My Granddaddy told me about being stalked by a cougar late at night while he was coming home from 'sparking' my grandmother. Fortunately for my future DNA the combination of the horse, wagon, and granddad was off putting for the lion and he melted back into the Sand Mountain forest.
And remember that once you FORCE them to inhabit your coop they still may prefer to roost in the weeds.
Take your chances. Chickens who roost in the sticks are gambling men who IMHO would rather take the chance of a GHO eating them instead of Red Roost Mites doing it.
The wrens around my place tend to roost inside empity feed sacks in which I store used hay twine. There are usually two wrens in a feed bag, I guess because this helps the tiny little wrens better keep their tootsies warm.
Any way the goal seems to be free range chickens, So I decided to post...
I guess that makes the American Game Cock a good rooster because game cocks are bred to sacrifice their own life before they allow an interloper rooster steal their flock.
If you are standing by and a hawk attacks you can usually save your chickens because a hawk is a very inefficient killer of...
Perhaps you Father-in-Law needs to take a short class on how electricity works.
Without intending to hijack this thread I am posting this list of fetal Puma, Cougar, Mountain Lion attacks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America
The bottom line is to...
1. Chickens are not human.
2. If you think that chickens are human, refer to statement #1.
Sometimes chickens just don't understand how the human mind works. This is one of those times. What is it about "Free Range" that you are finding so hard to understand?
15 eggs of the same size that the hen normally lays is not to many eggs for a hen to cover. Hens will sit tightly and loosely on her eggs in response to the temperature of her clutch. Besides hens naturally move or turn her eggs up to 100 times per day. At any rate it is forever too late...
Hawks n the sky is not a big danger to chickens, but if the same hawk is sitting on the top of your garage or in a tree in your yard then that hawk is a danger to your poultry...
I have seen yards of 1,500 roosters where they were all on string walks or tethered and there will always be a favored roosters or two on these yards who will, lets say get the majority of the action.
The healthiest roosters' semen will also remain violable longer imho.
No rooster is treat better in life than a gamecock.
Then at 2 or 3 years old he is asked to fight for his right to continue living and does it gladly.
.
Laying pellets or laying mash normally have about 3 to 5 % limestone or calcium carbonate content. Hens under normal conditions will only eat oyster shell if and when they feel the need for it. This makes oyster shell the cheapest feed in your chicken coop. so don't skimp on it.
You can literally trap a sack full of possums by belaboring them around its head and shoulders with a fly swatter. Once the possum sulls up, plays dead, or starts playing possum just resist the urge to give it some sugar. Possums don't like to smooch.
After seeing your location I see that your are in your Summer Months now. I advise you to look into "Eye Worms"
This pest is usually associated with wet weather and is spread by flies.