There is truly nothing more distressing or upsetting than having your poultry or chickens attacked by a predators. Unfortunately nearly all wild creatures, and also many domestic ones, would appreciate a delicious chicken dinner. Protecting your poultry is extremely important, so how do we go about protect our flock?


If you are significantly new to raising your own chickens, you may not even be aware of the predators that are around your home. You might begin to think that because you live within the city limits or suburbs, you don't need to worry about predators. Unfortunately, domestic animals can be killers, too.


So what creatures do we need to be concerned about? Here is a short list of the most common predators:


* Coyotes
* Feral & domestic cats
* Foxes
* Hawks
* Local domestic dogs
* Owls
* Raccoons
* Rats
* Snakes
* Weasels/minks/ermine


Many smaller predators, such as rats and snakes, are more than likely to only eat young chicks or half-grown pullets, and very rarely full-grown birds. Other predators, such as skunks, will just only target and eat chicken eggs. It’s extremely rare that a skunk would attack a chick or chicken.


Chicken Coop Security


There are many great yet simple changes that you can make to protect your flock from predators. The first step is to secure your chicken coop with a robust door that can be shut securely at night.


Here are some other tips that you may wish to consider:


* Dig a trench approximately 12 inches deep around the entire chicken coop and bury hardware cloth within it. This will help prevent digging predators.

* Raise the chicken coop off the ground to help prevent rats, mice and weasels from entered the coop.

* Inspect the bottom of the chicken coop and patch any holes where predators could possibly gain access.

* Place lights around the chicken coop at night; motion-sensor lights work extremely well.

* Ensure your compost pile is kept away from the chicken coop. Clean up any food scraps that your flock doesn’t eat before nightfall.

* Keep the grass around the chicken coop mowed and clear of any rubble. An open field or environment without potential cover is a strong deterrent to predators.

* If you experience a serious problem with owls and/or hawks, consider covering the chicken run with hawk netting.


Electric Fencing


Electric fencing can be a relatively good option for securing your chicken coop. There are a multitude of ways to do this. One idea is to have a static run and coop with electric wire running along the bottom of the chicken coop and run so that digging predators are unable to gain access.


Poultry Protectors


There are many ways to protect poultry. Dogs are significantly great protectors, and can keep everything from baby chicks safe from stealthy predators - this includes other dogs.


Sadly there's still a catch. Some domestic dogs enjoy nothing more than to chase and tease chickens. They can also inadvertently kill them without even realizing it.


If the idea of getting a dog or your current mans best friend isn’t up to the job, guinea fowl are great guardians of chickens. They are known to chase off everything even including the mailman to coyotes. However this sort of protection comes with a noisy price. Guinea fowl aren’t quiet creatures. Still, they also come with an added benefit, they are guaranteed to eat every insect or pest you can imagine that could possibly plague your garden.


Though a lot of these steps may seem overwhelming, but you are guaranteed to rest easy knowing that you've taken all the precautions you possibly can, to secure your chickens and/or poultry by warding off any possible predators.