What Attacked My Coop??

[Folly's place]

Raccoons will enter a live trap, if not the smaller one, maybe the larger, with many different baits. Then shoot!
Foxes are much more difficult to trap. We had a bad daytime fox attack a few years ago (ten hens dead in one afternoon!) and it took a neighbor with a 22g to finish him. We couldn't get a safe shot, but I drove around letting the neighbors know about it, and one of them got him. Our culprit was a very sick mangy animal, easy to ID, and needed to be gone.
Good luck! Electric fencing ASAP will be a big help.
Mary

 

[Sakiza]

I’m from Tasmania and we have had lots of problems with snakes and Tasmanian devils... in my experience (no matter the type of predator) once they’ve gotten an easy meal they’ll be back. Trapping and releasing away from our property was our only solution and seemed to work well. Snakes are a little harder to deal with.

Now I live in the Northern Territory it’s snakes and birds of prey.... I’ve had adult chickens taken by pythons.... the snakes get BIG here. My only solution (killing snakes is highly illegal) has been to spend a ton of money replacing regular chicken mesh for snake proof mesh designed for reptile enclosures...

That’s crazy! @Humpty Doo chicken family you are not allowed to kill the predator if they are destroying your property? I was just researching nuisance regulations and laws today and thankfully for most predators, if they are in the process of or have killed our birds, we can kill the predator. I hate that I have to do it but I love my birds.

What is the reasoning on not being allowed to kill snakes? I’m curious.

 

[Sakiza]

Raccoons will enter a live trap, if not the smaller one, maybe the larger, with many different baits. Then shoot!
Foxes are much more difficult to trap. We had a bad daytime fox attack a few years ago (ten hens dead in one afternoon!) and it took a neighbor with a 22g to finish him. We couldn't get a safe shot, but I drove around letting the neighbors know about it, and one of them got him. Our culprit was a very sick mangy animal, easy to ID, and needed to be gone.
Good luck! Electric fencing ASAP will be a big help.
Mary

I’m nervous about electric fencing as our birds hang out on the fence and have been known to hang around it, especially since part of the big pond comes into their fenced in area. So the water runs under the fence.

 

[Folly's place]

Different predators, different rules, different countries. Endangered species have different needs and rules too.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Properly set up, electric fencing will keep out ground predators. Having a safe area at night, at least, fixes most issues with them.
Hope you can get those raccoons, and that fox!
Mary

 

[Zinjifrah]

What is the reasoning on not being allowed to kill snakes? I’m curious.

Probably a protected species. Just like it's illegal to kill a protected species in the US - such as a raptor (Hawk, eagle, falcon) in the US, even if it's attacking your animals, without a special permit.

 

[fur-mum]

Do you have a way of putting the electric fence just outside of their coop/run? It just has to be a couple inches away from anything that will get the birds shocked. And it's usually flexable and they won't be able to roost on it if they are free-ranging.

 

[Sakiza]

We have a weasel! And a few raccoons. Two of them were in the traps this morning and lots of footage of them on the trail cam. We now have to set up traps for the weasel and see if we can’t get him too.

Electric fencing is now something I’m looking into for sure. Thank you @fur-mum

 

[Ducklover2]

Sounds like a lot of predators.

We have a weasel! And a few raccoons. Two of them were in the traps this morning and lots of footage of them on the trail cam. We now have to set up traps for the weasel and see if we can’t get him too.

Electric fencing is now something I’m looking into for sure. Thank you @fur-mum

 

[wildone]

man, i HATE weasels. i cant say i envy you even getting close to one of them. i'm fine with opossums, raccoons, foxes, etc.etc. but