Topic of the Week - Keeping the Flock Safe from Predators

[mymilliefleur]

- What are your most common predator(s) and how do you deter them?
The predators we typically have a problem with are:

Coyotes - So far I have not lost any chickens to them (though we did lose a lamb to coyotes this year). A double layer of electronetting around my laying flock (which are out on pasture) has kept them back. We have LGD's to guard the rest of the chickens by the house.

Foxes - By far we have had more losses to these sneaky critters than anything else. The electro netting has so far stopped them from getting to my layers. The dogs also keep them away. They are very persistent, and if you lose one bird to a fox, they will keep coming back for more.

Raccoons - We have not had a huge problem with 'coons killing our chickens, but I did have one come up to the electro netting and eye the chickens. A few years ago I lost a couple of chickens to them when the dogs were not around.

possums - Typically they are more interested in stealing feed than chicken, but I have lost a few chicks to them. possums will go through electro netting. I watch one get through the netting last year. It did get shocked multiple times and was rather stunned, but kept throwing it self into the fence until it got under. possums are not that bright. They do seem to be kept away by the dogs.

Coopers hawks - We have not had any trouble with hawks getting adult birds (even adult bantams) but they will get chicks. I keep my chicks in a covered coop or tractor until they are a few months old.

We also have Bobcats, bears, and mountain loins in our area but have not had any problems with them, or even seen them on our property.

- What do you do to secure your chicken coop and run?
I have electronetting around my layers and ducks that are out on pasture. For the rest of my birds I rely on the LGDs to keep them safe, as they are in coops with minimal security (chicken wire, nothing to prevent digging). Of the dozens of birds I have lost to predators over 14 years, they have all been attacked while free ranging, when they escaped from the netting, or when sleeping outside. I have only once had a predator penetrate a coop.

- Do you keep LGD's (Livestock guardian dogs) to protect your flock? If "yes", please tell us about them.
We have a pair of great pyr mixes, named Wally and Mocha. At one point we were losing 2+ chickens a week to a fox while they were free ranging. Since we got the LGDs the attacks have stopped and the chickens can free range in peace. They make a huge difference!

- What are your suggestions for dealing with/disposing of predators? (Note: Please keep suggestions family friendly and LEGAL - No "Shoot, shovel, shut up" or similar suggestions please)
We try to live in harmony with our wild life as much as possible. Even if you do shoot/trap the predator another is probably going to take it's place, and you will be back to square one. We only shoot predators as a last resort.
Edited to add: The huge spaces between paragraphs are not intentional. I'm not sure why my post is showing up like that.

 

[Teila]

Subscribing only because I enjoy the ToW’s and find them very informative and a great future reference resource.

Sadly, I am not able to add anything constructive as our biggest threat is overfed, fat, pampered, neighbourhood felines more interested in sunning themselves than chasing down a noisy chicken.

I do, however, have a covered run and lots of hiding spots when free ranging on the off chance that one of the two Hawks I have seen off in the distance in a 6 year period make a return visit.

I also have anti-digging protection around the run [raised coop] with either pavers or a wire skirt [depending on which part of the run], just in case.

So the gals do not need to wait for me to let them out of the coop in the morning, their door is always open and the run is wired with aviary wire mesh [no chicken wire]. That and the roof also help to keep out small, hungry wild birds hoping for some free seed and also, hopefully, snakes.

I guess I just wanted to say to anyone reading this, even if you do not have a high predator risk, it is advisable to include some precautions because you never know and having it is better than not.

I do want to get a camera set up in the garden so that I can actually see if my low predator sense of security is in fact misguided. Who knows, the precautions I do have may just be doing their job

Food for thought for everyone I think

 

[Beekissed]

Predators hunting our chickens is a constant worry for many chicken owners. Be it stray dogs, raccoons, hawks, coyotes, hawks, minks… The list of potential threats to our flocks' wellbeing is quite long. This week I would like to hear your tips and advice when it comes to keeping the flock safe from predators. Specifically:

- What are your most common predator(s) and how do you deter them?

The usual suspects of hawks, stray dogs, coon, possum, coyotes, fox, blacksnake and we even have a few black bear in residence, no doubt there are also bobcats out there.

I use dogs as my main deterrent. I have two and they are on a wireless electric containment system located around the coop area. They deter the predators quite a bit...without them I wouldn't have a single chicken left, nor would I attempt to keep chickens at all as we are surrounded by thousands of acres of woodland. -

What do you do to secure your chicken coop and run?

I have plastic netting over the wire hoops of my coop and that helps keep out any hoot owls and the dogs do the rest. I don't have a run and the pop door is open 24/7.

- Do you keep LGD's (Livestock guardian dogs) to protect your flock? If "yes", please tell us about them.

Been using dogs now for since the early 2000s for chickens and rabbits. Usually I use "free to a good home" dogs or dogs that have come to me for free in other ways, but usually those that no one wants. Two were adult dogs that needed very little training to do the job.

I've trained two pups on chickens in the past 10 yrs and they too have been excellent chicken dogs, both are my current dogs, were easily trained, have been entirely trustworthy and are very instrumental in any success I have with predators. Jake, a 10 yr old Lab/Blue merle Border Collie mix, and Ben, a 1 yr old Anatolian/Maremma/Great Pyr mix (the only dog I've ever had to buy in my life, but well worth the $100 I paid for him and then some. I wouldn't take any amount of money for him if someone offered to buy him.) Both took a minimal amount of training on chickens~around 20 min. tops~after and during ongoing basic obedience training.


- What are your suggestions for dealing with/disposing of predators? (Note: Please keep suggestions family friendly and LEGAL - No "Shoot, shovel, shut up" or similar suggestions please)

When my old dog Lucy, a Lab/GP mix dog, died and only Jake was left, I had problems with stray dogs coming around...Jake is way too dog friendly. None tried to kill the chickens but that was largely due to me being here and either scaring off the dog or catching it and returning it to the owners. If we have dogs with collars that can be caught, we'll call the owners and get them to come and collect them, giving a warning that we have chickens here and don't want to see their dogs again. We live way back in the woods and far from anyone with dogs, so if dogs show up back here it's for one thing only...the chickens..and they've traveled a good distance to get here. We are the only people in the area that have chickens.

In order to not have to dispose of dogs that keep coming back a second time or strays, I got another dog to help Jake, of breeds that are more aggressive towards other dogs. Since getting Ben I've not had to deal with strays on the land....they may show up briefly but they are soon running in the opposite direction. That's a huge load off my mind and a good move here.

My suggestion for dealing with predators is to have effective predators~ dogs~ of your own on guard 24/7. The peace of mind that gives is like no other. I can sleep at night, work and travel, all the while letting the birds range all the time and never have to worry about most predators. Blacksnakes are one of the few predators that can slip past the dogs and I got hit by a great horned owl a bit this season, but three attempts on chickens in the dog's area were foiled by Ben...he sustained a cut on his face from that skirmish.

If you can't have good dogs out there, good electronetting fences around the coop and run area will deter most predators. Keep them on and keep them charged, making sure they aren't getting grounded by anything they shouldn't. For aerial preds with free range flocks, the dogs are a huge benefit, as are many places to duck and run, birds that are range savvy, raising chicks out on range from their first week or two, and then just leaving it all in God's hands.

When you've done the best you can to protect them, then leaving them in God's hands is the next step. That gives me more peace of mind than anything else, really...He knows when a sparrow falls, so He surely cares for my flocks.

 

[nzpouter]

we are lucky where we are in the way of predators... common ones are hawks, hedgehogs, dogs, cats, ferrets and pukekos... we have open runs with 6' fencing all around.. our dogs keeps an eye on any predators... and what they can't get, my shotgun will. It's legal to shoot any of those I mentioned where i am.

 

[Nardo]

My personal headaches are hawks, owls, opposom, bob cat, rattlers and rats.

The coop is predator proofed with rocks and wire.
We have dogs that do not harm the chickens. although they do pester them a bit.
Nothing comes into the yard when the dogs are out.

Hawks: A 32' X 15' area with wire sides and top and the other part of the run has heavy tree covering

Snakes: The hens kill them

Rats: The most annoying - I keep food up and let the dogs kill any that they can.
We also have a stray cat that kills rats but is quite leery of the hens so I don't run her off.

Owls: only fly at night and the chickens are up.

 

[Schneider0925]

For me its Hawks. About a year and a half ago a Hawk attack my 12 girls. Luckily I was close enough to save them. Since then I have done some recearch on Hawks and have learned that if they don't have a clear flight path they won't attack for fear of hurting their wings. So I don't have the money to enclose their enclosed for free ranging. So I came up with an alternative solution. I created a spiders web of white string over the enclosure to unclear it's flight path. I also hung some old CD's I had to reflect and scare them away. So far it's worked. In fact it's worked so well that I recently I was out getting their food when I noticed something in 1 of the trees. I thought it was an owl but when I walked closer to it I realized it was a hawk. It was like it was trying to figure out how to get to them but couldn't figure it out and it just flew off. I've seen a few flying over but the never go in for the kill. I hope this helps anyone with a hawk issue.

 

[henny1129]

- What are your most common predator(s) and how do you deter them?
Here in Northwest Ohio we don't have many predators, but the few we have are hungry for prey! Some of our most common predators are coyotes, raccoons, skunks, Bald Eagles, and hawks. Coyotes and aerial predators (Bald Eagles and hawks) are much harder to deter than other predators in our area because they can either jump fences or fly just about anywhere. Below I will list ways to deter predators in my neck of the woods.
Coyotes ~ Electric fence. We don't have one because we have an LGD (I will explain about later ), but I do know that's what other people use that don't have an LGD.
Raccoons/Skunks ~ For these small, but intelligent predators, many people use electric fences. Raccoons have thumbs which means that they can open simple latches, so we, along with a simple latch, have a C-clip latch on every door of the coop. Skunks and raccoons can also dig, so we have chicken wire buried 3 feet deep around the run.
Aerial Predators ~ Just about the only thing you can do for predators like these is having covered areas in your chicken's run. LGD's can also help with aerial predators.
- What do you do to secure your chicken coop and run?
I pretty much explained what we do to secure the chicken coop and run above!
- Do you keep LGD's (Livestock guardian dogs) to protect your flock? If "yes", please tell us about them.
We do have LGD's. Sort of. Our one dog, Murphy, keeps all predators away. He chases birds away and howls and growles at ground predators. I'm not sure if it's because he has a drive to protect or just because he's a big ole' hound. We also have another dog, a Beagle named Olive, who runs after Murphy and attempts to help keep the predators away. In addition to having dogs we have two pet Boer goat wethers. I'm not sure if it's their size or they seem intimidating (even though they're so super friendly and just big old babies!), but they seem to keep predators at bay too.
- What are your suggestions for dealing with/disposing of predators? (Note: Please keep suggestions family friendly and LEGAL - No "Shoot, shovel, shut up" or similar suggestions please)
Fortunately we have never had a predator problem, I'm guessing due to our dogs. Unfortunately, this means that I can't offer any information in this area.

 

[Flock Master64]

I belong on this thread

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I belong on this thread

Yes, yes you do...

 

[Flock Master64]

Here's my little bit of advice for trapping raccoons.

So last summer I had a really tough time with raccoons breaking into my run and stealing feed but once they got 2 of my birds :/ . So I think you should have a trail cam on or by your coop and check it daily. So you can see what goes on around your coop when you're not around. For trapping raccoons I had a live trap that I put in view of the live cam so I can see how my bait works etc. For bait I used microwave popcorn. They really liked that. Put a metal pole through the gaps in the live trap deep into the ground so they can't roll the cage around and work the food out. Putting a blanket, towel, tarp over the cage makes them feel more comfortable going in. I put pine branches and needles over my live trap so it looks more like a log.