What predetors do you have to deal with? And how do you protect your girls??

[Rogue-Feathers]

I am in the UK were I live my local predetors are mostly fox's! They are a real pest as they will take the whole flock if they get in and will leave an all mighty mess behind. You just know when ones been by! Rats are another problem but I have never seen any in the garden thats about it for me.

My Polands are on a conrete base I put wood shavings down to help protect the feet from sores and they have a 71/2 ft by 4ft aviary protecting them. My other girls run sits on conrete slabs which isn't so harsh on the feed and they have a 9ft rby 3ft run protecting them. I also like to free range my girls but I only do so under supervisian as fox's are very brave confident and opertunistic creatures.

 

[aoxa]

Raccoons and stray dogs are my top worry,

 

[Oregon Blues]

I fence out the dogs and coyotes, who are the biggest danger. The fence also keeps out skunks.

Birds go into covered runs at night to protect from owls.

Hawks and eagles have not bothered my birds so far (touch wood)

The local raccoon seems to be content to live on cat food stolen off of porches, but my night runs are raccoon-proof.

Crows have killed several of my birds, so I don't let the young stock out of the covered pens until they are big enough to stand off a murder of crows.

 

[peteyfoozer]

We have raccoons, coyotes, snakes, cougars, bobcats, dogs as well as owls, hawks and other raptors. My chickens free range because I have 2 Maremma Livestock Guardian Dogs that keep them as well as my sheep and other critters safe. I also raise 30 meat chickens outside every year with them and have never lost one to predators.

 

[aoxa]

We have raccoons, coyotes, snakes, cougars, bobcats, dogs as well as owls, hawks and other raptors. My chickens free range because I have 2 Maremma Livestock Guardian Dogs that keep them as well as my sheep and other critters safe. I also raise 30 meat chickens outside every year with them and have never lost one to predators.

If only they didn't take so long to mature!

My LGD is Maremma x Great Pyr and she is 8 months old. She does the trick with barking alone so far.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

i have nothing except for the occasional hawk, but my magpies take great care of that because they have a nest near by and any hawk/eagle or and other raptor in a 3km radius gets hammered

ahha

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

We have neighbor cats, possums, skunks . . . and i know there are raccoons out there but they haven't come near so far. There are hawks, but our backyard is so dense with trees that they have never tried to touch down.

 

[CasiNada]

LGDs (mine are Great Pyrenees) have protected my free range chicken flocks for 20 years now. They're the best line of defense against all the predators, but would probably not work out well in a city environment - all the barking all night might offend some neighbors!

 

[MsBagawkbagawk]

We have pretty much everything you can imagine here in Kansas, from rats to hawks to coyotes to mountain lions. I free range all 73 of my chickens, and have only lost one to a hawk. (Don't tell the dept. of game and wildlife but I shot him with a super soaker and haven't seen hawks since). As for pretty much everything else I rely on my pit bull/lab, who is the best guard dog I have ever had. (He chased a coyote for a mile because it was standing on the very edge of our property watching squirrels once. He destroyed a skunk because it attacked some mutt chicks. He refuses to come inside at night and guards our property through the night. And he is a sweetie too. .)

IMO there is no better defense against predators than a really good dog.

 

[ClaytonCoop]

We have all kinds of critters here to worry about. We lost one hen the second night the girls were in the coop. We didn't realize the chicken door didn't stay closed. I have a large dog crate in front of the door so they can go outside for fresh air and sun and not worry about something getting them. I do let hem out to free range when they can be supervised.
Two raccoons have been trapped and released on state game land. I know we have a gray fox just inside the woodline because I have seen and heard it. The owls haven't been a problem because the girls are locked in a large coop at night.