Who Are The Vermin In Your Neighborhood? GRRRRR.

[Bi0sC0mp]

motion lights will help some a big bad dog will help also a gun with a night scope..you got alot of pesky things around there we know whats for dinner coon stew

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
I used to think that, too, until our last fence "fried" a number of birds who happened to light on it, as well as zapping some squirrels who came to drink from the horse-trough. Didn't kill the squirrels, but had them doing some darned impressive acrobatics!

The REALLY GOOD NEWS is that last night we caught what had to be the marauding raccoon in a HavaHart trap! Hopefully that rascal hadn't had time to tell all his friends & family about the chickens who live here, but we've re-set the trap just in case.

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
We had never seen any of them, aside from the random raccoon or 'possum every now and then, until Hubs set up that camera!

And yeah, maybe if the dogs roamed the property, they'd be a deterrent, but they're housedogs. I used to think that just having the scent of dog (predator) urine all over the place would discourage them, but apparently not!

 

[SpottedCrow]

Chicken wire is good for keeping chickens in, but nothing else out...
Even it you could put hardware cloth about the wood part of the fence that might help a little.

My first loss was to a raccoon...not a nice thing to see in the morning..One of your first two chickens ripped apart and headless and her buddy whimpering by the back stairs.

 

[bluie]

Wow! Those were some cool pictures, even though they represent formidable predators. Amazing that they were all taken within just a few days. Better make that run STRONG! We have possums, raccoons, feral cats, hawks, and an occasional loose dog, but its the 'coons that got my two hens a few years ago. We only had them six days. I have ordered chicks, and have just begun the physical process of building the coop (thinking about it took a LONG time). I am going to make it like Fort Knox as much as possible. Critterhill has rocks, I have tree roots, so in some places I will have to lay hardware cloth on top of the ground, cover with heavy rocks, and hope for the best.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Wow, you've got quite the bad neighborhood over there.

We have coons and just hate them and their blood thirsty clever ways. Here is the one that has the nerve to come out in the middle of the day:

 

[ninjapoodles]

ACK! Even though we got the one (we're pretty sure, because we trapped it at the exact point of entry from the night before) who killed the pullets night before last, we're going to set up the game-cam on a tree next to the chicken-yard and see if anything shows up. It's got a motion-sensor, so if ANYTHING moves in front of it, we'll have evidence!

Those game-cams are an awesome thing to have. Just plug the card into your computer, and see what's what.

 

[fun monitor]

HI BELINDA! Fancy seeing you here!

Vermin - SKUNKS. My doggie just got sprayed by one that was investigating the coop. Gah, this is bad! It's happened here before, but not to my dog. I would like to rid the area of skunks in any way possible.

I'm totally sick to my stomach from the smell. We're doing the baking soda/peroxide/Dawn soap recipe as soon as DH gets back with the stuff.

 

[ninjapoodles]

Ha! We're everywhere!

I'm telling you, that motion-sensor game-cam is the greatest thing ever. It really helped us identify the predators and pinpoint their active times. We still haven't had any sign of raccoon activity since trapping that last one!

Thank GOODNESS we haven't seen any skunks.

 

[chickens4jojo]

Those sure are some determined predators in those pictures.

I keep reading that putting a goose in with your chickens could help with predators? I have no goose myself though~~so I really don't know how that would work. Would love to hear if they do work from others though. And what kind of goose is used?