Chicken Houses

Have you ever tried raising your own chickens in a chicken house?  Have you experienced collecting eggs from your coop and preparing some for your family to eat?  Chicken farming is a delightful activity; it lets you experience how it is to produce your own food.  It has several concerns though that you have to face.  One of them is how to protect your flock against their natural enemies.

Chicken predators are numerous and here are some of the most common and ways on how you can protect your chickens against them. Getting the right chicken house is crucial to warding off these harmful predators.

One of these predators is the Fisher cat which is actually not a cat but a weasel that have dark brown or black fur.  Also called pekan cat, it attacks at night climbing on trees and attacking its prey.  Keeping your chickens inside the coop for the night is the best way to counter them.

The hawk is another predator to watch out for.  It swoops down from the skies and has amazing eyesight, able to see the tiniest mouse from far afar.  Its claws are very strong and a prey can never escape its clutches.  Provide the coop with overhead cover to help deter hawks.

Skunks do not attack grown chickens instead they attack the eggs and chicks.  Some can climb so be wary of them.  Geese, dogs and cats are good skunk deterrents.

Raccoons are common predators and usually attack the head.

Rodents or rats are the biggest threat to your flock.  They usually attack at night, carrying their prey to their hiding place and leaving behind broken shells and feathers.  If ever a chicken survives an attack, it must be checked by the veterinarian to avoid death by infection.  Poisoning the rodents has been the only effective way of getting rid of the problem.  Just make sure that all the other animals cannot get to the poisoned food.

The cleverest of predators is the fox.  Often attacking at night, foxes have now been known to attack even at daytime.  They usually snatch their prey from the coop and carry it away.  Having a good strong fence is a way to keep foxes away from your chickens.  It must be sturdy enough to withstand anything.

Coyotes have now adapted themselves to the human world and are seen around urban areas.  Their favorite prey includes ducks, geese and chickens.  Trapping them has been a good way to lessen attacks to chicken flocks.  A good fence around the coop is also a good deterrent.

Now that you know these predators, make sure to get the best and most secured chicken house for your chickens.

Tags: Chicken house

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 11th, 2010 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Chicken house. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.