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Thanks for the comments on peacock interest in fish! In my own experience here, raccoons account for fish loss.

The hen house had two doors. One for us, and one for the chickens. The 'human door' was never breached. The 'chicken door' was about 9 inches by 9 inches, and was located at the top of a stair inside the run. The door was based on an automatic door design, but only used gravity and human...

Another update. All the chickens are gone. Back in May, a raccoon killed every chicken in the hen house. There were two surviving chickens that had moved out. They were roosting in trees and nothing happened to them. I guess we could have forced them back into the empty hen house, but it...

Just a follow up... The peacock lived with us for over a year. It lived in a big tree next to the house. It was a real joy to have around. He was beautiful, if messy. A neighbor was less enchanted. He said the peacock had eaten every fish in his fish pond. This spring, he started...

Hokum Coco wrote: >You do not have to do much research on this site to accomplish that as you probably already know. Actually, there are too many ideas... It is always tough, and some what a lifestyle issue. One night, there will be a door left half open, or a fence will be breached, and...

We have been raising chickens here for 6 years, and they have always been free range. We have had as many as 16 chicken roaming around, but now they are all gone. I'm tired of losing chickens to predators. Losing a chicken is no fun. Back in May, a raccoon killed every chicken in the hen...

Very cool!

Half a mile in pursuit of a critter? Is this to catch it or just scare it off?

HEChicken, I'm pretty sure we have the mice problem you mention. The mice are probably joined by rats, too. We don't use electronic doors. To be honest, we are hit and miss about locking the chickens up. An electronic door would solve this. We have lost chickens at dusk, though. It is my...

Our friendly peacock disappeared a week or two ago. Before he disappeared, he seemed to start roaming more. We had heard reports from neighbors seeing him a half a mile up the river, in the direction of his original home. If we were to raise a peacock ourselves (free range, of course), would...

When trying to feed our free-range chickens without feeding our dogs, the raccoons, the rats, the squirrels and opossums, I'm reminded of the old riddle about a man who has to get a fox, a chicken, and a sack of corn across a river. As it stands, we have a hen-house with a small enclosed pen...

>If you make him think that the sky will fall if he is on the porch.. I read this to my DW. She replied, "I don't want him to leave forever!" >Build him a giant bird house.. OK. 4 feet by 4 feet? Up in a tree? How do we get Mr. Peacock to move in? Thanks! Mark

A peacock adopted us this fall. We have 7 to 10 free range chickens, so he is just one more bird on the hobby-farm. The dogs have gotten adjusted to it, just as they adjusted to the chickens. Several years ago, we had trouble with the chickens settling in on our porch to get out of the heat...

>Your male will seek shade during the hottest part of the day, probably on the ground. True. He has been hanging out on our covered porch during the afternoons. That's not particularly welcome. Our free-range chickens were doing that last year and made a big mess. This year, we have been...

I thought I'd update this story. In mid-April we took a week long trip and had a friend care for our chickens, goats, etc. We warned our friend about the rooster. At first, things when well. On the 3rd night, the rooster attacked our friend. She called on her teen age boys who were helping...

We live in the country and currently have 7 free-range chicken. Over the last month or two, a wild peacock has started visiting us. He is spending more time with us this week, but he may disappear again tomorrow. There was a woman raising peafowl up the road a few miles. She passed a way a...

We have a 2 year old free-range rooster. It is pretty aggressive. I've read the instructions on rooster behavior modification (catch and hold will modify behavior). He and I have come to terms. It is still a bit stressful, since I never know when he will pick a fight, but I know what to do...

This morning, DW reported that one of our 3 year old hens looked wobbly while heading down to the coop last night. This morning, she didn't want to leave and stayed inside. We have not had any 'sick' chickens in the past 4 years since we started keeping them. Our chickens free range, so...

I think you are right. They can handle everything fine, as long as we provide a little protection, food and water. This is going to sound pretty trite, but I'm humbled, amazed and delighted. Thanks for all the help! Mark

We had 9 chicks hatch, today! We are very much amazed. We didn't think it would really happen. DW heard chirping sounds this morning from the horse feeder. We have moved the chicks and mom into a cat crate, and set the crate in a chicken tractor (6x6 pen). Everyone settled down for the...