Keep Predators Out and Livestock In

Hi all! As promised, I'm finally getting to writing about protection from predators. If you have any type of livestock, chances are you live in an area where you are susceptible to various predators that may, from time to time, wish to enjoy your livestock for dinner. It is something that any keeper of animals is bound to experience at least once. How can you keep it from happening again?

There are a few methods one can employ to help keep the predators out and the livestock in. The first two we will discuss briefly. Two ways people use to get rid of predators is to kill and trap. While killing is very effective for one or two individual predators, one must be mindful that the predator may have young, it may live in groups, or it may even be against the law to kill a specific predator that could be endangered. Killing predators is also a bit extreme for some people. Maybe you wish to trap it instead? While trapping is bloodless, you must be careful. Releasing the animal can be dangerous due to bites and disease. Always use traps cautiously. Another thing to be wary about traps is that animals have a tendency to find their way back. Be sure to release the animal far away and in a reasonable and legal area.

Another way to keep predators out is to simply predator-proof your livestock pens. Always use a sturdy fence. Typical chicken wire is easily torn and pushed aside by most predators, so it is not good for predator-prevention. If, you have a problem with predators burrowing under fences, try stapling the fence to boards all along the bottom of the perimeter. Another thing you can do is to bury the fence a bit while placing it. If there is a problem with hawks, you can cover your poultry enclosures.

Finally, some people employ trickery to prevent predator problems.  There are devices that emit blinking red lights that can trick predators into thinking that another predator is already there. There are devices that emit a strobe-type light. I've read that hawks can be deterred by stringing CDs or DVDs on fishing lines across the pens or yard. The shining discs flappping in the air is supposed to be a good deterrent.

Nite Guard @ Amazon.com

I'm sure that a combination of the various methods is probably the best route. Good luck!

Thanks for reading!