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Quote: I have a feeling this will be our challenge as well - we live not too far from you and close to Great Blue Hill, so hawks are plentiful. But I was thinking of a temporary Quonset-hut run made from that white plastic tubing used by plumbers, covered with deer netting. The theory is to...

In fact, my stupid neighbor is putting food out for the raccoons and I'm sure she's drawing more than just coons. We did encourage the fox to abandon her den, however, other than that, we've never killed or trapped any predators here. Doubt the neighbors have. So we know then what the foxes are...

Quote: Depending on the source, I've read as much as an entire acre for EACH bird would be needed to raise them completely on a free-range scheme. That would be NO supplemental feed from you - strictly what they can find by foraging. Chickens, it seems, are rapacious feeders and will...

Foxes, at least, and likely all preds are not neccessarily "intelligent," although they seem so to us. Wary, cagey, stealthy, surely, but not neccessarily intelligent. But they are highly adaptable and do learn responsively, a key to their success. I dont suppose hangin rotting carcasses on...

Quote: Thats one place I was heading with my question. The natural food of preds is their natural food. In the case of foxes, thats rodents and so on. However, there is a theory that if they arent taught to avoid the habitations of humans, they won't. Soon their offspring have the habit and...

Quote: Let me ask, Cyn, is anyone in your vicinity preying on the predators themselves with poisoning, trapping/dispatch and/or hunting?

Quote: This really goes to the heart of it, dixygirl. What you suggest is called temporary sheltering, penning or paddock and pasture rearing. It has had a lot of names over the decades. All management methods have their drawbacks, but these make for a fine compromise. What is wanted is...

Quote: One of the better statements on the matter. True free-ranging is not practical for most of us. It certainly does little for the chickens. Yes, there is the idealistic, even Pollyanna-esque concept of free-ranging. And it does seem pleasant on the surface, in a tie-dyed, tambourine...

Thanks to both of you. {{{{{{ hugs }}}}}}

Quote: One of the better statements on the matter. True free-ranging is not practical for most of us. It certainly does little for the chickens. Yes, there is the idealistic, even Pollyanna-esque concept of free-ranging. And it does seem pleasant on the surface, in a tie-dyed, tambourine...