Chickens are not very high on the food chain and yet they are no match for many of the insects or bugs you’ll find living in your yard. Insects such as crickets, spiders and ants. This is one of the reasons why you will hear many chicken owners say that they are great natural insect repellents and bug control.
However, the chickens themselves have many predators of their own.
Here are just a few of the chicken predators that you should know about – raccoons, foxes, hawks, skunks, coyotes, mountain lions and other large cats, and even local domesticated dogs and cats. These are the animals that you must consider protection from when you’re building the chicken coop, and also the location that you’ll be placing the coop as well.
Keeping your chickens safe is important.
You don’t want to wake up one morning to find that all your chickens have become food for one of them many different predators that could possibly be living around your area. Animals can sense and track their food and even if you’ve never seen them in you’re area you will be surprised at how many begin to surface once you get your chickens.
Let’s take a look at some of the predators a little more closely.
Mites are one of the most common predators (rather they are parasites) and also the most difficult to prevent. There are things that you can easily do to treat mites, and keep in mind that finding them early is the best. The absolute best prevention of chicken mites is to ensure that the coops are clean. This will include the bedding material as well.
Cleaning their coop should be something that is done often and the more chickens that you have the more frequent you should be cleaning the coop. It’s important that you are using hot soapy water and lightly scrubbing the coop at a minimum of once a week. This will help to maintain a clean living area for all of your chickens.
Raccoons are for the most part nasty animals. If you need proof of just how nasty they are take a look at what they will do to your chickens if they’re able to get to them. Raccoons will simply kill the chickens and leave them or drag them only a few feet away from the kill site. So the chances of you seeing your dead chickens are extremely likely. This is not something that you want to see happen to any animal and certainly not your own pets.
So how can you ensure that you are protecting your chicken from these very commonly found predators?
It’s actually fairly simple to do. You just need to think about the potential chicken predators in your neighborhood when considering the area where you plan on putting the chicken coop. For example putting the coop near wooded areas is not going to be the best place. Many of the predators are lurking in there just waiting to get their claws into your chickens.
The best way to protect your chickens is to surround their area with a chicken fence. I understand that this can become costly, but you do not need to get crazy. Simply putting a high chicken mesh fence around their enclosure will help to keep out these unwanted guests and keep your chickens safe from their grips.
We love our pets and keeping them healthy and safe is something that all chicken owners want to do. The only way that you can ensure their safety is by learning everything you can about them; their predators, potential diseases, and proper caring.
