Chicken carnage

[timster2]

Anyhow - I harvest my chicken at Costco.

I was talking with the neighbor, lived on a farm as a boy, about raising some chickens and the fact that I had no idea of how its done. He started to explain all the different chicken coops, feeding, water and then was discussing different breeds that would be good for the area. I had to stop him as he was going into detail and remind him the only two chickens I was aware of were Tyson and Perdue!:confused3: :laughing:

 

[David P]

I was visiting with a young man recently regarding a custom knife, and noticed he had a pen full of chickens. We discussed them for a minute, and I asked him about a curious device he had hanging from the fence. He said it was a predator light; that it emitted an Infra Red beam that predators interpreted as another predator, and when they see it, they leave. He said he had witnessed coyote tracks in the snow, coming around his workshop that approached the pen, and then abruptly turned and left. He said it really worked. New to me; here's something I found on the internet that appears to be what he had:

The link disappeared! I'll see if I can find another!

Here's one version, called "Niteguard".

Nite Guard Solar | Predator Lights & Protection

I have no way of knowing for sure if they work, but what the heck...worth a try?

2LaneCruzer: Thanks for the link! I came across those about a week ago and for the life of me couldn't remember the name. I'm going to order one of these today.

 

[David P]

Thought I'd post a pic of a similar chicken tractor to the one we built so you can see what I'm referring to.

Last night after work I added 1.5 feet of chicken wire along the ground around the perimeter of each tractor. The part closest to the tractor was attached with a crown stapler and then we laid 6 foot t-posts along the outer edge to put some weight on the wire. I don't believe this wire will need to be particularly strong as it will snag the nails of anything attempting to dig underneath the tractor. I also put out a live trap. It didn't appear that we had any repeat visitors last night but they were probably fat and happy from the score the night before. Nothing in the live trap, either.

Tonight's project will be to put up a perimeter of electrical fencing (2 wire tape, 3 foot high). This will keep my dog and the neighbor's away from the tractors so their feet don't get snagged in any traps (we may set them over the weekend). I'm not sure that it will keep the coons out but I read a post about putting some jelly on marshmellows and putting them right on the wire. When the coon grabs one they get shocked.

Oh, I'm planning on setting up a trail camera as well.

This trying to eat healthier with organic chickens thing is really starting to work. All the exercise I'm getting from walking back and forth between the field, barn and house is getting me plenty of exercise! :laughing:

BTW, for anyone interested in this sort of tractor: We had ours on skids (3 pieces of 2x4 evenly spaced from front to rear with 45 degree angles cut) and just removed them to get the tractors closer to the ground. The tractors are pretty heavy and not easy to move without two people. Since we removed the skids we are now using a 2-inch piece of pvc under each outer wall which makes the tractors at least 50% easier to move.

 

[oosik]

A neighbor down the road told me her biggest problem raising chickens was weasels. We have a variety called the Least Weasel. It looks a lot like a stretched chipmunk. Apparently they are voracious chicken eaters and can slip right thru chicken wire due to their small size. She quit because they were killing all her chickens.

 

[1GB]

Weasels and raccoons tend to look for gaps to get under a tractor, unless you didn't use proper fencing on the tractor itself and they can just get in directly.

IME, evidence of digging around a chicken tractor has always been evidence of a fox.

Laying fencing down on the ground and securing it to the tractor works, but also makes it a PITA to move IMO. I found it easier to just reset a couple traps around the edges of the tractor after moving it.

 

[David P]

Weasels and raccoons tend to look for gaps to get under a tractor, unless you didn't use proper fencing on the tractor itself and they can just get in directly.

IME, evidence of digging around a chicken tractor has always been evidence of a fox.

Laying fencing down on the ground and securing it to the tractor works, but also makes it a PITA to move IMO. I found it easier to just reset a couple traps around the edges of the tractor after moving it.

I was worried about moving the tractor with the new ground fencing but simply used a few bungee cords to hold up the front edges and it was no problem. Traps coming soon!

 

[David P]

Well, I've found our number one suspect, pictured below (looks like a fox to me). I put some chicken bones, etc in the live trap last night and something was trying like crazy to get them but must have bumped the cage and tripped the door before it could get inside. Unfortunately, my trail camera batteries died so nothing was caught on camera. I'm hoping for better results tonight.

 

[MossRoad]

That's a fox.

 

[300UGUY]

I had a problem with a fox, it killed 22 of my chickens, over a month or so. I shot at it 4 times and missed. Didn't seem to faze it much. But after my 85 lb boxer girl ran it down it stopped coming back. She missed it by inches, running herself into a field fence in the process. My theory is that a bullet is pretty abstract to a fox, unless it gets hit. A big, fast dog, with big teeth, is right in the DNA as somthing to avoid. Since, I have seen a fox in my front yard. But they avoid the fenced back yard, where Sydney rules...

 

[David P]

Live trap had a skunk inside this morning. I doubt a skunk would have killed all those chickens but in any event, one less potential spraying of our dog...

The animal in the live trap reminded me of my brother-in-law who used to trap the occassional raccoon in his. He would often relocate them to one of the more prestigious neighborhoods in the area believing the coons deserved a better life. :laughing: