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

[hoosier]

Some friends were using our field to raise some meat birds and a dog or coyote tore the hardware cloth apart. (They had used chicken wire, but I reinforced to protect them.)
I will be using that same field once the barn is up and am very concerned.

Neighbors have had a lot of trouble with coyote killing calves. One neighbor lost a lot of sheep even though they had a German Sheperd and a Great Pyrenees. They got a llama and have had no more trouble.

I lost two hens to a 'possum but I must say that I worked out my frustrations on it when we caught it in the coop a couple of days later.

How high does a fence have to be to keep coyote out? Can anyone give me any other suggestions to protect my flock?

Sorry for your losses. I know how heartbreaking it is.

 

[zippychickens]

animal control is different from county extension. We have used the county extension before. they are more ag. related and are helpful.
Hey, maybe you can talk afew of the men to sit out one night and shoot the boogies when they wonder in.

 

[Tutter]

I'm so sorry for your losses.

We, too, live out in the pale, and have many predators about. Bears, lions, bobcats, foxes, martens, raccoons, opossums, snakes, etc.

We did have a few losses when we began. There was no internet to speak of then, and we were learning as we went.

The first thing we learned, was to not use chicken wire, so covered ours with hardware cloth.

Luckily, our dogs take their anti-pest jobs seriously, and most animals keep their distance from the general area close to the house and coop. So a dog who won't put up with a predator lurking is a thought. Can you have another dog? A dog from the shelter would be ready to work, as you can start with an adult, or young adult, but you'd have to check and make sure that they aren't interested in chickens. Still, if you could, it could be your answer, and a fine dog would get a new home....

We've trapped raccoons and such before, and if you do want to release them, you need to take them pretty far, and across a barrier, like a hwy.

The best bait I've found for them, though catfood was a good suggestion, is chicken. Not yours, a storebought chicken. Let part of it, like a leg, sit out for the day, then put it in the trap at night. Also fish. Once, when we'd been fishing in our creek, I took some of the fish parts from our fish dinner (Not cooked, raw.) and used it in a trap.

Gnawing through the wood is pretty radical. Could you put hardware cloth on the wood? (Inside, or out. One looks better, the other is easier.)

You've taken heavy losses, and I don't blame you for being discouraged. I hope that you can foil the pests, so that you might cont. to enjoy having chickens, but if you can't, then you are doing what you have to.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Me again! I've been doing some reading on chickens & predators, now that mine are outside. In an article that I read in Backwoods Home magazine (Jan/Feb issue) it had some really good information on chickens and predators. I am thinking your problem might be a weasel. The reason I am saying this is, that I have now learned that a weasel can fit into a hole as big as your thumb and that sounds about right for the crate that you have your chicks in now. It had to have been something that could fit in there I would think. It just didn't have time to finish the job or maybe just got full. I could be wrong but it might be worth checking into how to trap/exterminate weasels or make things so tight that they can't get to the chicks or chickens. Just a thought! Good luck.

 

[Royicus]

Sorry for your troubles. Don't get too discouraged, but just take a break for a bit. Silkiechicken and I had a tough time with predators a couple of years ago. We got extremely aggressive with trapping, and also tightened up the coop. Luckily, we haven't had any losses in a year or so.

Hang in there. Things will get better.

 

[zippychickens]

since we're on the topic of predators... I 'm having a really hard time with my dog. She seems obsessed with the hens and really wants to eat them. Does anyone have any ideas on what to do to train a dog to not eat the chickens?!

 

[Harley's girl]

Quote:
AMEN!!!!

That is exactly how I take care of mine, I do recommend getting permission from your local game warden. I thought that would be the best route and he agreed with me.

If they (predators) are destroying your live stock they usually tell you to do as you see fit to do with them

Best of luck to you!!

 

[BettyR]

Quote:
You may not want to do this (I couldn’t because my dogs are house dogs) but I read an article not to long ago about a man who was having problems with his favorite dog killing chickens.

He didn’t want to get rid of the dog so he took the dead chicken and tied it around the dog’s neck so the dog couldn’t get it off and left it there until the chicken had almost rotted off the dog’s neck.

He said it has been two years and that dog won’t go near a chicken. In fact the dog runs when a chicken gets near him.

 

[nccountrygirl]

My grandaddy did this with his hounds that would take a liking to a chicken snack. I never saw them go after a chicken after that.

 

[zippychickens]

You know my Grandma said that's what they did back in the day. That might be my best bet. Thanks for the input.