Protect Chickens against Predators
How to protect your chickens against predators
If you keep free range chickens, attacks on your chickens are unfortunately inevitable. At some time an attack if some kind will happen. That is something you will have to live with. Learn how to protect chickens against predators.
The most common predators are:
- Humans
- Dogs
- Foxes
- Weasels
- Hawks and other (larger) birds of prey
- Raccoons
- Badger
- Skunks
- Opossum
Where I live we mainly deal with foxes, weasels and humans.
Whodunit?
Humans usually don’t leave a trace. There will just be chickens missing. The complaining neighbour is the usual suspect.
Foxes leave a real mess. Feathers all over the place, birds missing and those that were killed have broken necks/neck bites.
Weasels tend to eat the heads of their victims, and pile up the bodies. They also leave many small bites all over the chickens bodies. They are rather clever.
Dogs usually just make a big mess and rip off limbs. They don’t eat the chickens.
Birds of prey: If the chicken run is protected against airial attacks they pose no threat.
It’s not a nice scenario, your chicken pen all messed up with feathers, blood and what’s left of the victims. This stresses the surviving chickens out as well and it will influence their egg laying rate. In the aftermath it is also very difficult to collect eggs, as the hens will be wary and over-protective of their nests.
Protective and Preventive Measures
Find out how to build a strong, protective chicken coop by clicking here
Against Humans: Put a lock on the coop or hen house. When regular thieving occurs, consider a surveillance camera.
Foxes: Make sure the coop is closed on all sides at night. Regularly check for weak spots, like loose boards. You can also put up traps, but first make sure of local legal issues (maybe trapping and shooting foxes is illegal). And before setting up the traps think of other creatures that might get hurt. If they are a pest, often trapping is the only option. Personally, I rather make sure that foxes aren’t tempted to pay a visit at all.
Weasels: These are nasty critters. They can climb and squeeze themselves trough the smallest of holes. I even suspect them of digging tunnels. Same preventive measures as with foxes, since weasels are nocturnally active. Make sure the ventilation holes of your chicken coop aren’t too large and to be safe, cover the ventilation holes with a piece of steel wire gauze .
Badgers: Smart predators. They have thumbs, just like us, so they are able to open doors. Put a lock on the coop. Do not leave plastic trash bags outside. These are highly attractive to all kinds of animals, not only to badgers.
The general rule of thumb is not to ‘invite’ the predators. Don’t leave dinner scraps outside, lock your poultry in at night and so forth. It’s all common sense really.
Now you see how easy it is to protect chickens against predators.
Categories: Housing Tags: free range chickens, predators, protection
Build a Chicken Run; Think First
How big must my chicken run be?
Before you start building a Chicken Run or Chicken Coop it’s necessary to reflect on a couple of things:
-How many chickens will I be keeping
-How much space do I have
-What’s my budget
If you want to keep healthy and happy chickens they will need about 4 square ft. of living space per hen. Overcrowded chicken runs lead to hen riots and cock fights. Not to mention hygienyc problems. Optimal living conditions would be around 10 square ft./ bird, but this would tend to luxury. Let’s keep ‘em happy, not spoiled. 4 to 5 square feet is enough.
When you want to keep chickens in your back yard, I think it is best when the coop and run ‘blend in’. Don’t let the chickens take up all your space. Surround the pen and run with some plants. It keeps their surroundings cool and it looks better. Also, the chicken coop must stay easily accessible for collecting eggs.
As to budget I guess it all speaks for itself. If you are very limited here’s a tip: Start with two or three chickens. This keeps the cost of feeding and building materials low. And sell part of your eggs to buy food for your chickens.
