We have a flock of laying hens, varying between 2 and 3 dozen of them.

Some years back, the foxes got thick, so I spend a fair amount of time, money and effort putting up a couple of hundred feed of 6' chain link fence so they'd have a safe place to browse.

The next summer, the eagles and hawks discovered the Downeast Chicken Buffet, so I spent a fair amount of time, money and effort putting aviary netting over it all. Worked great until Winter, the first heavy, wet snow destroyed the netting.

That Spring I spent a somewhat less amount of time, money and effort stringing up a grid of fluorescent green mason's cord and tying chrome finish mylar tape at the intersections. Still working, haven't lost a bird to a raptor in over a year.

Been noticing some odd footy-prints in the snow leading up to the door (which has a small hole gnawed in one corner) the last couple of weeks. Too big to be mice, assumed it was a squirrel or a rat, which I have seen in the coop before. Set up my game cam but didn't spot anything. Didn't bother with it last night as it was raining torrents and blowing a gale.

Went down this morning and found 4 dead chickens and two so tore up I put them out of their misery. Based on the size of the hole in the door, the size and shape of the footprints and the fact that all of the dead/damaged birds had all the feathers ripped off their necks, I'm assuming it was a weasel.

I armored the bottom of the doors (people and chicken) but I expect it's just a matter of time before something finds or makes another way in.

We’ve been buying fresh eggs from a farm not far from our house for about 3 years now, and have become pretty close to the woman who sells us eggs and fresh honey. She has always had losses from predators, but a week or two ago lost 23 hens in one night to what they think was a badger. All the hens were just killed, none eaten. They are kept in a barn at night, but it seems her adult son went out to the barn during the night and didn’t latch the door. Between the significant loss of layers and the molting the others are doing, we may be eating crappy store-bought eggs for awhile.

You're putting out a free buffet and you don't expect customers?

It won't work for the raptors, but for everything else, surround the chicken playground with two layers of spaced fence. Then get a large, territorial dog (or two) to live in the space between the fences. That should cut down on the land based predators.

half way in to the big city ,we saw a old 28 foot camp trailer in a side yard , where nothing had been before.

a week later it had a 24 x 24 foot chicken run , in front of it and a ramp to a 16 inch x 16 door , cut in to the side.

there were 5 chickens in the pen.

they got eagles, hawks, badgers, gophers, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, possum tree rats and weasels , not 50 feet from where the put the camper,

I wonder how long that will last

When we raised ducks, the biggest problems were Racoon and Fox.

quote:

.....and the fact that all of the dead/damaged birds had all the feathers ripped off their necks, I'm assuming it was a weasel.....

Yep. Weasels are opportunistic killers, meaning they'll kill just to kill, and severing the head is typical. They'll also fit through a hole not much larger than a mouse.

 
To ward off raptors, my wife has been putting out LED strips on the ground near where her rabbits live (sometimes out of their cages). It seems to work well, even in daytime.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
 
To ward off raptors, my wife has been putting out LED strips on the ground near where her rabbits live (sometimes out of their cages). It seems to work well, even in daytime.

Hmmmmmm. I wonder if that'd work on rodents? Have to look into that.

Three more this morning.

Either he found/chewed a new way in, or he was in the walls when I closed them up.

Pretty sure it was Option B as I found two of them with their heads and necks drug into the wall through ratholes.

I originally "paneled" the inside with OSB to keep the drafts down. In retrospect, that was a mistake.

Planned to move everything into a new coop in the Spring, there may not be anything left by then.

I'll put the game cam in the coop tonight. Caught some shots of a mouse and a coon outside last night. No way the coon got in tho.

Little bastard...

I moved the chickens into the other coop that I built in the corner of the toolshed when I was raising meat birds.

Much tighter, hopefully he won't find a way in there.

Well it took him a while, but he found the new coop and managed to nab another chicken.

Not sure if he got in or if the chicken got stupid and stuck it's head through the fence.

Ballsy little bastard, he was still sniffing around the coop after I went back up to the house and got the shotgun.

An ounce and an eighth of #6 and a 28" Modified from 20 feet cured his chicken habit. Just hope he doesn't have family in the area...

Glad you got the little bastard. Sorry he took out so much of your population.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Well it took him a while, but he found the new coop and managed to nab another chicken.

Not sure if he got in or if the chicken got stupid and stuck it's head through the fence.

Ballsy little bastard, he was still sniffing around the coop after I went back up to the house and got the shotgun.

An ounce and an eighth of #6 and a 28" Modified from 20 feet cured his chicken habit. Just hope he doesn't have family in the area...

I would've taken great satisfaction from that shot, if I had been through everything you've been through.....

Just curios...how long will it take to restore your egg laying inventory? How old do hens have to be before they start producing eggs?

Man...sorry to hear of your troubles.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I would've taken great satisfaction from that shot, if I had been through everything you've been through.....

Oh, I did, believe me!

Daughter has a friend who is an amateur taxidermist. She took it and will have him (or possibly her, she didn't say) stuff it.

Edit: Referring to the sex of the taxidermist, not the weasel. Didn't look, don't care...

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Just curios...how long will it take to restore your egg laying inventory? How old do hens have to be before they start producing eggs?

Man...sorry to hear of your troubles.

Thanks. We planned to cut back on the flock anyway, getting away from selling eggs and just getting enough for personal use.

It takes roughly 18 weeks from fuzzballs to layers, more or less depending on the breed.

We have friends who keep 6 hens and replace them every year to maximize production. We take their year-old hens for a couple of dollars a head to replace our losses. If we get the usual 6 birds this fall, we'll actually have more hens than we need.

We let our hens retire on our dime. Out of the 16 birds I have left, it wouldn't surprise me if 6 or more of them haven't laid an egg in months.

We had chickens growing up, then again years ago living in GA. I like them, relatively lower maintenance.

There are always critters trying to get a meal out of them. The 1st protocol, locked in tight at night.

Dogs can be an issue too, my own or the neighbors. Of course they can be trained to coexist, takes some effort.

No chickens now, still don’t care for possums, skunks, or coons around. I give the occasional fox a pass, but watch for any bold coyotes.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
Dogs can be an issue too, my own or the neighbors. Of course they can be trained to coexist, takes some effort.

Last dog we had around the place, Grumpy, was raised from a pup around lambs and chickens. Never showed any interest in them other than playing tag with the lambs.

She was hell on wheels with starlings and any sort of rodent tho. Starlings used to get in the coop and crap all over everything and bathe in the chicken's water. I'd let her in there, chickens and all and there'd be the damnedest thrashing and banging for a while.

When things quieted down, I'd let her out and she'd come prancing out with a mouthful of dead starlings. Never touched a chicken.