Unless you got it right the first time, many folks at some point will have a run in with unwanted animals on their property, especially if you have livestock.
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We did a pretty good job with protecting our chickens with an insulated coop and a covered outdoor dog run that they have access to when we are on trips. The danger however, has been when we let them out to free range. We don’t generally let the birds out unless we’re here which is daily. Before we put up a fence, we had an incident in which our neighbor was walking by with her dogs off leash. One of the dogs noticed the chickens and went on a killing rampage. Luckily my husband happened to be outside at the time and was able to get a hold of the dog quickly. We lost one chicken, and then several others had feathers ripped out. Aside from that, we’ve lost a couple of chickens to birds of prey. Our property is pretty heavily treed so for the most part the chickens are safe unless they walk into the open space. As soon as nightfall hits and the chickens have gone to bed, we try to keep on top of closing the coop up soon after to prevent any attack from nighttime animals like foxes or raccoons. We did lose a turkey once who went broody and refused to come to the coop at night. I found her nest just a day too late in the meadow where it looked like a fox had finally gotten her. Up to this point, we haven’t been hit by anything big, and have only lost about a bird a year which is worth allowing them to continue free ranging. During the day we try to make sure one of the dogs is out to keep an eye on things and keep the majority of dangers away.
With the goats, I was able to say for several years that we never had a problem. They’re surrounded in 6 ft tall iron fencing that is also within another fenced area of welded wire. But one winter we took a vacation, leaving our neighbors to stop by and feed the critters twice a day. I got a call from our neighbor saying that she couldn’t find the new baby buck I had recently purchased. There was no evidence of anything happening other than the roof on their shelter was bent as though something heavy had jumped on it. Our assumption based on the evidence was that a cougar must have climb one of the surrounding trees to get into the pen, grabbed the little baby, and then climbed over the shelter to get out. We cut our trip short in order to get back before anybody else was eaten and worked on covering the tops of the area in wire fencing to prevent any future incident.
So far, we haven’t had an incident with our rabbits. But knowing that they are the most vulnerable critter on the homestead, we were sure to completely wire their space, including the tops, and provide an electric fence surrounding the entire area. There’s been evidence after a fresh snowstorm of something approaching the fence to check out the rabbits, and then a scurry of tracks running away as they obviously got zapped by the fence.
We’ve had a run in with a bear on multiple occasions, but they have more so been interested in garbage and not so much in the livestock. I’ve seen one walking around the chicken coop in broad daylight and not pay it much mind, even though it could easily rip the door open, or tear into the wire dog run if it wanted to.
In my opinion, the best line of defense against any threatening wildlife is a dog or “livestock guardian”. These are commonly dogs like the Great Pyrenees or an Anatolian Shepherd. Most dogs will bark and alert you when something is wrong. As we tend to travel with our dogs’ I think the next best thing is just making sure that your animals’ areas are secure and well built. An electric fence also brings piece of mind while your away. We hope to one day get technical and set up motion sensors that will sound an alarm when tripped.
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