What things are chicken predators?
Ah.. chicken predators.. they can be very frustrating! So, what animals are predators to worry about? Consider these two questions:
(1) Is it about the same size as the chicken or bigger?
(2) Does it move?
If you answered yes to both of those questions… it’s a chicken predator!
No, seriously… what predators are worrying?
Seriously, everything. Even your car is a chicken predator… I mean a car… (1) is bigger than a chicken and (2) moves. But when it comes to wild animals, the ones we’ve encountered ourselves or have heard of attacking chickens are listed here. Some predators will eat a chicken if it’s absolutely necessary to keep from starving, but prefer not to eat them. Other predators absolutely love to each chickens and will steal one every chance they get!
Coyotes
This one is a given. They eat anything they can catch. A coyote will snatch up a chicken very quickly. And if they’re running in a pack, they can easily wipe out a whole flock in short order. Coyotes and foxes are the reason for predator proofing around the bottom of your coop.. they will dig under and get in if it’s not secured somehow. We have hardware cloth under the dirt, all the way around our coop and the covered part of our pen.
While not a coyote, close enough… your family dog can and will kill your chickens if it isn’t trained or you’re not careful. It may not be on purpose, but it’s always sad when it happens, so try to avoid giving the family dog the opportunity if it’s not fully trained to watch over chickens.
Foxes
Same as coyotes – if they can catch it, they’ll eat it. Foxes can also easily wipe out an entire flock of chickens. This is especially true as young foxes get a bit older and start learning to hunt while still under the supervision of adult foxes. They will very easily attack and take everything in site, leaving nothing but a sad trail of feathers behind.
Hawks
They will swoop in seemingly out of nowhere and take off with a chicken. Roosters and hens alike tend to keep one eye to the sky a lot of the time. If any of them see a shadow or bird that’s larger than a songbird, they will make noise to alert the entire flock. Protection from hawks in a run includes some sort of netting or chicken wire over the top of the run so they just can’t get in. While free ranging, the best protection is cover. Chickens will clear out of a field and head for woods, dog houses, pine trees, anything that offers good cover when they see a hawk overhead.
Racoons
These little trash pandas are savage! Not only will they get into your coop through any opening they can find or pry their way through, they will eat whatever piece of your chicken they can get. I have read horror stories of folks who had coops/pens with larger wiring that allowed chickens to stick their whole heads out… the raccoons grabbed their heads and pulled, essentially popping their heads off. And while chickens aren’t necessarily stupid, they will put themselves in the exact same dangerous situation over and over and over again.
Opossums
Generally, opossums will not attack a full grown, healthy chicken. They will, however, go after eggs, chicks, sick or injured (and therefore slow moving) chickens, and any food they can find. They are skilled at getting into small places and can get into coops and pens that were considered totally safe. We had one in our pen one morning, looked like he was trying to get out of the rain (it was bad). Found him under the overhang. Thankfully, our chickens hadn’t yet been let out of their coop into the full run yet, so they had zero contact with the little guy. Opossums usually only bother messing with a coop if they’re starving, like in winter months. Not usually much of an issue though.
Snakes
While a snake generally won’t eat a whole full grown chicken, they will can and will hurt them and eat their eggs. If you find a snake in the coop, don’t freak out, just remove it safely. After snake removal, check all the chickens to make sure none of them were hurt (if they even noticed the snake was there at all). If you have chicks, do a head count. A snake can easily snatch one.
Bears
They most often come because they’re following the scent of corn, their first instinct when heading to the coop is not “hmmm, I want chicken.” Now don’t get me wrong – a bear will eat a chicken – it’s just not one of their super preferred meals. The initial attraction is all about the corn and other delicious smelling fruits and veggies you feed the chickens. If a bear does come and is willing to put forth some effort, be prepared for chaos and devastation. A bear can very easily destroy almost any chicken coop or pen… knocking over and tearing up the entire thing. In the process, it will eat whatever it finds, including your chickens, if they have nowhere to run while it’s destroying their home.
While some say bears going for things in coops is a common occurrence, so far it’s only happened to us once when a bear tried to get into our hen house one night. He didn’t try very hard, but he probably smelled some leftover food in their run or something. For most bears, if you’re around a lot, the possibility of running into you and having to deal with that encounter just isn’t worth messing with the chickens. We see them on our trail cams all the time (like the one here). But so far, it’s just been the one encounter we’ve had with them going for chickens.
