Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Owl
As a person who always tries to work with nature and not against it, owls are the predat-
ors I can handle with confidence. They operate after dusk and prior to dawn. If you are
a responsible poultry keeper, your flocks are all locked up in their respective buildings
before darkness falls and the owl has nothing domestic to sample. For 20-plus years I've
had great horned owls living on the hill in the woods above my poultry pens. Each year
they raise a brood of young and I rarely lose a bird. They feed rabbits and other wild
creatures to their young and as long as I am responsible, everything is fine.
Raccoon
These night prowlers love poultry and are especially fond of chicken. They are relentless
in their attempts to eat every member of your flock. Though they look cute and innocent
with their masked faces, they really are bandits. A mother raccoon with her babies can
cause the most damage. When training them to kill, she'll go to extremes to teach them.
I never had the misfortune of having to deal with them when I lived in the West where
their numbers are fewer, and here in the Midwest I've only had several encounters with
them. The first was brutal, tragic, and something I will never forget, but it taught me a
good lesson on their behavior.
My first encounter took place when I was renting an old farm and had fixed a place in
the barn to keep my small flock of chickens. I spent considerable time sectioning off part
of the barn with rigid fencing, built a sturdy wooden door, and was sure I had created an
environment that was totally safe for my birds. But I made one mistake: I didn't close in
the space between the rafters on the barn hayloft above. It was about a 6-inch-deep (15
cm) space about 2 feet (0.6 m) wide and 12 feet (3.6 m) off the ground.
In hindsight, I realize my security measures presented no challenge for the resident
raccoon family. They climbed straight up the 12 feet (3.6 m) of wire, squeezed through
the hole between the rafters and the hayloft floor above, dropped to the ground, and pro-
ceeded to kill part of the flock, mutilate others, and then tried unsuccessfully to drag
their kill back up the 12 feet of wire to get them through the small hole.
When I discovered the mess the next morning it was a hideous sight of blood-stained
wire, half-eaten birds, and birds that had to be put down. Do not assume raccoons are in-
capable of getting in any size hole. If they think they can make a tiny hole in wire larger,
they work at it and make it large enough to get through, ripping and tearing at simple
chicken wire with great ease.
To keep out raccoons, you need strong, reinforced welded wire, such as field fencing,
covering chicken wire. Reinforce it with sturdy boards or metal close to the ground.
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