Having owned
chickens for close to 20 years, I have lost many of my birds to various
Predators. Living in Eastern Connecticut, we have a variety of animals that
love chicken.
To date, I have
lost more birds to fox than any other predator. But I have also lost chickens
to dogs (my dogs), hawks, raccoons, opossums, skunks and rats.
Normally a
fox will simply take a bird and run off. You might see some feathers if the
bird put up a fight. If the bird was still roosting they are very easy targets
as you may well know. Early in my chicken-owning experience, I had a fox take
one of my roosters that was roosting on a lower fence rail on our horse pen. It
was early in the morning and I heard a raucous outside. When I ran out with my
gun, I could see the fox running in the back of my property with a chicken in
her mouth. I assumed I was now safe for the rest of the day, since she had
gotten her meal already. Wrong. This was pup season and it was apparent that
this fox grabbed this rooster to feed her pups since she returned a couple
hours later to get one for herself. I
found that fox will hunt early in the morning and even towards Noon. They will
also come out at dusk.
We ended up
getting a Great Pyrenees guardian dog for the farm. Dixie was brought up with
goats and she was allowed to roam free on our farm. She would also patrol our
neighbor’s farms. Thankfully she was very friendly with people and all my
neighbors loved her disposition and the fact that she kept their animals safe
too.
Dixie would
patrol all night and then go to sleep on our porch during the day. We had a fox
that figured out Dixie’s sleeping schedule and exploited it. Dixie would be
sound asleep around 10am, so that is when this fox would grab a chicken. We
lost about 4 birds before the fox tangled with the wrong hen. Blue Bonnie was a
blue Orpington that we had for a few years. Her previous owner did not like how
broody and bossy she was so we ended up taking her in. My wife came home one
afternoon to see a bunch of blue feathers in front of the barn and Bonnie was
nowhere to be found. The fox had gotten another one! Based on the pile of
feathers, Bonnie must of put up quite a fight. I was surprised that Dixie had
not been alerted. To our surprise, Bonnie showed up later that night with a few
less feathers. She appeared to have survived the fox attack. After several days
of no losses, we figured out that because Bonnie put up such a fight with the
fox, it must have woke Dixie up and Dixie apparently was able to chase the fox
off, if not injure it.
Not sure if
it is typical of the Great Pyrenees, but it seemed that Dixie would bite the
predator in such a way that it would strike either a mortal blow or do enough
damage where the predator would scurry off into the woods and eventually die. One
night Dixie had an obvious tangle with a skunk. The smell woke me out of a
sound sleep. A couple months later, I found a dead skunk under my barn that
appeared to have been dead for a while.
Skunks will
take a chicken, but normally they are after the eggs. Skunks seem to be more
opportunistic than anything else. Where a fox will systematically test your
fencing to find a weakness or dig under a fence. A skunk will look for the path
of least resistance.
I’ve heard
of people losing birds within their pens and cannot find any obvious breach.
One thing that people forget is to put a good cover over the top of your pen.
Keep in mind that Raccoons are very good climbers and are very adept with their
human-like hands. Some chicken owners will put the plastic netting over the top
of a pen to ward off hawks without thinking that if a raccoon or opossum can
climb your pen, they can most likely chew through the plastic and easily get
into your pen.
The way I
predator-proof my pens…
I will put
1” poultry wire over the top of my pens. Poultry wire comes with a thin wire
that is wrapped around the roll. Use this thin wire to wire the seams together
so there is no gaps that a raccoon or opossum can get into. I also like to put
a stronger wire on the bottom of the pen about 4 feet high. You can use a
hardware cloth or 1” poultry wire with a stiff garden fence over it. Something
that a fox or raccoon cannot squeeze through.
Make sure
you use a generous amount of fasteners when attaching the poultry wire to the
wood frame. I like to use at least a 1” staple every 4 inches. Especially where
the wire attaches to the bottom board that sits on the ground and at least a
good five feet up each corner.
Around the
perimeter, I like to place semi-heavy rocks, flat rocks work good. This deters
anything from digging under the pen. Some people will bury a portion of the
fence. This can work but after a while it will rust and break down.
Being
breeders, we have multiple coops and pens. Each day, I will inspect my pens for
any signs that a predator was trying to get in. I have found sections of the
poultry wire that had little points on them as if something bit it and pulled
on it. When I find this, I will double check the fasteners and maybe add a
couple more.
Adding doors
to your coops is also a good way to deter predators. I have seen some
interesting automatic doors. My only concern with the automatic ones is once in
a while, a late bird could get locked out and get stuck outside the entire
night which makes them vulnerable. I also believe that you should be hands on
with your birds to ensure their safety. So, if you have manual doors, you can
do a head check each night before you shut the doors.
The
placement of your coops can also be a deterrent to predators. I do not
recommend putting them near a woods line. If you do not have a choice but to
have your coop and pens near the woods, I would put up at least a 5 foot wire
fence in the woods or a few feet away from your coops that will make it
difficult for something to get into your yard. A motion light is not a bad
idea either.
If you free
range, you do take the chance of losing birds, but I actually prefer to free
range my birds. They seem happier and I like seeing them peck around the yard.
It is a good idea to have places that they can get underneath in case there is
a hawk around. If you lose one to a fox or raccoon, I would lock them up for
about a week. A fox or raccoon will return if they know there is a guaranteed
meal. If they come up empty handed, after a few days they normally will move
on.
You could
also attempt to trap them, but I only recommend this if you have experience
with relocating wild animals or have someone with experience doing it.
I hope my
experiences and suggestions help keep your chickens safe.
-Sean
