What killed my chickens?? Fox, Raccoon, Hawk...?

alibabba

Songster
Mar 14, 2015
664
138
171
Southeast PA
My Coop
My Coop
just offering experience. I have been in your shoes. New to chicken keeping, losing precious new named birds, what?

Hawks, Foxes, Dogs, possibly coons who knows (not Opossums, though I believe they would take an opportunity, they are a Lazy predator and have many on my property and next to chicken run, multiple eating pears from trees and rotten leftovers put out for them)

Anyway. I am not one to want to dig my yard to put wire under, or keep my chickens enclosed, the best health that we get from eggs is from free ranging.

Hate to beat my dead horse, electric wire works so well and is really so inexpensive. It fits onto anything you can imagine.

I have a huge pen, smallest charger on an extension cord, one ground rod. Easy, cheap, safe.

I have hit the electric, kids think its a joke and fun(sorta).


Moral of story, not a single loss with electric, predators learn very quickly, in one encounter with the fence that this place bites. and will not be back. I want these foxes, raccoons alive as long as possible, because they are electric trained".

Hawks are something different. I don't have "many" but I have seen them try to get at my chickens!!

I have a range area that has cover, trees, shrubs, overgrowth. i am not in the woods or state land, so pressure is not so much. I have witnessed about 6 hawk attacks. So it probably happens almost daily. I have not had a hawk loss (knock wood)

My friend had to cover his whole run with nylon twine. (hes in a huge hawk area where the hawks could sit and watch an unobstructed pen)

Here's what I witness hawk attack: Alarm (Roos) Alarm (Roos and hens) Sometimes Freeze... Sometimes Boogie for Cover (action or inaction could depend on the call that I don't understand?)

If you have a pen, simple as fishing line cross the top, the hawks, eagles can see it and don't bother. string, yarn, twine etc...
No pen is still a risk, but I leave lovely big junk around, round empty pens of wire filling yard gaps etc. Hawks don't risk damaging wings and are no where near as good on the ground as a chicken, lol google "ROCKY TRAINING"

-A
 
Last edited:

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom