Trapping in yard with free ranging chickens.

[wind gypsy]

We have laying chickens that free range during the day. Coyotes have put a hurting on our numbers so I finally started looking into trapping and set my first foot hold dirt hole sets this afternoon. Took about 3 hours until one of the damn chickens was caught in a trap. We live on just 6 acres and our one property line is city limits and a neighborhood so I’m a little weary about setting snares and killing neighborhood dogs although I don’t remember the last time I saw one on a game cam.

Curious what others may have done and maybe I can set the traps to require more pressure on the plate? I have mb 550s.

 

[TxLite]

We have laying chickens that free range during the day. Coyotes have put a hurting on our numbers so I finally started looking into trapping and set my first foot hold dirt hole sets this afternoon. Took about 3 hours until one of the damn chickens was caught in a trap. We live on just 6 acres and our one property line is city limits and a neighborhood so I’m a little weary about setting snares and killing neighborhood dogs although I don’t remember the last time I saw one on a game cam.

Curious what others may have done and maybe I can set the traps to require more pressure on the plate? I have mb 550s.

Are your coyotes most active during the day or at night? Thinking you could maybe set/disarm the traps in morning/evening after the chickens roost.

 

[Jbxl20]

Can you fence the chickens in for a few days or a week or two?I feel for ya. I quit free ranging our chickens and use electric netting now with a goose to keep the hawks away.

 

[Scottf270]

I trapped outside a buddy's chicken pen in his yard. We used 5 gal buckets put over the set and put a brick on the bucket. Put buckets on before letting chickens range in the morning. Uncover them in evening when birds are put in roost.

 

[Agross]

I live a ways off the rd and kinda in the woods with thick stuff by the chicken coupe. I cant set snares because of our dog. We have a lot of coyotes and fox around here. They have ambushed em just a few feet into the brush numerous times. We have to have netting over the pen because of the hawks. I have come home from work several times and there was a hawk on top of the pen or netting trying to figure out how to get in.
We have been letting our birds out less and for less time and it has helped but it’s only a matter of time until another one gets picked off.

If you haven’t been seeing dogs and you don’t have one, I would set a couple snares.

 

[Jimbee]

We gave up on chickens after several years and several flocks killed off. It's a never ending battle. I live on the edge of/in town with 20 acres and the only way we would be able to have chickens is to keep them penned up, even during the day. Fox, coyote, weasels, owls. I would think the trapping method would be never ending. It's better to just find some friends with chickens.

 

[Team4LongGun]

I went through this and inadvertently trapped my brothers barn cat….it wasn’t a fun time with his old lady screaming at me on phone.

Definitely set the pan pressure up and a chicken won’t set trap off but yote will. You have to play with it, and literally place weight on it to get a gauge. Once you dial it in, you won’t have an issue.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Coons and possums raise heck with my brothers chickens year long. He sets coon cuffs around the perimter and this has eliminated 90% of his losses. He hasn't had issues with yotes, but the feral dog pack form the across the section has been trouble. He did set snares for them and caught/dispatched a few with suppressed .22.

These dogs have attacked the neighbors and been reported to sherriff's office multiple times. They also written multiple tickets, but the a-holes just refuse to do anything to control their dog numbers. Dogs at-large without a collar can be killed in IA if they are caught in the act of harrassing livestock, including domestic birds.

 

[wind gypsy]

I trapped outside a buddy's chicken pen in his yard. We used 5 gal buckets put over the set and put a brick on the bucket. Put buckets on before letting chickens range in the morning. Uncover them in evening when birds are put in roost.

Simple and easy, I like it!

 

[bigeyedfish]

We gave up on traps and bought a Great Pyrenees. Haven't lost a chicken since we got him a couple years ago. We're in trouble if the coyotes ever figure out he's really a softie.

 

[JMF]

Set your pan tension to 4 pounds and you won't catch your chickens or cats.

 

[jmez]

You can buy a tension pen at most anb trap supply site. Simple way to set pan tension.

Sent from my moto g power 5G - 2023 using Tapatalk

 

[Lawnboi]

We built a 6’ run for ours after a number of fox attacks. Even though I put a hurting on the fox, we still get one coming through occasionally. Unfortunately if you live in a predator rich area the only way is to pen them up. And honestly penned up is better anyways, they don’t shit and dust all around the house that way.

I tried traps and only caught skunks and coons. Fox and coyotes were too damn smart to step in traps around the coop/house.

 

[TheCougar]

First line of defense is distance. If you can figure out where they are coming from… Mainly 1.5 or 1 3/4 traps that I set on my neighbors land to keep the chickens out of the traps since it seems that most everything comes from his pond and woods. Snares I can set closer to the coop as well as a cage trap. My first line of defense is over 100 yards from the coop, which is where I put the coil traps. If they were closer, I would use the bucket trick or use coon cuffs. If you have a coyote problem, I would think you could get some larger Offset traps (550 OS) which the chickens might be able to pull their foot from. Those won’t work for raccoons though.

I’m a sick bastard, so I actually have used my chickens as bait. I took a bird and built a 4 foot diameter round cage with top and bottom, and staked it to the ground. I created a couple of “entrances” and set traps and snares. Left that poor chicken out there for a week and let the critters come to get him every night. He survived, but we caught lots in the snares and traps.

A couple of guys have mentioned this, but sometimes I really wonder if this is sustainable. We lost 2 birds, and I trapped 6 foxes and a menagerie of coons, possums, feral cats, etc. Cameras were empty for a couple of weeks so I took the traps down and we went on vacation. Came back and 4 birds were gone. Trapped another fox. Then a family of raccoons showed up and we lost another bird. I’m wondering if free range chickens is feasible.

My wife and kids really love the free range idea, but keeping them alive has proven to be challenging.

 

[Gutshot007]

Oddly enough most dogs when caught in a snare will just sit and chill out . Where wild canines go crazy and fight it . Stay away from kill springs . If worse comes to worse probably could use snares as a last resort

 

[WCB]

You can set pan tension by bending the dog on the trap. I agree with above set to about 4lbs. Guys who target Coyotes and don't want to deal with fox can get their tensions dialed in to where fox catches are virtually non existent. Same with coon and opossum.

Chickens should not be an issue with correct pan tension. No need to have to put buckets or otherwise disarm traps. Bend the dog away from the pan to increase tension or towards pan to decrease. Some decent videos on the tube about setting up traps.

I also know a guy that had a motion sensor hooked up to a fan in his room. When motion was detected the fan turned on and had a card or something in the fan blades that would make noise and wake him up or alert him. Killed a few Coyotes like that and some other animals he wanted gone from his property.

 

[Nine Banger]

I went through this and inadvertently trapped my brothers barn cat….it wasn’t a fun time with his old lady screaming at me on phone.

Definitely set the pan pressure up and a chicken won’t set trap off but yote will. You have to play with it, and literally place weight on it to get a gauge. Once you dial it in, you won’t have an issue.

I was thinking the same thing...switch to 4 coil MB 550 but you'll miss coons and opossums.

 

[KenLee]

We gave up on chickens after several years and several flocks killed off. It's a never ending battle. I live on the edge of/in town with 20 acres and the only way we would be able to have chickens is to keep them penned up, even during the day. Fox, coyote, weasels, owls. I would think the trapping method would be never ending. It's better to just find some friends with chickens.

I killed some chicken eating varmint at least twice a week for 10 years before I got rid of the chickens when I needed to stay with my Mama w Alzheimers 12 hrs a day. You are correct that it's a never ending battle if you let them free range. I'm out in the country with a dairy nearby. Skunk encounters were common, even at night. Their claws are little shovels.

 

[KenLee]

Coons and possums raise heck with my brothers chickens year long. He sets coon cuffs around the perimter and this has eliminated 90% of his losses. He hasn't had issues with yotes, but the feral dog pack form the across the section has been trouble. He did set snares for them and caught/dispatched a few with suppressed .22.

These dogs have attacked the neighbors and been reported to sherriff's office multiple times. They also written multiple tickets, but the a-holes just refuse to do anything to control their dog numbers. Dogs at-large without a collar can be killed in IA if they are caught in the act of harrassing livestock, including domestic birds.

Feral dogs are the devil. Mean as yotes, but not scared of humans. 25-30 ago, I hunted a couple hundred acres out in BFE that was overran by wild dogs. Before the time that ARs were common. I bought a 10 round mag for a Remington 7400 30-06 and killed 76 of em in the first 3 month deer season i hunted the place. They would jump on their buddy after you shot him, instead of running away.

 

[Fetty Wapiti]

Snares and or dirt hole sets