I found a bobcat in one of my snares yesterday, which was Day Three of having snares out. It was a big male — 26 pounds. Most my chicken losses are consistent with how bobcats hunt (dawn or dusk, with a short chase, a quick kill, and the chicken carried away without being dragged), but I think I’m losing chickens faster than can be explained by a single bobcat, however big, so I’ll keep up my anti-predator efforts.
My flock size and egg output are down to shockingly low levels, thanks to large numbers of hens vanishing without a trace. I only had 13 dozen to take to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday, where a few weeks ago I was routinely selling over 50 dozen even on a slow day.
The stealthiness of the local predators probably means that I can’t rely on the electric fence as my only permanent anti-predator measure — I have to do more.
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Have you thought of LGD’S? Live stock Gaurdian Dog’s are invaluable to us for our free-range hens and broilers. We have two and they are amazing to watch around the chickens and chicks.! They even let some of them set on their backs they are that calm with them. NO chasing, NO eating the livestock and they keep away EVERYTHING from air assaults to ground attacks. NO electric fencing needed except a good PERIMETER fence to keep the dogs IN. They do have a hard time with boundaries, they want your 30 + acres and your neighbors and then their neigbors and so forth. But once you get them established and used to their boundries, you’l wonder how you EVER did without them.
I’ll put it to you another way- on my property we have 4 roosters that stay out all night and I have some young quail that got away from us – all are quite happily present and accountedd for every morning still 3 months later, because of the dogs. They fight Bobcats, coons, moles, skunks, you name it, stray dogs etc….
Just a thought…..
Katharine