But we are having a big fox problem right now! They roam the yard every day, but I’m mostly worried about the cats. Love all your information, we are just getting our chicken run ready for our little flock. In fact, noticing this can help you identify if your chickens are ill. That’s why we always keep track of the amount of eggs our chickens lay- this way we know straight away if somethings wrong. I put cedar chips in the chicken yard and under an adjacent building to discourage snakes. After that, egg production will taper off. Just trying to survive in a strange new world. Join our facebook group of over 18,000 like-minded individuals, where we learn about growing a garden, cooking a meal, and living life like our grandparents did. Raccoons are notoriously intelligent and they can open simple locks & bolts. As a beginner, it is so helpful !! Choose some livestock critters, they’re beneficial in so many ways! If your chickens get caught out whilst they are roaming they can run underneath these safety shelters to keep covered. Claire. He told me to take a rag soak it with ammonia , put it in a large zip lock bag half seal it and put them and various places. Can u give any advise please? I just recently had a 7 week old chicken get caught by a stray cat. Note: Make sure to research the breed of rooster you want thoroughly before you jump in and get one. let CurrentYear = new Date().getFullYear() Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988–1999; 2017–2018) is an American TV show that mocks bad movies by riffing on their strange characters, absurd settings, and silly plot twists, interspersing erudite cultural quips with schoolboy jokes and general zaniness. The thing is it’s mainly the young hawks starting out. For those of you that haven’t heard of the term Botulism before, it’s a “rare poisoning caused by toxins”. She was a mess but not hurt THANKFULLY. While not being the most humane way of making your girls safe, my grandfather always had a large flock and a large chicken coop. However, I have seen several Wyandottes band together to attack and chase off a young hawk that was looking for an easy meal. They have super-fast metabolisms, need to eat a lot every day to stay alive. Any way to deter the cats while keeping on good terms with our awesome, animal-loving neighbor? Keep it stored in waterproof containers – plastic totes, garbage bins or something similar. Moldy feed can and does kill chickens, so make sure the lid for your containers is airtight also. You should dispose of any dead animals you find somewhere they can’t be accessed. I’m really loving your website. We will be reinforcing with hard wire this weekend. These are great things to know about caring for a flock. This is no problem, chickens are fine in snow 🙂 Make sure you pick a cold hardy breed though, we discuss them here: Predators such as raccoons will only attack in the dark at night. Checking Chicken’s Vent Thank you helped keep my chickens protected from Red tail hawks ? You may have to trim some feathers. That way if they get too hot they go in the coop to cool off and they get ice in their water. My girls follow me when I am outside. If your chickens are free-ranging you can erect an electric fence around the perimeter to keep predators away. If your chickens do ingest any toxic chemical call your vet immediately. Weed killer and other commonly used garden chemicals (Insect Baits/Traps etc.) Protecting your flock from predators starts with the coop. If you want to know how much the chickens cost, then you’d expect to pay between 5 – 10 dollars for a baby chick. Wyandottes are susceptible to predators such as hawks, foxes, raccoons, dogs, and even o’possums, so you may want to consider fencing your chickens in. They keep the mice away, I keep them out of my chicken coop. If you see rats during the daytime, it’s likely you have a serious problem. If you live in an area with lots of hawks and owls you will need to place a cover over your run. Found three out of seven girls in the coop with their head off? This mixture is not very effective on hard surfaces, though. It repels mosquitos, ticks, and also helps repel snakes. You’ll need to reapply the solution if it rains or every 2-3 weeks for it to remain effective. I use three locks on my coop – two on the entrance door and a separate lock for the ‘pop’ door. Thanks for your help. In the wild, they often scratch at the soil to search for seeds, insects and even animals as large as lizards, small snakes, or young mice.. Do you think a seated scarecrow would work? They are getting extra crickets , mealy worms!! The king cobra, one of the deadliest snake in the world, can grow up to 18 feet in length. They can simply be re-located to another area if necessary, although snakes do help keep down the vermin. Yes, Owls eat chickens both in the wild and in the captivity. We moved our hostas further from the foundation block, and I try… try to keep the garden weeded. This isn’t to say that they won’t come around, they will, but less rodents equals less snake activity. We added guinea fowl a little over a year ago now and while they can be a little noisy, we won’t be removing them from our homestead any time soon. That said we have a large free range flock and are having repetitive trouble with a hawk. It makes sense in their world, not in ours. About lost my mind. But, the more trimmed and cleaned up the areas around your property are, the less likely you’re going to attract snakes. The problem we’ve run into is that people around our home let their dogs roam free, and we don’t have a fence around our rather large property, nor can we afford one. So he dug a trench around the whole chicken coop about 4 inches deep, and filled it with broke glass. Excellent article, very informative. If you have free ranging hens it can be more difficult to protect them against birds of prey. Black, rat and corn snakes will pilfer eggs and on occasion, small chicks. We have to find ways to coexist with snakes whether we like it or not. The world's oldest known chicken was a hen which died of heart failure at the age of … Also keep the chemical bottles well away from your girls. I’m new to chickens and currently have 3 12 old Sussex and 3 more 12 week old Easter Eggers, all hens, so far! | Pet Igloo, […] If you are asking whether a snake will die if it eats a poisoned rat because this is your plan to get rid of a specific garden snake, don’t! Place a bit of water ( a couple tablespoons) in the bottom of a blender. We had 6, something ate 4 of them while they were still fairly young keets and we have 2 left. Check your coop daily for snakes. I went a couple years owning chickens before I lost one to a predator, now I seem to have a serial killer raccoon, I’ve lost 3 hens in 3 weeks. Mainly because it has all the info I needed… 😀.