chicken protection help

[angle iron]

Does anyone have any advice about the best trap (not interested in poison) to place by my chicken coop? I have been loosing eggs for a few days now so I picked them all up after they roosted last night and lost a chicken instead. By the time I found it this morning the remaining chickens had obliterated any tracks but I'm guessing it is either a coon or a fox though I've never seen a coon in the yard before. I will wait up tonight but I tried that where I used to live and never saw a thing but still lost chickens. Whatever that was was killing them through the wire. This time, whatever it is, climbed up to the roost, killed it there then dragged it off to the far rear of the yard to eat. I know of leg hold and body hold traps but not which is best, what size or if there is another type of trap I am unfamiliar with that would be better. I do know about have a heart traps but the chickens are pets in my daughter's mind and I can predict her reaction so I will have NO heart for this whatever. Thank you.

 

[hollowdweller]

What did the carcass look like?

 

[angle iron]

Head gone, both breasts, heart, lungs and gizzard eaten. It was left against the fence as if whatever was trying to drag it under but there was no track, hole or drag mark indicating that the culprit left that way and I have not found any exit or entry marks anywhere else on the fence line either.

 

[dawsonbob]

I often don't know what I'm talking about, but have you considered a weasel?

 

[onebagnomad]

Had a similar problem here back in March. Broken eggs, contents eaten. Quickly escalated into missing chicks and then finding full size chicken carcasses on top of a nearby shed. Ended up placing snares at likely entrance points and a cage trap in the pen, baited with tuna. Culprit ended up being a 30+ lb. coon that couldn't resist the tuna. She was perfectly healthy when I found her in the trap, she didn't stay that way though. Didn't have any more problems after she was gone. I'd recommend the "have a heart" traps, just because they work well, especially on the usual suspects and no harm no foul (no pun intended) if you catch the neighbor's cat, one of your own pets, or one of the chickens. Just because the trap doesn't kill it doesn't mean you can't.

 

[angle iron]

I hadn't but only because it never occurred to me. I don't even know if we have those here (N Fla). Now that I think about it though I did once see a large "ferretish" looking animal walk under my tree stand years ago.

 

[RescueRiley]

2nd on the havahart.. If you get a coon size trap... it is large enough to nab all the most likely candidates.... which may include... Raccons, possums, Skunks, weasels, Foxes.

 

[halo2]

Have you considered talking to local trappers? They may do it for free or to keep the pelt.

Failing that, use a havahart-type trap. Bait with the carcass or tuna as OBN mentioned. To kill the culprit, drop the whole trap in a tub of water.

 

[jiminthecorner]

I'm with onebagnomad ,I used a Hvahart trap large size and caught a big racoon. Put it in the watertrough and went for breakfast. put in field for the vultures !!! JITC

 

[halo2]

I guess I third the h-a-h.

 

[Carolina River Rat]

I'll 3rd the Havahart. Make sure you eat it if it's a coon. Coon's good eatin.

 

[dawsonbob]

I hadn't but only because it never occurred to me. I don't even know if we have those here (N Fla). Now that I think about it though I did once see a large "ferretish" looking animal walk under my tree stand years ago.

I didn't know where you lived, but I read of something similar happening a few years ago, and it turned out to be a weasel. What made me think of it was you mentioned climbing, which rang a bell in my head.

 

[hollowdweller]

Yeah I'd say coon or opossum. Most of the coon kills I have had they took them to the creek to wash them but maybe the fence prevented that.

 

[fishshooter]

We periodically have the same problem, the Havahart traps are the way to go. When we were having problems with just the eggs being eaten, we could never catch the culprit. They wouldn't take the bait, always pass the trap to get to the eggs. We wired an egg to the trip plate, and caught a squirrel! Got rid of him and it solved the problem.

 

[angle iron]

Fishooter, I didn't even know squirrels ate eggs but there is no shortage of those around here thanks.

Good point on the have a hearts, I will try one tonight. Thanks everyone for the responses! I don't have the heart to drown anything but I do for a .22 pellet

 

[Anrkst6973]

The box (hah) traps are also called "live traps" and a feed store that sells horse/mule feed,hay ect is where they can be found. Any place that sells live chicks will know excactly what you're talking about. Your predator might be any type of thing (coon,possum,skunk,) or even a pet ferret that was released or got away(if it is take it to fish and game dept) The live trap is safe to handle with the critter inside so you can dispose of it as you see fit or haul it out to the glades to be released in the wild if you are so inclined. best of luck Anrkst

 

[hoopster]

How many chickens do you have? I only keep 5 but my solution was to make sure nothing can get into the coop. I had raccoons tear through the chicken wire so I covered that with heavier duty fencing and haven't had a problem since. The roosting section of my coop is all plywood so they can't reach through the fence and grab anyone.

 

[angle iron]

Now I have ten. The through the wire thing is what happened to me before, though the coons didn't tear the wire they got the genius chickens to come close enough to be killed through the wire. I put up hardware cloth when I built this coop to avoid that. Mine have free run of a large piece of yard but I will have to start closing the coop at night. I had thought they would be OK since the roost is high and, I thought, not climbable and yard is solidly fenced. Oops.

 

[fishshooter]

Fishooter, I didn't even know squirrels ate eggs but there is no shortage of those around here thanks.

Good point on the have a hearts, I will try one tonight. Thanks everyone for the responses! I don't have the heart to drown anything but I do for a .22 pellet

Neither did I. I don't know if it was just something this particular squirrel figured out, or if it is natural behavior. It stumped us for a bit. He could slip through the fence where no other egg stealing rascals, like a coon, could. All we would find is the remnants of his meal.

 

[TreeChopper]

Good point on the have a hearts, I will try one tonight. Thanks everyone for the responses! I don't have the heart to drown anything but I do for a .22 pellet

Thank you for not drowning an animal. :thumbup:
You can try to kill everything in site but it won't fortify your coop. If you can, watch to see what kind of animal is getting into the coop and how.... not suggesting you allow your chickens to be harmed tho. You'll be that much wiser re coop safety and be able to take steps to prevent future entries. Go learn from this situation and outsmart the creatures.

I don't have chickens right now but did some research because I wanted to raise my own. A few things I remember reading about keeping chickens safe: make sure the top is closed off to keep out the climbers and birds of prey( I never thought of owls!), use small mesh to keep out raccoon paws because they will pull a chicken through piece by piece, and sink the mesh into the ground many inches to deter burrowing animals. There are numerous other suggestions on various chicken forums.... go practice your Google-fu.
I lost a pet to wild animals and 10+ yrs later it still stings. I had to take my hurt and guilt and smarten my ass up about what lives in my woods and accept that the wild creatures are doing what they do... surviving.... and that they are not plotting against me. I'd have rather learned this w/o the death of my pet but life slapped me hard one winter. I adapted the way I live here and continue to learn from the animals that share these woods with me, wild AND stray domestics. They have amazing survival skills.