Protecting backyard animals from predators

Cover windows, vents, and any gaps in coops or hutches with 1/2-inch or 1/4-inch hardware cloth (heavy gauge welded wire mesh), fastened with screws and washers or heavy-duty staples. Chicken wire is not predator-proof — raccoons can tear through it or reach through the 2-inch hexagonal holes.

Use latches that require two simultaneous actions to open, such as a slide bolt secured with a carabiner, or a hook-and-eye latch combined with a spring clip. Simple latches, hooks, and turn handles are not sufficient — raccoons can open them.

Close and secure all coop, hutch, and barn doors every evening before dark and do not open them until after sunrise. Most predator attacks on backyard animals happen at night or during the twilight hours of dusk and dawn.

For larger flocks or herds, especially free-ranging goats, consider a livestock guardian dog (LGD) such as a Great Pyrenees or Anatolian Shepherd. LGDs live with the animals full-time and actively deter predators through barking, scent marking, and physical confrontation. Geese can serve as…

Attach hardware cloth or welded wire fencing to the base of coop and run walls, extending it at least 12 inches outward either buried underground or laid flat on the surface and secured with landscape staples. Cover surface-laid aprons with soil or gravel so they blend in.

Install poultry netting, deer netting, or wire mesh over the top of outdoor runs to prevent attacks from hawks, owls, and eagles. Secure the covering tautly so predators cannot push through or become entangled, which can tear the netting.

Place motion-activated floodlights, solar predator eye lights, or ultrasonic deterrent devices around animal housing areas. These are supplemental defenses that startle opportunistic predators approaching the coop at night.