With a heavy heart I say ..." it might be time to give up on chickens"

[Redfeathers]

My male dogs have marked the territory so well now that nothing comes into the yard, there are several acres of christmas tree farms behind our property, when we first moved here I saw possum and racoons in our garden area. We did fence but I really think it's because of the dogs that we no longer see anything and I feel secure that the chickens are safe now.

I'm sure sorry about your loss. I would be frustrated too.

 

[love-my-wolves]

So sorry for your loss.

Hope all your hard work keeps those nasty buggers at bay

 

[lynxpilot]

I'm in a very rural area and we have every potential predator you can think of but my dog keeps most of them away. The only ones I've seen wander in are skunks and I suspect it's only because they are so unaware of anything that is beyond a few feet of them. My dog has been skunked several times. Black snakes steal the eggs once in a while, but I give them a flying lesson and wait for their kin to come later. I suggest a dog. Jack Russels are great for such things.

 

[1acrefarm]

Quote:
You do not have to run power. Solar fence chargers with a battery are not super expensive. They give you piece of mind during power outages too.

I am sorry for both of your losses.

 

[thewobsers]

flchook
been thinking about your situation... i remember when we had a groundhog problem we tried so many things, we finally called the county extension agency and they gave us a suggestion, well we tried it and we are ground hog free,
i wonder if they could be of help to your situation? maybe they would know what to do for your predators.
just a thought.

 

[FLchook]

The local animal control just gives you the number of some recommended pest control /trappers. =/

 

[Donza]

Dear FLchook
I also went thru the same problems with predators (in SFL). In the beginning it was neighbor dogs whose owners let them out to run off property. After they killed a bunch of my chickens I caught a few and took them to animal control and turned them in as chicken killers. Since their owners hadn't seen fit to put collars on them (and they were absolutely someone's house dogs) I don't know if they got them back or not - but I sure never saw them again.

There were a few foxes who hunted during the day but it was mostly raccoons. We've even had them come into the house thru our kitty door. The suggestion about putting a radio on a timer is a good one. Pick some station with a ranting talk show (maybe Rush Limbaugh LOL) or rock music and it really does seem to help keep them away. We keep one on a timer right beside our kitty door.

We have trapped and relocated over 40 raccoons to the everglades in the past 5-6 years which we aren't supposed to do but oh well - as much as I hate them I just can't shoot them for being a normal wild animal.

Try the radio.

:~D

 

[gumpsgirl]

Sheesh! Now I'm scared for my chickens. I live way out in a rural community with no developments going up around me. Hopefully I won't have the same problems.

Good luck to you. It sounds like a lot off people have good ideas for you anyways.

 

[fivebigreds]

I think a hunting dog would be good if you can afford to encircle your chicken pens with a larger dog fence.
Hunting dogs are bred for killing those animals.

 

[MissPrissy]

I am sorry you have lost so much of your flock.

If you plan to reinforce your chicken coop use hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. Chicken wire keeps chickens in not predators out. Cover that with the chicken wire buried about 6 inches deep in the ground to help prevent digging under.

Also I would invest in an electric fencing set up. Run 2 strands on the outside of your coop. The first strand about 6 inches off the ground and the second about 12.

Set traps around the perimeter and do not use the catch and release method. They need to be exterminated. Once a critter learns where a fresh chicken dinner can be found it will always come back for another meal.