There’s a battle going on in my town over urban chickens.

They were legal for over a century until a few added words to the livestock ordinance motivated by a mayor who had a dispute with a neighbor changed the game for city residents. Long story short: those with chickens are now outlaws threatened with fines. (To put it in perspective, medical marijuana is legal, even for a hangnail, but chickens aren’t.)

One of the prime arguments of the anti-chicken folks is that chickens draw in predators including skunks, raccoons, and badgers. I particularly got a giggle out of the badger comment. I’ve filmed badgers for years with my game camera, and I have yet to be lucky enough to find one wandering down the street looking for chickens. (If the coop was out in badger territory, I can totally see them taking advantage of the situation, but I don’t think they’ll come looking for it.)

And frankly, I think the little old ladies setting bowls of cat food on their porch have more to do with enticing skunks and raccoons than properly housed chickens.

Predators for Chickens

In reality, chickens do have predators, and unless you want to lose your favorite hen to the animals trying to feed themselves you have to take precautions.

The first aspect of responsible flock management, whether you have six hens or 600, is providing a predator proof shelter. Think like a weasel when you’re building or buying it. It doesn’t have to be airtight, but look for areas where a small predator can enter. If you have a coop buttoned up enough to discourage the smallest predator, you’ll be protected against the larger ones.

Skunks

Despite the local claim that were going to be overrun by bloodthirsty skunks, they typically dont hunt chickens. Theyll certainly take chicks or eggs, but are more of a nuisance than a severe threat.

Raccoons

Although they look cuddly, raccoons are nasty when it comes to fighting and killing. Ive seen dogs opened up with razor-like precision. If a raccoon gains access to your chicken coop youll probably find a lot of dead birds with their necks and breasts eaten. They also have a taste for eggs.

Coyotes

I always liked having coyotes around because they did a great job on the mice around the place, but they are opportunistic hunters that will take cats, small dogs, chickens, rabbits and even sheep. My dad in Ohio lost 2 of his best lambs to coyotes many years ago. Even though Dad often saw the coyotes, we didnt think theyd bother the sheep because there are so many other tasty animals found in the woods and fields. You can imagine Dads horror when he found 2 killed. From then on, he locked up the sheep every night. Its the same with chickens. If theyre locked up the coyotes wont get them.

Hawks and owls

These can be frustrating, particularly if you allow your birds to run around the backyard. You can protect them at night by making sure they roost in the safety of a structure. But during the day you either have to keep them in a completely enclosed run area or fit them with the nifty protective vest that prevents the raptor from grasping the chicken. Some even have eyes painted on them so the hawk thinks it’s being watched.

Dogs

In a suburban or urban situation dogs are probably one of the biggest problems. We have to clip the wings of our chickens so they dont fly over the fence into the inevitable jaws of death of the 5 hungry dogs that live next door. Our Melvin doesn’t bother them, except to herd them around on occasion, but we have had another neighbors pit bull that jumped the fence to play with our dog dash into the open coop to grab a hen. Thankfully my husband grabbed him before he bit down. Keeping them safely enclosed in a run is the best course of action.

Chickens are great to have whether youre on a farm or in town. The eggs can’t be beat, plus they do a bang up job with pest patrol in the yard. Ours snap up grasshoppers like candy. It’s worth the effort to keep them safe.