What do you think killed my chicken? (picture of feathers included) (Lost another more pictures)

[sophiaw00]

Just an FYI - I checked into those cameras.  The ones with night vision start at about $70.00.  If I ever get an extra buck,(dreaming..have 2 kids in college), I'm going to get one.

Would you be willing to post a link to the one you found? The ones I was looking at were over $200.

 

[sophiaw00]

Definitely should. When I lost my first rooster to a coyote my defenses went way up. Hardware cloth Is expensive.. Best deal I found is wayfare.com. But the stuff is solid. I have everything enclosed with hardware cloth and a skirt under the ground going out a about a foot all the way around the coop to stop digging. Finally put chicken wire over the top to stop the hawks (too big an area to cover) . If they die outside the coop it's because I let them out. They should never die inside...

When I get more money, I'll definatley switch it all to hardware cloth. The top of my run is covered in this plastic netting stuff that is used to protect gardens from birds. The netting looks really similar to hardware cloth but it's black and made of plastic. It's really flexible and easy to attach and stretch over the top of any shaped run (my run is a hexagon).

 

[longleg]

Sure, but I just used Google. I think I searched for "motion activated cameras." I wrote down:

Bushnell Trail Camera w/night vision - $79.00.

Stealth Digital Scouting Camera w/tree mount - $65.00.

A ranch friend of ours noticed mountain lion prints near one of his cattle's watering holes, so he put a camera up on nearby tree. He got film of the mountain lion, and to everyone's surprise, a black bear too. We're only about 1,200 foot elevation in this part of California, and it's been 30-40 years since anyone's seen a bear.

Hope this helps.

 

[16 paws]

Hey Marie,

Very cool. Yep, I wondered why 3:00 was the magic number. So, 3:00 is not magic; it's the changes you made.

Your info is really valuable to us that want to free range any of our livestock. Knowing there are predators out there, I think we should be responsible enough to make a sincere attempt to deter an attack. That's what you did. I love how you made the changes gradually - and fortunately, it worked.

I'm not necessarily all out for just killing the critter, when we've given it an open opportunity to kill. But if we've made an effort to deter it, and it's not working, then I won't hesitate to shoot.

However, we have friends up here that raise sheep and goats, and once in a while, a mountain lion will come in during the night and slaughter the herd; they don't eat the kills - they're teaching their young the art of the attack. You can't deter that - and that's a different story.

Nice going!


Teryn

Thanks Teryn,

Another thing to try is an electric fence. I believe they work after reading some other posts about them.
Marie