There are commercially available fence rollers . Here is a DIY version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAC_JTdsTCw
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That would be it for me. I would have some hunter friends in for a bit of practice. Why people think it is acceptable for dangerous animals to run amok is beyond me.
If they are needing to prey on pets to get food they are seriously over populated for the food in their area. If they are that bold and hungry then they need to be dealt with.
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And shooting them in an urban area is the answer? 
Looks like woods bordering in the background in his pictures and to be brutally honest when has living in an urban area stopped most anyone from shooting anything?
To be safer you could shoot them with a tranquilizer dart first and then euthanize at close range.
I just don’t get being this unhappy about a situation on your farm, and being unwilling to take any actual action to change things. Put up a barn gate that keeps coyotes out, and don’t leave out valuable things within their reach. That’s all you need. And yes, I know they can clear high fences but if there’s no food in the barn, and no fun playthings on display for them, it’s reasonable to believe that most of the time they’re not going to make that effort. I mean gosh, with any problem, wouldn’t it be worthwhile to do something that solves it most of the time? Wouldn’t that reduce some of your current stress? The alternative is to risk being the AOC of barn owners, rejecting any/all progress unless you can have every single thing you want, no matter how unrealistic. 
I dunno, based on your contributions to this forum, you’ve always seemed more pragmatic and practical than that.
We all know how understaffed and underfunded animal control is. So no matter how right you are that it’s their job, it doesn’t matter because it’s just completely unrealistic to think AC is equipped and willing to eradicate a large population of coyotes. Aside from limited resources, they also know that for every resident who would be happy about it, there will be 10 angry nature lovers/PETA types who show up at town meetings to protest. The voices screaming No are always louder than the ones who say Yes, regardless the issue.
In addition to coyote-proofing the barn, get an air rifle with scope and ping them whenever you can. If this is against ordinance, actually getting in trouble would depend on your neighbors calling in complaints. So just politely approach the neighbors who might see/hear you pinging coyotes, and tell them what you want to do. Acknowledge it’s against ordinance but you’re protecting not only your farm but the whole neighborhood’s pets. Ask if they’ll object, and if not, go for it.
You could do the same approach with the hot fence. Honestly, who is going to report you?
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I’m guessing you don’t hunt?
Knowing where you’re shooting (distance to roads and buildings) is extremely important. You never shoot if you don’t know what is beyond what you can see. Bullets travel, it’s stupid and dangerous.
I don’t know what the laws are in Texas, but around here if you discharge a firearm in the wrong direction or in a no hunting zone you can say buh bye to your firearms license and your hunting license.
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You can get ~200 yards out of the “sniper type” paintball guns. That’s what I’d use to start to mark them, to see if you have a few “problem” coyotes.
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My husband and sons have been hunting since they were all old enough to and my boys have taken hunter safety courses as well due to state regulations. I am well aware that you cannot shoot in a highly urban area and how far a bullet can travel.
I thought that behind @clanter the wooded area where the coyotes were was not populated. I know they have houses near which is why I suggested a tranquilizer first and then you can euthanize right up close.
Again, this is really not a good idea. Tranquilizer guns are typically either cartridge powered (subject to regular gun laws) or gas powered. The tranquilizer itself may or may not be a controlled substance depending on what is being used. You also have no way of controlling where the animal may go after being darted, but before coming to a rest. It isn’t like in the movies, they don’t just drop where they’re darted. What would your plan be if the coyote ran to the neighbours yard or out on the road? Even with a good heart/lung shot it isn’t unheard of for animals to run several hundred yards.
This is why wildlife capture/dispatch in urban areas usually involves trapping.
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Well then maybe they can set out traps, but then that puts others pets at risk.
My mom had a neighbor who got sick of all the feral cats a fellow neighbor fed and put out poison meat killing them all and several neighborhood cats in the process. Including one of my mom’s. That is what happens sometimes when people get fed up enough and nothing changes.
In the OP’s situation this is something that definitely needs to change.
Yep, a donkey will kill coyotes. Kill dogs, too. I watched a donkey chase the border collie of a friend, grab the back of his neck with his teeth, and kneel on his body, trying to kill the dog. We did rescue the dog from the donkey, but it was on its way to being killed.
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My mom had a neighbor who got sick of all the feral cats a fellow neighbor fed and put out poison meat killing them all and several neighborhood cats in the process. Including one of my mom’s.
That’s exactly just one reason why you NEVER use poison. Then there are scavengers down the food chain who will die as well. What that woman did was horrible.
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Not that it matters but it was a man.
I use old fashioned mouse traps in my barn because of the risk of another animal eating poison bait ( even though it would be so much easier).
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For many of us with farms, coyotes are a fact of life.
My recommendation is to stop taking pictures, stop contacting animal control, and find a good herd guardian. My preference is donkeys–we purchased a young mini donkey as a companion for our horses/ponies when we moved to our farm, but quickly discovered that he will go after any dog that enters our pastures/paddocks and kill them if he can. (Seriously, I keep a close eye on our dog, who sometimes forgets she’s not allowed in the pastures, and the cats have had to hightail it out of the field more than once when the donkey has spotted them.)
In addition, it looks (from your pictures) and sounds like the coyotes are much too comfortable being on your property. Make it unpleasant, whether via loud noises and/or driving them off (it it were us, we’d hop on the farm’s ATV to do so). While coyotes are notoriously unafraid of humans and such efforts won’t provide a long-term solution, it’s better than allowing them to roam that close without consequences.
As others have rightly pointed out, shooting them or removing them just allows other coyotes to move into the area. So, effective management is identifying the best way to protect pets and livestock. removing any other food sources (eg, we spread our manure rather than having a manure pile where small rodents can live), and, as much as possible, making it unpleasant to be on the property.
I write this as we enter the 3rd week that my favorite cat has been missing, and I’m pretty sure his disappearance is due to coyotes after eliminating all other possibilities. I’ve always had indoor cats, but our current crew showed up as strays and made me realize that some cats just don’t do indoors. I’ve always been very diligent about ensuring they are in at night, but being outside at all is a huge risk.
The loss of this cat has completely broken my heart. Our remaining three are all old men and, while skittish, mainly live in the house. However, all future cats will be indoors only–I can’t go through this again; it’s been awful. And I take full responsibility. It’s certainly not the coyotes fault–they are simply surviving in a world where their habitat is shrinking to nothing. We have to co-exist, while protecting our pets and animals the best we can.
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We have coyotes even in my suburban CT area. They do get fairly used to human activity and dont hurry away when they see you.
Mostly people co-exist. The biggest risk in the suburbs is to free roaming cats. The most visible ones are the youngsters who just left home and are looking for their own territory. Like teenagers they can sometimes group together and be noisy and bold.
I used to investigate claims of livestock damaged by animals and domestic dogs let out to “play” were far and away the most common culprit. Even though the rumors were often of “coywolves” (I guess coyotes aren’t scary enough for some people so they claim they are part wolf!) Coyote livestock kills we found were generally chickens or rabbits. One sheep (but dogs do so much more damage running them into things and grabbing many sheep). Pretty much everything kills sheep…
We are now finding bobcats and bears more often in suburban areas. Bobcat concerns are like coyotes. Bears are proving more troublesome in some places.
Coyotes are typically loaners unless with mom. Once grown they leave for new territory typically. We have them and they’ve never bothered our horses, barn cats or pigs. Not even my older animals. I’m in an urban/surburban area.
Kidding aside, if your pets are housed and your livestock contained (and if they’re not, why not?) are coyotes a major problem?
People around here used to get highly agitated by the sight of a coyote just acting normally. No people were killed by coyotes, despite the panic. Now that everyone has cameras around their houses we apparently have a plague of mountain lions walking around the streets at night (town of almost 40k people) and guess what? Not so many coyotes anymore!
Just like the poster above who mentioned feral pigs, be careful what you wish for. Coyotes aren’t so bad. And they eat a lot of varmints too.
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There IS a documented case of someone in Nova Scotia killed by a coyote. I believe it’s thought they are now crossing with dogs. I’m a huge fan of coyotes and when I lived further out, feuded regularly with coyote hounders, much to the delight of our local CO who hated the practice too. He started parking in my drive and doing his paperwork on the weekends the hounders were active to encourage them to stay away from my farm.
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I just took a wild pheasant hunting trip to the Sandhills of Nebraska. Strange that every single cattle rancher we talked to, both old men/women and young, when we asked what they would like us to should we encounter a coyote is “shoot em.” None of them said “live and let live” or anything like what is suggested here.
I’m not saying one way is right and the other way is wrong. I just found it interesting to find that type of consensus.
That doesn’t answer the question of whether shooting them will reduce the nuisance. How many coyotes do you need to shoot before it makes a difference (or does it ever?)
