How can you tell that your coop is under siege?

[joebryant]

Has anyone personally been in the house or nearby when a fox or raccoon or other dangerous predator was in the coop with the hens?
Do the hens make a lot of noise, or do they just stay on the roost waiting to be picked off one at a time?
Does anyone have a noise alarm or is there even such a thing?

 

[orcasislandchickens]

I haven't had them long, but the hens I lost went quietly. I imagine it depends on the breed and the bird. But my henhouse is nearby and never once did I hear a sound as the orpingtons went. Sadly they were quiet and ladylike right to the end.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

I think it depends what time of day it is and if there is any light. I believe at night, a predator can take them right off of the roost, if they can reach them. And there is very little sound. I remember as a kid, a ferral cat got in my chicken house and there was a LOT of noise. The rooster was going crazy.

 

[silkiechicken]

Depends on the flock and time of day/light...

I've had a few picked off the roost one by one in silence by a coon with just trails of feathers to be found by day...

Then I've had a few where the birds did so much crashing, screaming, and yelling, someone made it out soon enough to see a bird being ripped out from under the coop, but not soon enough to stop the fact that one of it's legs was no longer attached and on the sidewalk...

Early warning signs are wire being pushed in on edges, foot prints, and scat.

 

[the1much]

at night,, a cat or whatever, can get to their roosts,, and eat them 1 by 1,, they will all stay quiet,, and wait their turn

 

[the1much]

wanted to add this is the BEST way to know if something is in there,, http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93068

 

[The Chicken Lady]

If you look out the window, and see foxes and weasels building catapults and towers to attack the run...

In seriousness, though, chickens will make sounds of alarm. I know one or two BYCers keep a baby monitor out in the coop so that they can hear any noises. I'm not sure I would do that myself, though -- can you imagine hearing your rooster through a baby monitor every day? Ha ha ha.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I've been lucky to get out to the coop just as they are picking off the first one or two. In my experience they don't make a sound or move or anything until a claw is on their back and a few sharp teeth are around their necks.

Right after the coons are chased away I check on the hens and they look as though nothing has happened... even with one of their dismembered sisters right below them.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

Do baby monitors work that far away? Are they wireless? My husband would flip out if he heard it. I'd have to use a headset.

 

[chickenpiedpiper]

Quote:
We have a baby monitor in our coop. Best 20 bucks I ever spent! it is wireless, plugs in out in the coop, and I have the reciever in my room. I keep it turned down low, loud enough that I can hear my rooster crow softly. (and yes he does crow once or twice during the night, but I dont hear it any more now than I do during the day! ) I can hear them chuckling to them selves as they settle in at night, and the one time we had an alert, it woke me out of a sound sleep, and I went charging out to find someone had simply fallen off the perch and was startled. but it proved to me that I would hear an upsetting situation before it became deadly....

It took a day or two to get used to, and to find a volume that worked for me, but I love the thing now, and am nervous when the powers out!

Hope this helps, I sure love mine!!