Live
Trap-Coop
This page contains instructions for building and using a large live trap that can also be used as a coop. The impetus for this trap came from a posting on DOM_BIRD by Frances A. Bassom in which she described a similar trap built and used by a friend.
"If you
wish to keep poultry, you should first build an enclosure which will keep
out predators." (click on his image to go to his website.)
Brian, I think you are correct. I suppose that I'm a bit irresponsible as a keeper of ducks and chickens, for I let ducks out during the day at least; the chickens are a yard flock. As I get larger populations of ducks during the summer, I leave some ducks uncooped at night too. I enjoy watching the runners out in their grazing areas, the chickens scratching in leaves, both type of birds helping to keep insects under control.
But sometimes I do have raids from predators...foxes, coyotes, dogs, raccoons, 'possums, hawks...all can take advantage of the exposed free meals. I have declared my birds to be "protected species", and I occasionally have to wage a predator war...
A live trap seemed to be a good weapon of choice in Predator Wars. I
purchased a large trap that was said to be for "foxes, large raccoons,
opossums, etc."
I made a compartment to go in the back to hold a live cull duck or chicken, and I did catch raccoons and opossums, but never a fox. The baits shown in this photograph include cat food and "clears"...infertile eggs removed from the incubator.
Frances described the trap built by her friend as being a large trap made from 3' chain link fence. I didn't get a lot of details from her about the construction, so most of what I did was devised as I went along. I thought I'd try to use something a bit lighter than chain link fencing.
I used 1x2" welded wire and 10' lengths of electrical conduit which
I cut to the size I desired. The trap is 4x4x10' overall.
In this photograph you can see the roll of welded wire, conduit tubing cut to various lengths with 4 pieces laid out to form the door of the trap.
Other items used in making the trap: in the front row left to right
are machine screws, self-locking nuts, screwdrive, crescent wrench, hammer,
center punch, hacksaw, two gate latches in the blue cartons, a steel rod
for the trigger, and a coil of wire cable used to make the trigger. An electrical
drill rests on cut conduit. Upper left from the gate latches are some eyebolts
used to mount the gate (door), and four "U" straps which will
affix trigger tubes.
I cut the conduit to size, flatten ends, drilled them for the machine
screws, and assembled the skeleton of the trap. I added several braces in
places to stablize the trap, to make it more rigid. After completing the
skeleton of tubing, the welded wire was put on the trap and fastened together
with hog rings and hog ring pliers. To hold the wire to the frame, I used
cable ties which should be black, for the white cable ties are less resistant
to UV and will break down sooner.
At the bottom rear of the trap, I curved the tubing up to make skids
that are helpful in moving the trap around. I can lift the trap in the front
and pull it along easily on the skids.
At the upper front, you may be able to see how the door is hinged. The top bar of the door extends on both sides and passes through eyebolts.
This a view of the front of the door, lower right which shows one of
the gate latches. With another gate latch on the left side, the door locks
securely when dropping is triggered.
In this closer view of the latch, you may be able to see that the latching bar is mounted on the door frame extension while the latching mechanism is mounted on the cage extension.
This posed a bit of a problem. I thought I remembered what Frances said about a trigger, so I got started.
In this view of the completed trap, you can see a piece of tubing that
goes vertically up the outside of the front center of the door. The tubing
is flattened at the bottow and attached to the door frame with a machine
screw and nut, but at the top the tubing is open and held to the door with
a "U" strap.
In this view the door is to the left. It is held up by a steel rod which runs through the tube on the right, and goes into the tube on the left. There is a gap of about an inch between the tubes in which you can see the steel rod. The end of the rod is rounded, and the rod is well greased to reduce friction and make the triggering easier. Still, though the rod only goes into the door tube for about an inch, I found it took a very heavy pull on the rod to move it back thereby releasing the door. What could I do to induce some mechanical advantage into the trigger??
In this photograph, the view is from the top rear toward the front.
Two tubes are aligned in the front with the steel rod between the tubes
to support the door.
From the rear of the steel rod, a wire cable runs back to the top of the trigger-mechanical advantage-bar in the foreground. This bar is bent so that the front end extends through the wire and pivots whereas the rear of the bar is inside the cage.
This 3/4 front view of the "mechanical advantage bar (MAB)" shows the bar extending up out of the cage, perhaps 4". A hole in the end receives the wire cable which is coming from the steel rod. A hole is bored through the "MAB", and coat hanger wire is used to make a pivot on which the bar can rotate. I have a chain attached to the rear end of the "MAB". The chain hangs down to the floor of the cage. I can then attach a bait to the chain by using a cable tie, and after that it's only a wait for something to grab the bait and run, pulling the "MAB", pulling the steel rod, releasing the door which falls, and "BANG!!" the door latches. I did have some trouble with the gate latching tongue bouncing and failing to latch dependably, but a small piece of wire on each latch to prevent the tongue from moving past vertical remedied this problem.
It should be easy to connect the chain to a treadle which would trigger the trap when the treadle is depressed. If this were done, then a live bait animal could be put in a cage and perhaps kept from being sacrificed..
You bet it does, and very well too!
I have found that I can put straw in the bottom, cover the rear third
with a plastic tarp by attaching the grommets of the tarp to the wire with...you
guessed it...cable ties, then I have a nice coop for holding poultry overnight.
With feed and water inside, it could be used for extended periods, and I
have used it to keep ducklings between 1 and 2 months of age as they are
feathering out and getting ready for the outside areas.
A pathetic fox came to the trap. Pathetic, but not to the degree that it didn't kill and eat a cull duck that I had inside.
This poor fox was absolutely covered with mange, fleas, and ticks! It
had lost much of the hair on its back and tail.
An Opossum! I wondered if an oppossum would be able to trigger the trap. This one came in and tried to carry off the remains of a hen that had been killed by a hawk.
Isn't it lovely? I really like these beautiful, brainless creatures though I don't like them to eat my chicks or eggs.
According to what I have read in DOM_BIRD postings by Barry, Dennis, and others, opossums and skunks don't have sense enough to return to your area if they are taken off and released. I take opossums off to deep woods and turn them out. So far I haven't caught a skunk, but if I do...I think I'll offer the disposal job to Barry or Dennis. :)
If I trapped a dog, I think I'd call our County Animal Control, especially if the dog were vicious. If it seemed gentle enough to handle, and especially if it had an identification tag, I'd probably take it to the local animal shelter for adoption or return to the owner following a $50 payment for first return.
Foxes, raccoons, and coyotes are another matter. They appear to have the ability to return to an area from many, many miles away. Moreover, no matter where you release them their home range is large enough to cause a predator problem for other poultry keepers. I humanely dispatch these creatures...after I apologize to them for what I feel that I must do having chosen the path of poultry keeping that I follow.
The views expressed on this web page are not necessarily the views of Georgia State University, Atlanta GA USA.
James D. Satterfield Canton GA USA jsatt@gsu.edu