I lost 7 chickens in the last week from predators. Twice, 2 were taken the same day. T3hey were first year chickens. Yesterday, 3 of my older ones went missing. Not a single sign of them. One was my Brahma, so she was a big chicken. Strange no feathers anywhere. I free range them during the day, well I use to. I never had an issue in the spring or summer with predators. Late fall and winter I have, mostly hawks. At a picnic yesterday, a guy said he lost his entire flock wednesday. He never had an issue with predators. He said it seemed the high temps we were having made the predators go off. As he had other friends have the same issue last week. Has anyone heard of this?
We had a number of layers killed awhile back and are now down to 2! Trapping and shooting coons helped as did shooting a coyote while standing on the back deck, he had one in his jaws but he took a dirt nap.
Coyotes or foxes near you? I've heard of hawks and such but wierd yours just disappeared w/ no evidence. Do they free range onto neighbors property? I swear, if my neighbors birds (turkeys and chickens) wonder into my flowerbeds again, Roscoe will be allowed to make the kill, then I'll dispose.
They do free range, but go in neighbors back yard and its half a mess. He wouldnt know if they were there or not. We do have yotes and foxes around. Though Ive never had them around the house in summer months, at least during mid day! I should have kept them locked up after the first attack. Crazy thing is there's a house up the road and they dont even have a run, just a coop and the guy said he never had predator issues.
Coons been getting our outdoor kittens...this guy showed up in the coon trap one morning...guess he likes apples too
Have a friend who's shot 3 fox over the last 5 years. It tears him up to do it but him & wife run a large flock and lose a bird a day when one gets addicted to easy meals. I've never ran any but understand the odd situation it can put you in if you like animals. We basically leave a buffet in our yards and expect the predators to be honorable in not killing them, adhering to our standards. The predators have no idea of what animal husbandry is. They just know that the place over past the creek has lots of prey and their babies are hungry.
Gosh I'm sorry. An owl took our cat in the early 90's. No sign until husband took our bird dog down the canyon to find his arms and spine. I imagine it'd be the same with a chicken for a chicken. Any bird of prey I suppose.
Predators can learn boundaries and live by your limits, but it doesn’t happen every day. We had a fox living out back and it would show up on camera going right past our rabbits. It didn’t do anything, just passing through. We have free range chickens and they do ok too. There is a coyote that walks past the house most mornings to get his morning drink or whatever. He minds his and we mind ours. The rodents and woodchucks are the biggest problem right now. I have shot 59 rats so far this year, and several woodchucks. Shot a couple tomcats too. One thing that I think helps keep critters out of the chicken coop is the long hoop tunnel over the bird door. It is 16’ long and only one way in and out. Predators must feel like they are walking into a trap because they seem to avoid it like the plague. It’s a great ambush spot and they know it.
I don’t find it to be an odd situation. We (some of us) raise animals. It is our job to build shelter that keep them safe from predators. Predators are just doing what comes naturally. Don’t shoot the fox, build a more secure pen/coop.
There is definitely a time to shoot predators. They can and do keep balance in nature, but can easily get out of hand quickly. Fox and coyotes eat a LOT of game animals. There was a recent study where they put cameras in front of dens and kept track of what was brought in. A coyote den pulled in an average of almost one fawn per day.
I raise over 100 meat birds once a year and won’t free range them because I want them to live until I say so.
