Poultry Predator Control
Ahh Spring.It’s that time of year when nature is waking up and all of the cute woodland creatures are emerging from their dens, shaking out their bushy tails, and making a bloody feathery mess of your poultry.Not that I blame them, this is the time of year when our wild friends are carrying their lowest fat reserves, are spending a lot of energy putting on mating displays, or are already caring for their litters. Whether you are raising a few backyard chickens or are working on hitting that 1000 bird exemption, this is the time of year we all face the same predation problems.
The key to protecting your flocks is preparation and understanding how the predator pressure will change as the season moves forward.The life cycles of all domestic poultry begins in a brooder.This incubator is putting out heat, smelling like warm grain, and the irresistible sound of the chicks inside acts as a beacon for all sorts of creatures.Your best defense from brooder intrusion is to build a really solid brooder. Filing holes with latex or similar items to prevent rodents or snakes from coming through, and pouring a solid floor over which to lay your wood chips, can make or break you at the end of the year.You must have plenty of ventilation at the top of the brooder and this area needs to be well protected with chicken wire, or other breathable material, to raccoons out.
Most chicks are highly susceptible to rats until they begin roosting.A couple of ways to increase the safety of your brooder are to store your feed grain away from the brooder itself and always use feeders built for chicks.As far as the brooder itself goes, making sure that the bottom couple of feet are solid is a good idea.Another technique is to bury bricks around the perimeter of your brooder walls.This ensures that the rats will not be able to dig down and under the boards to get at the chicks.Rats are nocturnal so I’ve never seen a rat take one of my chicks, but when they do, I usually find the chicks stuffed in holes in or near the brooder.
Many of you are raising poultry in residential environments and this is where you can find a whole variety of highly adaptable wildlife. Domestic cats and dogs also pose a real risk to all livestock.When building your facilities, keep in mind how strong and adept cats and dogs are at getting what they want.They often have little fear of humans, are well fed, and may see your poultry as trophies not food.Good fences make good neighbors and being a good neighbor involves communicating any issues you may have with people’s pets.
The next category of concern is the small carnivorous mammals.These animals inhabit both rural and residential areas and can cause a lot of damage.Foxes are usually nocturnal hunters, and if it is a female with kits, she will often carry as many prey animals as she can back to her den as feed for the little ones.In this scenario you will usually notice the chickens missing but there will be no trace of them.
Next on the list of nocturnal predators is the skunk.These guys are usually after eggs but will kill and eat young stock if they come across them.They tend to consume the intestines and back end of the bird.Another, more obvious clue, is the telltale stink that lingers after a skunk attack.Much like the skunk, the opossum also prefers to start at the back end of the animal and is usually after eggs.Raccoons feed a little differently.They possess amazing dexterity and have been known to pull chickens through cages by the feet or head.Raccoons will usually eat the neck and meaty parts of breast of the poultry abandoning the rest of the carcass near the point of attack.
Rounding out our list of nocturnal mammalian predators are the weasels and minks.These animals are strong and able to squeeze into small spaces.Like the fox with kits, these animals will kill many more birds than they can consume but will leave them near where they were killed.
In our last category of poultry predators we have the hawks and owls.Hawks hunt during the day and owls at night.These birds prefer to sneak attack, kill quickly, and open up the meatiest part of the bird to eat.You will often find piles of feathers next to the kill where the bird plucked its meal before dinning.We had a hawk one year that would fly down and sit on top of our chicken tractor and flap its wings.This would send the chickens into a panicked frenzy and eventually one of them would find some small area to slip though. Once it was out, it was all over as a white poult in a sea of green has no way of getting away from a hawk.These are often the most difficult predators to control as they are protected under the migratory birds act and are therefore illegal to kill.The best defense against owls is to make sure that your birds are inside covered areas at night and in the early morning.There are a few things you can do for hawks.Having mature roosters in your flock can alert them to danger overhead.There is also the possibility of putting up scarecrows and hanging lines around the area to confuse and deter the hawks from flying near the birds.
As for defenses against the other predators, your best bet is to build solid predator-proof housing.If you are raising chickens on pasture, your best friend could be the electro netting that is so common now.Prices have come down, the technology has improved, and although the price may seem prohibitive at first, it could end up saving you a lot of money in lost poultry in the future.I have personally found the netting to be effective in controlling all of the predators except for hawks although it is really a pain to use and you will spend a fair amount of time untangling it at some point.
There are also times of the year where you can employ traps to catch and move animals.There are strict rules about relocating animals to other properties because they may spread disease or cause problems for other people.You must contact your local division of fish and wildlife to understand and stay in compliance of these rules.As a last resort there are lethal tactics to take the animal out.This remedy also requires diligence as many nuisance animals require DEC permits in order to be removed from the gene pool.Most of this information can be found on the Department of Environmental Conservation website or though your local cooperative agent.
This is not a comprehensive list of the animals that may prey on your poultry but it is a good start.It seems as though some poultry make it their mission in life not to make it to maturity.You need to realize that you are not going to do it right the first time and instead of blaming the predator for snacking on a fat meal, you need to blame yourself for not providing enough protection to your flock.
Jason Detzel, Livestock Educator, CCE Ulster County
Last updated July 26, 2019