You expend calendar month deciding on breed anddesigning a cage . You run to perfumed baby doll , bonded over cracked corn and squealed with delight the first time you deplume a quick egg from a nest box . You care for your chickens every day , tending to their want , coddling them when they were unhinged , possibly even consecrate them treats and rubbish from your own kitchen .
Then , without warning , a predator attempt . Maybe you recognize the brute in motion , maybe you do n’t . mayhap you visualize the attack , or perhaps just the consequence . Either way , it ’s always heartbreaking to lose any ( or sadly , even all ) of your chickens to a predator .
With the right preparation and tools , expert habits and maybe the help from a furry friend , it ’s well-situated to create several lines of defense to avoid a predator plan of attack : a secure cage , hold back for signaling of entry on the even , enlist alivestock guardian animaland much more . But even with the best defenses in home , our feat are no lucifer for the offence of a thirsty , determine violent brute .
So , in your state of desperation , you ’re willing to try anything . Right ?
Pee for Protection
Flip through a poultry - supply catalog and you ’re likely to hit onto something odd : coyote , wolf , fox , bobcat , fisher or turn out water , just to name a few . You take that right — pissing for sales event ! Some companies sell pee from several metal money of wild native animate being as a path to ward off predator and protect flocks from harm . As one parentage of defense , fauna water is used to keep aside others from the same species — coyote weewee proceed awaycoyotes , for illustration — and also from other species , including foxes , black-footed ferret , raccoon , weasel , bobcat , stinkpot , opossums , mink , squealer and other small predators . That little snatch of barren liquid is promising an unspeakable mickle , is n’t it ?
Mammal piddle is mostly comprised of pee ( more than 90 percent ) , as well as urea , common salt , amino group acids , shekels , toxin and hormones , the last of which is used as a form of communication through the activeness of stigmatise with urine . The exact make-up of piddle calculate on what the animal has eaten , inebriated or been exposed to , as well as its overall wellness . reckon also on many other component — such as the animal species marking with urine , its sexuality , its generative status , the time of twelvemonth and localization — urine may be used by a extremity of a give species to either push back or draw others .
Use It Or Lose It?
So does weewee actually bring to guard off chicken vulture ? Unfortunately , the jury is still out on this one , and the topic is heatedly contested among chicken keepers , animate being trappers and hunter , and wildlife experts . Some mass swear by it . Anecdotal story seem to be the stuff of internet caption , where a golden volaille keeper peer out his windowpane and sees a large black bear take one whiff of coyote urine and turn tail to run . Whether the use of the strategically direct pee alone bring around their predator problems or it was a combining of other forethought they may have ingest at the same clock time simply ca n’t be set .
There are so many factor to consider :
Some crybaby keepers witness that the use of human water applied liberally around their property piece of work just as well ; others find that in mark his or her district , the menage dog does a ok job of go along predators away .
Everyone seems to agree that piddle alone is not as effective as the enjoyment of urine in continuative with other billet of defense . Because some urine is used to attract animals , the skillful course of action is to provideother deterrentsaround your chicken coop . Many chicken keepers who use urine successfully do so with a livestock shielder or a syndicate dog that , in gain to providing some urine of its own , will trail away potential threats , providing a behavioural deterrent , not just an olfactory one .
Where Does The Urine Come From?
Manufacturers of predator urine for consumption by poultry owners are clear that the product you ’re purchasing is the genuine waste product of a predatory brute — not a synthetical or chemic substance that mimic the scent . These companies explain that the urine is gathered through floor collection drains in zoological garden , preserves and game farms from the animals ’ enclosures . They divvy up that the fauna are not harm in the “ harvesting ” process , and in fact , the facilities receive much - needed store from this unique receipts current , in a manner of speak .
The urine used to make the granule form of the Cartesian product is harvested in the same mode , but is then commingle with various constituent materials to take over , maintain and finally secrete the scent of the urine .
Some call up that spending good money on harvest animal urine is a waste — pun intended!—but others are willing to try whatever it takes to keep their flock secure . Only you know what works and what does n’t work for your farm or homestead and your lifestyle . Whatever you choose to do , do n’t let the skeptics determine for you . Do your own research and experiment if pauperization be . Just recollect that our chickens bank on us to keep them dependable ; the agency we do so does n’t really count to them .
This clause in the beginning ran in the July / August 2016 takings ofChickens .
