What kinds of chicken predators do you see in your urban/city area?

[aprophet]

We are covered in preds here I am 5 minutes south of downtown norfolk I just got rid of a grey fox across the street from one of our malls for a lady who's dog was being harassed. I trap not 1-2 minutes away from the house I live 2-3 minutes from 7-11 and 5 minutes from food lion (grocery store) we have black bear , bobcat ,coyotes, red fox, gray fox, coon, possum , rats weasels,cottonmouths cane brake rattlers , and 6 foot long black snakes both snapping turtles and sea turtles painters and sliders . I live under really tall pines it messes the hawks up it is hard for them to get into my yard but we have a couple of really big owls

and I live near water you would not believe what an otter/mink will kill and eat we have both river otter and mink.

 

[chickenriot]

I've read that skunks like the taste of chicken, too. We have snakes, hawks, owls, and raccoons.

My husband and I are in the middle of building our coop and run and we're not only going to put 1/2 x 1/2 inch hardware cloth all around (including the top) but we're hot wiring too !

Another reason we're hot wiring is to keep our longhorns from scratching their heads on the corner posts. They might do it once but they won't come back for a second try.

One rule to follow when you want to keep your flock safe is to overbuild everything !

I think I may have to sleep in the coop the first few nights when we finally move ours out there.

 

[chickenriot]

OOPS!

Sorry for posting on the thread . I saw the words chicken predators and got carried away.

 

[CityGalChicks]

That is okay chickenriot! : )

You guys, just so you know I live IN the city, THEN, our backyard has 7 foot cinderblock fencing on 3 sides, the back and sides, and then the front has wrought iron fencing on the front. Our coop is in the back corner of the yard next to 45º of the cinderblock fencing. We have one tree, a 100 foot tall palm tree. Lastly, our coop, The Garden Coop, is completely covered (top and sides) with hardware cloth that is buried a foot deep on one side. The other sides are not trenched because you can't dig over there because of the concrete footings from the cinderblock fencing don't allow you to dig. One side, that we didn't trench does not have the concrete footings though. On that side and the sides with the footings, we have 2 feet of hardware cloth that is lain on the top of the dirt. We are going to use landscape anchors to secure it to the ground and then we are going to put flagstone or concrete stepping stones with ground cover in-between 1-2 inch cracks, from the edge of the coop to the cinder block walls and 2 feet out from the wall with no cinder block and on top of the dirt on the side with the buried hardware cloth. What do you all think about my security? Do I need more?

Thanks

City Gal Chick

 

[Southernbelle]

We've got everything around here:
bear
fox
coyote
dogs
cats
mt lions
hawks
weasel
coons

The only predators I've actually dealt with (confirmed w/ game camera)
foxes
dogs
cats
maybe a coon

Pests I've dealt with
mice
rats
cockroaches
cave crickets
lice/mites

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
Since it seems like everything on Earth eats chickens, it's only a matter of time till the local predators of the inner city find your chicken coop/run. There most certainly are urban coyotes and coons along with cats, rats, & bats. (dogs didn't rhyme with cats & rats.) Then of course there are the two-legged kind.

 

[CityChicker]

I guess I'm not sure what you are asking at this point. Just if your security is adequate? If you do or have done everything you described in your last post, yes- you should be about as good as you can be without running hot wire (which I do not have around most of my coops either). I think it sounds like you will be as good or better than most. As far as the types of predators though, I still agree with everything others have already said. It is entirely probable that you will have some of the predators already mentioned, even in LA. It stuns me the predators we have seen here in the middle of the city. As someone else also said, we have had far more problems with predators here than at our house in the mountains that is on 6 partially wooded acres. It was quite a surprise to me. That said, it sounds like you are on the right track. Good luck to you!

 

[chicken112]

cats dogs

 

[TwilightMom]

I live in a suburb surrounded by houses and we have racoons mainly and skunks and opposums too. I suppose there are hawks and owls flying about but we have bushes and trees for the chickens to hide.

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
Often urban areas are worse... largely because animals see humans so much that they are not afraid.

Coons, dogs, possums, even crows can be a big problem in seattle.