!

Thanks. Not to show off but to give people ideas when building theirs. I was determined to build something predator proof. I have 3' fence wire buried in the ground around the run. It was a lot of work to get it right but I have had no problems with predators. As you can see it sits in the edge of the woods. I can hear coyotes howling in the woods behind the coop at night.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Yeah, looks good...I am lurking through the coop section for ideas, since I learned how to use power tools it is now, why not, I can do that. The nice part is my coop is so rustic anyway, it's hard to make it look bad. Ha ha...but a small poarch over would be nice for rain and snow.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Go for it. The chickens will like it regardless of how it turns out. I was going to put a flower box under that window and hang a couple ferns from the porch but never did.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

They seem to like the large window I cut out with the chain saw, now they can really see me coming and don't have to peek through spaces in the planks...going to put another one on the west side, now that power is finally back on!!!

 

[Ragingsun]

Well, we had a preadator get ahold of two of our chicks. My dog. This is how it happened. My Girlfriend was over for dinner. She saw my Girls (dogs) sitting at the back door, like they do when they have to go potty. And she let them out forgetting that the chickens were in the back yard. My dogs are not allowed out without supervision because they are dogs and will want to kill the chickens. Well, they were unsupervised because my Hubby and I didnt know she let them out. My husband went out to clean the grill and found the chicks dead. My daughter saw the carnage and well, my dogs absolutely cannot be blamed for what happened. It was an accident. So the lesson learned. Make sure that guests know the chickens are free ranging and not to let your dogs out without supervision. So sad about our baby chicks. So very sad.

 

[bunnibird55]

I have lost a dozen chickens and two full-grown Pekin ducks this year. I thought I had my flock safe since I lock all of them in barns every night and had hardwarware cloth up about 7 feet high over the one end of the pole barn at the sliding door. I went out one morning before 6 to find my favorite mama hen and 7 of her babies destroyed and pieces of feathers and "stuff" hanging on the top of the wire over the doorway. Since then through the use of live traps, the .22 and some special "Sleeping Beauty Potion", I have harvested 14 raccoons, 4 opposum and one skunk in just 3 weeks. I have run hardware cloth up the full height of the pole barn doorway (16 ft) and have every window and space covered with hardware cloth. My chickies are starting to act like they feel safe in their barn again and are back to laying eggs and I have not lost any more of my babies. Last year a mangy fox came up the driveway in the middle of the day and hauled off a guinea. He was dispatched with the .22 also. It is a bad predator year in this area since it is so dry here and the varmits are looking for a poultry buffet. No more free meals at my house........

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Well, we had a preadator get ahold of two of our chicks. My dog. This is how it happened. My Girlfriend was over for dinner. She saw my Girls (dogs) sitting at the back door, like they do when they have to go potty. And she let them out forgetting that the chickens were in the back yard. My dogs are not allowed out without supervision because they are dogs and will want to kill the chickens. Well, they were unsupervised because my Hubby and I didnt know she let them out. My husband went out to clean the grill and found the chicks dead. My daughter saw the carnage and well, my dogs absolutely cannot be blamed for what happened. It was an accident. So the lesson learned. Make sure that guests know the chickens are free ranging and not to let your dogs out without supervision. So sad about our baby chicks. So very sad.

I agree the dog is just being a dog. You have to keep them separated. It was a accident.

 

[Chickey24]

We had a friend visitIng with his Jack Russel Terrier. Our chicks were only 3 weeks old and in the basement in their brooder. The dog was lightening fast, jumped inside in the brooder and killed 3 of the ten within seconds! I felt awful! And never thought it would happen because our dog had done just fine with the chicks when let out in the yard to run around. Really consider chicks if you have a dog bred for the qualities to hunt and kill birds. This dog is really sweet, it was just instinctual for her.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Would dogs be #1 or #2 on the predator list for killing the most chickens. Or is #1 Coons