Turkeys, Goats, Donkey...Flock Guardians?

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Living in proximity to wildlife can be a two-sided coin where chicken safety is concerned. We've had 2 gray fox moms, plus the dads, bring kits into our yard (when we had no dog) for a Romper Room fest--11 total foxes! They'd come to eat sunflower seeds that the songbirds had billed out of the feeders; not interested in trying to catch the birds. Sunning themselves on landscape rocks beside the Frog Pond near our porch. It really was cool. I had a pesty armadillo (Ms. Mudpie) who insisted on joining my hens for breakfast in the barn each morning for a few months. Ms. M learned my routine and would waddle into the barn when she'd see arrive. She was not afraid of me in the least. Ate off the same "treat plates" as my hens. She wandered into my feed room once and refused to leave, attempting to stand firm as I shoved her out the door, growling at me the entire time ;). Stubby Squirrel, who would come running from across the yard when we called her, begging for a treat each time we went outside. Made her own "doorway" by gnawing a small hole in the porch screen. Thanks, Stubby! At least she saved us from always having to open the screen door for her! Great memories of wildlife encounters. Getting to see and appreciate things folks would never believe.

But I digress! If your husband wants to fence in your 2 acres I'd say go for it! I have 5' no-climb horse fence for my Barn Pasture and the Barnyard where my hens wander around during daylight hours. Electrified with a strand of hot tape along the top and hot wire along the bottom of the Barnyard (both strands are mounted on the outside). I use 2x4 mesh fence pieces to add "aprons" extending out from the bottom of the fence on the outside if I discover holes being dug. Requires due diligence for monitoring, but has kept out many a terrestrial predator for years. I notice your yard is one wide-open space, a perfect flight path for raptors. If you could place some hen hide-a-ways (picnic table, pallet hut, etc) out there it would help provide cover if your chickens come under attack. You might suspend some heavy duty avian netting like a canopy, coming off from one side of the run. We have trees and shrubs around the barn and in the Barn Pasture so hens can quickly duck underneath if they feel threatened.

IMHO, adding a critter to be flock guardian means management, training, vaccinations (dogs/livestock), feeding, watering, manure/poop management, $,$, etc. etc. You'd still likely need a fenced area for containment of the guardian animal, too. Maybe start with fencing and some hide-a-ways first.
Best of luck!
 
texsuze said:
Living in proximity to wildlife can be a two-sided coin where chicken safety is concerned. We've had 2 gray fox moms, plus the dads, bring kits into our yard (when we had no dog) for a Romper Room fest--11 total foxes! They'd come to eat sunflower seeds that the songbirds had billed out of the feeders; not interested in trying to catch the birds. Sunning themselves on landscape rocks beside the Frog Pond near our porch. It really was cool. I had a pesty armadillo (Ms. Mudpie) who insisted on joining my hens for breakfast in the barn each morning for a few months. Ms. M learned my routine and would waddle into the barn when she'd see arrive. She was not afraid of me in the least. Ate off the same "treat plates" as my hens. She wandered into my feed room once and refused to leave, attempting to stand firm as I shoved her out the door, growling at me the entire time ;). Stubby Squirrel, who would come running from across the yard when we called her, begging for a treat each time we went outside. Made her own "doorway" by gnawing a small hole in the porch screen. Thanks, Stubby! At least she saved us from always having to open the screen door for her! Great memories of wildlife encounters. Getting to see and appreciate things folks would never believe.

But I digress! If your husband wants to fence in your 2 acres I'd say go for it! I have 5' no-climb horse fence for my Barn Pasture and the Barnyard where my hens wander around during daylight hours. Electrified with a strand of hot tape along the top and hot wire along the bottom of the Barnyard (both strands are mounted on the outside). I use 2x4 mesh fence pieces to add "aprons" extending out from the bottom of the fence on the outside if I discover holes being dug. Requires due diligence for monitoring, but has kept out many a terrestrial predator for years. I notice your yard is one wide-open space, a perfect flight path for raptors. If you could place some hen hide-a-ways (picnic table, pallet hut, etc) out there it would help provide cover if your chickens come under attack. You might suspend some heavy duty avian netting like a canopy, coming off from one side of the run. We have trees and shrubs around the barn and in the Barn Pasture so hens can quickly duck underneath if they feel threatened.

IMHO, adding a critter to be flock guardian means management, training, vaccinations (dogs/livestock), feeding, watering, manure/poop management, $,$, etc. etc. You'd still likely need a fenced area for containment of the guardian animal, too. Maybe start with fencing and some hide-a-ways first.
Best of luck!
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Love your reply, Ms. Mudpie sounds like a character! 😆 You have an appreciation for nature's encounters also! It made me smile just reading about it.

I visited a place that had pheasants...what humongous pens they had! I was thinking how cool would that be to get a 100'x100' protective flight area for safe winter hawk season pigeon flying...because I only can let them free fly & distance fly for venues between April & August...sometimes a few flights in Sept. or early Oct. "IF" we get a warm Autumm, but that's only on that certain weather cycle, El Nino/La Nina cycles I believe...they say we're getting hit with a doozy 2023. Might be something to that, because right now here it is February, we should have a few feet of snow on the ground, yet we're gonna hit 60s, maybe 70 this week, and my Tiger Lily's, Daffodils are all starting to show shoots, and my blueberry plants have buds & are springing to life, which is unheard of this early. Anyway, sorry I'm getting off topic, I seem to do that a lot lately .

I remember having dogs, had them most of my life. I raised 10 adorable pups once, it was wonderful at the time, like having young children. Now, however, I really don't miss all the dog hair. I know training is essential. I seemed to have much more free time, energy, as well as patience, in my 20s & 30s. Now there's very little free time, really None to be honest, because I never seem to get caught up...been running behind in literally Everything, since I had cancer at 36...I don't know why either...I seem to be always be thinking of 20 things simultaneously, get sidetracked with the next chore, or when I walk to a place for 1 tool & see something else that needs doing Right Now, so the 1st chore gets put off, never gets done til later, when I should've been doing yet another chore entirely...& we all know any animal injury or issue takes immediate precedence, but yeah, I'm alway doing several things at once...I never used to be like that, is it chemo brain, typical Woman juggling & multitasking syndrome or just part of getting old? 😆 I wonder. I thought life was supposed to slow down or calm down as we got older, but my life has done just the opposite...Not that I'm complaining, as I like being busy, but it would be very difficult adding one more thing to the to-do list at this point. I know me with dogs, too...I hug them often, brush them & love taking them everywhere with me...the dog would be with me more than the chickens outside, I already know it. So even if I could get a livestock guardian dog about 6 to 8 mos. old, that already had preliminary basic training, it would be more like my constant sidekick, a child with fur 😆 🤣 😂.

I'm going to talk to hubby about the to-do lists around here...yup, that's Listsssss...notice it's plural 😆. Adding fencing to list now. Oh, he's just gonna love me this spring... 😁 😂
 
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Personally, I wouldn't mix turkey with my chickens
My black Spanish tom just killed one of my brahma. Literally held her down, pulled her eyes out, and peeled all the skin off of her face/neck. She was still alive when my husband found her and we had to cull her and separate the turkey.
 
I say go for an LGD. They should be able to keep most of the land predators at bay. But I should warn you, get an LGD and not a mix, or a protection dog. Those will protect the land, but not your birds
 
I have turkeys, geese, donkeys, and goats, along with my ducks and chickens. Turkeys and geese will harass other poultry at best, and will sometimes kill them. Not good to mix the species in my experiences.

Donkeys are hit and miss. Goats will do nothing but run from predators. I still experience losses on free range birds yearly. The only thing that works is predator proof pens. Relying on other species will never work 100% of the time.
 
Wow on your wildlife sightings. We see foxes here frequently, but they are here looking for chicken dinner. I can also confirm that goats do not make good guardian animals. The foxes don't hesitate to pass through my goat pen to get to my chickens.
 

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