Predation Concerns

What types of animals find chicken delicious?

• Raccoon- can pull apart hexagonal chicken wire

• Fox- missing head/partly buried; lone hunters; spring when feeding young; August - when mother leaves the young to find their own food.

• Mink- live near bodies of water; solitary hunters; will kill for sport (get in 1" diameter spaces)

• Weasel- chickens are not prefer meat source (mice, voles, rats); will kill for sport; will stash kills for later

• Coyote- will most often take kill away and consume elsewhere

• Dog- loose/strays

• Owl- close birds in at night

• Hawk- provide cover for birds

• Feral Cat - mostly a concern with chick/young birds

• Bobcat - active at dawn/dusk/early evening

• Bear- not in NE Indiana [but happened to our flock in NE PA]

General guidelines to protect poultry:

• close up coop at night

• use hardware mesh not chicken wire

• elevate the floor of the coop (or put down wire/barrier)

• use electric netting

• use a guard animal

• monitor your flock