predators are destroying my flock!

I have free range chickens. At night they roost in the barn in the rafters. Our property is fenced but a fox is coming in somehow and has killed 7 of my buffs in the last 2 months. I have actually seen this murderer at around 9 to 10 in the morning, running through our meadow. I have also found eggs missing, way up in the nesting boxes off the ground, sometimes 10 at a time! No shells, no evidence, Just missing eggs. What kind of critter walks off with whole eggs???? This is driving me crazy, help would be appreciated. Has anyone had any luck with guardian dogs or donkeys?

This message was edited Oct 25, 2010 10:30 PM

Snakes will take eggs without a trace. It may not work on snakes but to deter the predators that are killing your hens Great Pyreneese (sp?) dogs may help. Our neighbor used them successfully to protect his free range game birds.

We have a English mastiff bloodhound mix who barks at the coyotes and they run away, still a pup at 6 months old, but I credit him with keeping the coyotes at bay...

RATS. They are very sneaky. We thought we had a laying problem then realized the grove rats around here were coming in for late night snacks.

Spread some of that rat bait where the hens can't get to it. That should help with that.

As for the fox, I'd reccomend a have-a-hart trap, we have a racoon problem here and that works great for the problem coons.

Are your girls being killed in the rafters? If so, you may have the wrong suspect. Foxes aren't nearly the climbers Coons are. It may be the same black-eyed bandits that have killed a few of my girls over the years.

The other possible suspect is a possum. they could kill a hen, but are more likely to be involved in your disappearing egg quandry.

No predator problem here.

Hey Kenboy, what's the name of the tune your waltzing to...Hay

Hey there Ken!! So you have a great Pyranees! GREAT Dog! I am seriously considering getting one. Hopefully my neighbor will have more pups soon!
I thought having a Great Dane would help....Wrong! The Booger just thought it was great fun to pop my Chicks on their tiny heads.... when they didnt run any more he was off to find another that would! All play to him , he had no idea what a guard dog should and Should not do! I had to find him a home with a new family with children so he could play all day and run! No Chickens!!
Did you have to train or do anything special with your dog to let him know what his duties are , or did he just seem to know what was needed?

Bluebunn, it might be an owl... or bird of prey..

Yes, rats and possum will take eggs.. I've had that problem with my Serama eggs.. they are so small almost anything can pop them in their mouth!

Bluebunn I am so sorry you are having problems, and hope things get much better soon.

Hay, in Texas we do the 2-step waltz. Eufaula, the Pyrenees just seem to know what to do. Then again I have never had less than two, once I got my first one. They work better in pairs or groups. Coyotes are smart and will send in a dcoy and when then dogs chase it, another on comes in from the back side. Pyrenees know this and always have one or two to hold back and run around the place to guard their territory. Most of the time I keep the big guy and three females. He was just a little over a year in the picture and is now about 190lb. One thing Is, as pups almost all of the ones I keep have killed and eaten a chicken. All I do is chain them to a tree and place the chicken just out of reach and go by several times a day and shake the chicken in their face and say bad dog. This has always stopped the killing and only once have I had to do it a second time. They love to please master and just scolding them can make them shy from you for days. I have leash trained a few but just do not see the need where I am, they run free here in the country and the neighbors like the fact that they run the coyotes from their cattle pastures.

Here is Sis's first litter this Summer with Ginger, a new pup we got;

Ken sounds like you and your Pyrenees have everything under control there in Texas. So good to see you post and what an awesome picture.

You make me want one of those puppies, but when you said 190 lbs I kept imagining your dog food bill.

You are right on about the coyotes. They are tricky that way, to lure one dog out and then all jump him and kill him. It happened several times to my great aunt's dogs. My grandmother used to talk about how they would surround a new born calf and kill it.

I just found the possum I thought was dead a month ago! Now it is HUGE and it is probably what ate my serama hen and killed her babiez..

So what is the future for Mr. Possum that eats seramas and babies?

Get a trap and trap it. Then dispatch it.

We have a chicken house inside a chain link dog kennel (I leave the gate open in the day, close it at night.) The chicken house is built almost three feet off the ground on 4 x 4 stilts so the rats and snakes can't get in (even when they do get inside the kennel.) But we also have a dog (a mutt that looks half schnauzer and half bird dog) that is an excellent guard dog. She doesn't bother the guineas (free range) or the chickens who frequently get out of their yard by flying over the fence. (We are in the process of putting up taller fences around their yard and runs.)
We have found a good guard dog is the best way to keep predators away. (Except for hawks... and around here we have a hawk problem.)
I do not recommend white German shepherds as guard dogs. We had one before the dog we have now and the G. shepherd never learned she was supposed to guard the chickens and not kill them.

I am sure that both rats and snakes can climb right up a 4by4 if they want to.

You're right of course. However, there are ways to make it quite difficult for them.

Here is Babebera, Daughter of Beron who belongs to Kenboy above. She keeps the predators away too. Not sure how much she weighs at soon to be 3 years old next month..LOL...and no waltzing to any tune with her since I am only 5 foot and 3 inches tall...lol..

Kenboy,
Have you got a fix for a dog that eats eggs? I thought about filling an egg or two with cayanne pepper. Its Billy's dog Roper and I layed some bad eggs outside the coop and by the time I could get back to move them he had ate them. I sure would hate to get rid of him, but let him go after my chickens just once and I am sorry, he will be gone.

A bullet to the head is the fate of that possum if I can find it again.

I don't know about the dog MsJ.. I'd think one sniff of that pepper filled egg and he would know the difference.

and He does have a nose on him like a hound...LOLOL

Update on the hen predator. We got a donkey. The 2nd night she was her, i watched from my bedroom window as she chased a fox along the fence, he on one side, she on the other. I haven't missed a chicken ever since then. I have had her now for 2 months.

Oh Bluebunn, I absolutely LOVE MY DONKEY. Get ready for some adventure. They are very intelligent and can get into things if they have the opportunity. If it can be done, they'll figure out how to do it. They love to tease, at least mine does!

Looking forward to your posts.

I do love my donkey, but he cannot be trusted around my chickens. He and the dog killed several of them. He kept pawing and biting the chicken tractor until he knocked the lock off. When they got out he and the dog killed 4 of 8 roosters.

Your donkey may not be that way, but mine is.

I'm sure he does keep predators away though. When stray dogs are out on the road he gets so nervous and upset and paces in front of the fence. He doesn't like those dogs, but I've seen him let a skunk walk within a few feet of him with no problem. I wondered if he and the skunk were friends, or maybe he knew better than to upset the skunk.

Well I had all my Chickies safe and warm , then the temps went up to 65 yesterday! I uncovered my silkies , which had been in their separate pen tarped over with heavy plastic to keep the cold out and the varmits at bay. I went to work as usual at 7, came home and found two of my silkie hens Blitzen and Sadie mae had been eaten by presumably a Possum or raccoon! Im beginning to feel as if it just isnt meant for me to have chickens. What I do Not understand is WHY the predators always kill my Hens and never the Roos, unless they are prized?
I was good this time I didnt cry. I just rearranged my coops and put the remaining silkie pair into the older Serama House, where my batchelor Seramas and Guineas were living. Now the Boys are in the main shed roosting in the rafters between the 2 coops! Ahhhh such is the life of Chicken People! Just when you think a problem is solved...........all heck breaks loose!

oh Noooo Eufaula!! I'm so sorry! I just don't understand.. You poor thing. I'm so sorry. I feel like we need to see pics of your setup so we can help figure out something. Makes me sick feeling for you.. Poor thing.. really.. I feel so helpless.

Eufaula, that is just terrible. :( So they attacked in broad daylight! Don't skunks and possums usually just come out at night? Were they inside the pen, or free ranging?

Chickens taste good. We are all looking for some tasty chicken.

Glad you didn't cry. Leave it to Zz to figure out what needs to be done. If anybody can, she can.

I'm so sorry to hear it. I really need to move my rooster outside of town, but I keep thinking I need to get some baby chicks from him, just in case something happens out at the horse lot. You just never know, and I paid too much for him to loose him without some offspring.

Maybe the hens are not as fast as the roosters.

Thanks Y'all! I think I have the kids set up okay until after the Holidays! Im supposed to be going out of town this afternoon to my parents so I cant take photos tonight! We will go over my setup as soon as possible though, thanks ZZ.
LFJ I go to work between 630 and 7, so its still fairly dark here. So Im quite sure the Demon came while I was still leaving in my Drive... sometimes I think the intelligence of some of these hungry creatures is scary! They know when to attack and when not! What gets me is that the Critter didnt bother with the large eg layers that I had just turned out to free range, but instead went into an enclosure housing my silkies , whom I do not let free range!

So sorry to hear about your girls. That is pretty weird. Almost all of the predators hunt at night - aka 1-5 am. It's rare to see them out wandering at sun up- that's how they get eaten. Is there a chance it was:

Hawk? (is the top of the pen covered?)
Cat?
Dog?
Fox?

These are the only ones I can think would try it out during the day. Possums are completely nocturnal and 'coons are pretty much too. Could be really really hungry coons (if they've been balled up through the cold and just woke up) Somewhere on here I put up a link to figure out what kind of predator it was based on the way the chicken was killed (or just search google). It's important to figure this out because they may be back. Set up a few hav-a-hart traps with cat food in them if you have some around. This may net you a criminal.

They probably went after the silkies b/c they are smaller and the roos fight back. If they went for the smaller ones, probably a smaller predator. Was there a roo with the silkies? They typically will fight off whatever is attacking. We had a coon problem for a while til Cecil the giant rhode island Red roo became our watchdog. He could probably go toe to toe with just about anything coming for a snack and is really good about sounding the alarm when things get weird. May want to consider getting a larger roo for that pen or an adjacent area.

Hope this helps! After a few years of trials and tribulations with predators, we've been through that numerous times too and know how sad it is when you lose a little buddy.

Im not sure but the little bodies were the only thing left after the heads and innards were eaten! Its the only reason I believe it to be a Possum Or raccoon! I know a dog will rampage everything and just kill or maim , with feathers everywhere. there was no feathers and no blood anywhere. The rooster was there with the other Hen,He ws very disoriented and not at all afraid for me to pick him up, as a matter of fact he kind of coward with his little head against my coat while I carried him to his new enclosure. Before he would put up a fuss to be handled.

Bless his heart.

Silkies don't fly, so they are very vulnerable.. That would open the possibility to a smaller predator..
We can all do some brainstorming here, and probably come up with a solution.. How horrible to have to go through.

all my birds are locked up at night ,the pen has 2x4 no-climb fence wire top bottom and sides, -- durring the day the Pyrenees takes over, -- I don't loose many birds, --

Michaelp, that's pretty much what I do too. Lock my silkies up in a small pen at night, and after I lock them up I turn the dog loose. In the morning, I tie the dog up and let the chickens loose. The dog is tied in the fenced in yard.

What is strange is, when the dog is tied up she will let the chickens walk right up to her, no problem. She will kill them if she is able to run and chase them though.

Each night I am out there counting the chickens, making sure they all went in. It's not easy either, have you ever seen seven silkies in a nesting box? Thank goodness they are different colors.

My dog does not chase the chickens, -- he thinks they are part of the family, [he has trouble with the cow --she is a little agressive with him, -- so he gets that way back sometimes], -- so far no one damaged -- The Dog will kill any other dog or predator that comes inside his fence, --

That is too funny LFJ !!! Counting silkies.. I love it!

Try counting them when they are all the same color,they bunch togather and look like one blob

I too, have had predator problems. Coons, skunks, neighbors dogs.
I have had to put 1/2" x 1 inch wire on all of my cages. I have completely fenced in the rabbit hutch frame on which the cages were placed. I put stock wire on the outside with chicken wire clipped to that. I also put 1/2" x 1 inch wire on the bottom of the frame so that If the predator's got through the stock wire, they still couldn't get through to the bottom of the cages.
This has worked very well for me.
For this summer, I now have a catch'em live trap and I intend to use it. We want to relocate the coons rather than kill them.
But, I will mark them with paint, and if they come back they are dead. I won't have any other choice.
For the neighbor's dogs, well I am doing the best I can. It seems those dogs just automatically know when the Dog control Officer is not on duty. Every darn time I have had a stray dog here, I have called the Sherrif's and no luck. I have been following the dog(s) home now, and finding out who owns them. That way, I know who to go yell at.
I can't have any other type of predator control measure here so the fencing is all I can do. But at least it's working.
My chickens free range in the day time, but at night they are locked up as tight as I can get those cages.
I am drawing up plans now to build a nice chicken house. That way I know nothing will get to them when I get done.

I made a large live catch trap, --for large predators, including the dogs, -- I just take the dogs to the pound or call the dog cops to come get them, -- if the people want the dogs back, they have to pay for them, -- the $ thing is the only thing the dog owners understand, I guess, --

Relocating coons less than about thirty miles won't do the trick; they can return to their territory from quite a distance. Wildlife experts here say that it's better just to kill them, because transplanting them into a new area will just cause problems both for the coons that are already there and the new arrival. Still, that's how we handle it; we hate to kill animals just for doing what nature meant them to do!