Predators!!!!!!! aaaaaaghhhhhhhhhh!!

Same here in NE Indiana. Lost 5 layers to a fox. Coons, skunks and possums are abundant too. We live on a river and the number of waterfowl seems to have increased this year also.
Karen in NE Indiana

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Miracles are like snowflakes
They happen with little fanfare and they're everywhere.

A great horned got into our coop when the wind blew the door open.

How about flour on the floor so that you can see tracks?

We set two kinds of traps at the door after the dogs were in for the night. I forgot about them one morning in my half-awake fog and let the dogs out. I quickly realized what I'd done and called them back before they got to the skunk in a live trap.

I've learned that I catch both skunks and coons faster if I put a 4' square board on top of the live trap.

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Robin

Lost the last two chickens night before last to a cat...a house cat at that. Went out to feed to find the cat gorging itself on a chicken. Feral cats will usually beat feet once the coop door is open or at least turn the meeting into a close encounter of the fourth kind. This one sat there and just looked at me then went back to eating. Critter was starving based upon the way it was chowing down. The chickens were already dead and I was late for work so I left the coop door open thinking it would finish & leave. To my surprise, the cat was still in the coop, sound asleep at that, when I got home. It was far too docile and comfortable around me to be feral. No collar so figure it might be 'throw away' by someone who didn't want it or could take care of it anymore. Seen far more cats in the fields and around the barn these days than I can ever recall. Anyway, call me an oldie softie, but I left it go.

Sadly, went from the coop to the barn to feed the rabbits only to find one dead with half a leg gone & another with both ears chewed off. Found coon prints around the backside of the barn. The pen is fully enclosed so haven't figured out how it got to the rabbits yet. Figures, not a sign of a coon this year during the trapping season. Of course, the season ended just over a week ago.

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CJ

In 2009 I got 17 coons, six possums, and a skunk, either on my porch eating the cat food or in the chicken pen. So far this year I got two possums, a coon, and a skunk, all in the chicken pen. I got the second possum last night in a live trap. I used to relocate but when I caught a couple coon the second time I now relocate with a .22 first.

"O"

For the coons, possums, skunks and fox you can cage trap them around domestic animals. Coon and possum populations are up in alot of areas due to the low fur prices. Coon prices are on the upswing so next year they will be thinner by winter. We had to run an extensive ADC/chicken protection line besides our regular fur line as the poultry eatin critters at our "retreat" were becoming a big problem. We believe in a very proactive solution so if you trap them in November till January they dont make alot of nuisance babies for spring and summer. I seen someone posted about leaving the coyotes alone. I would advise at least a little population thinning if you keep any livestock, poultry or domestic animals/pets outside. Weve had coyotes tear their way into the coop before(and in broad daylight at times) and they will kill poultry for the fun of it. Grey fox are hard on ours if we dont keep an eye on them. Our local greys population is down due to yote influx though and we only killed one grey this year at the retreat and released four on the fur line. This would have been a good post for the Great Outdoors forum here and we covered in several threads traps, sets, bait/lure and lethal/non-lethal way of dealing with varmints. A read thru that forum or moving this one might be a help to you? As far as birds of prey exclusion is your best option because woe to you if one is harmed in any way and someone discovers it. Here it can be a 5 digit fine and 1 year in jail! Old timers like my gramps killed owls, hawks etc like we do crows etc. One of grandpas favorite soups was made with owl and yes I still have the recipe just in case the laws change(I doubt that happens) or TEOTWAWKI etc.

When we moved onto the property, I wanted to try my hand at keeping honey bees. So, I bought the hives and took some excellent advice, "Get a charger with enough juice to deter a bear. You WILL need one!" I put an electric fence around my hives and had ZERO problems. Then, we moved the hives into our fenced orchard and no longer needed the electric fence. The chicken yard is fenced with an electric mesh fence. So far, in 1.5 years, not a single raccoon, coyote, or neighborhood dog has gotten a chicken. Now, thanks to more good local advice (our chicken yard is out in the open with chicken house inside it), the bald eagles, hawks, and other birds of prey haven't gotten a single chicken, either. We have two excellent roosters, too. Our dog, Sam, is another deterrent- he protects the chickens, rabbits, and even our cockatiel! I have noticed more coyotes than usual this year- we hear them.

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Christie Acres
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this post is all the more reason why i haven't gotten to raising fowl yet..and probably won't..wah...i really would love to