1 acre land

[gclarrot]

I'm hoping for another do to replace the one that I had pass away 2 years ago. But I do understand about hawks. I've had a few go after mine. But we have a mutual agreement now. I put out left over meat for them and they leave my chickens alone.

It's the foxes, racoons, and feral cats I have issues with. Every so often a cocky possum

Maybe do an electric fence around the perimeter of your yard where you plan to "free range" them? if theyre just in the sideyard it may be simple to just go ahead and do it to make sure nothing comes around them while theyre out there unsupervised.


Unfortunately, we have a family of raccoons my neighbor hand feeds (don't get me into it...its a handslap to the face.) The raccoon family has been there for 15 years and we've been here only four. He has said he would call in wildlife protection if they come to our ladies when they move into their big girl home. I am happy he is taking responsibility before something happens. I am very lucky to have him as a neighbor.

The last time I saw a raccoon was last spring, and I let my girl out and she stood at the tree with her heckles up making sure the raccoon knew whose yard it was and whose it wasn't. My male lab wouldn't do any thing, I don't assume.

Maybe accidentally kill a chicken - also why we have a hardware cloth run.


Opossums, I see quite a bit in my front yard but the open wooded area at the end of the road has zero fences around their homes. The foxes, and the bears...I have only seen in our road but never have I heard a report of a neigbor having one in their fenced yard. Although, it is a problem waiting to happen. We've had a ton of development recently in our area (400+ additional homes in 15 mile radius around us). We have seen an uptick in fox sightings. A neighbor mentioned she saw one last night in her yard.

I can't imagine losing one of my ladies to something I could have tried to personally prevent. My husband loves our chicks as much as I love them. He fort knoxed it (except the predator cam, and electric fence).

 

[Rooapalooza]

oh lord.

My lab tends to keep the raccoons and opossum out as she’s barks lot. I haven’t seen one yet.
I have no idea how the family behind me is doing though as he has chickens and ducks.

My yard is fenced in, too.
Our neighbors without a fence and an uncovered run down the street may learn the hard way.
I warned him yesterday but he didn’t seem to open to my recommendation.

He just built his coop and he’s awaiting his chicks.

In my experience ducks are too big for hawks. Chickens are actually pretty fast learners. I have an uncovered acre that mine free range. I've lost a couple chicks when they are at the age where their mom's are done with them but not full grown yet. After that the others seem to have learned their lessons and are very good about seeking cover when a hawk is nearby. I've never lost an adult to a hawk.

 

[Rooapalooza]

Okay thank you. I'd have to look up how much sq feet that part of the yard is then. I don't want too many. But I do like hatching and raising my own meat too. I also want to put in a quail hutch but not too sure. We got a lot of feral cats that like to pull them through fencing and eat them

If you are going to have them using your entire area, net works better than fence to keep them in. It won't keep out predators but the chickens can't get out of it because they can't fly on top of it. With an actual fence they'll just fly onto it and then hop off to the other side.

I raise quail on the ground outside. You need to use hardware cloth so nothing can pull them through. You should do the same thing for the night-time chicken coops. 1/2in or 1/4in, nothing bigger.

 

[gclarrot]

In my experience ducks are too big for hawks. Chickens are actually pretty fast learners. I have an uncovered acre that mine free range. I've lost a couple chicks when they are at the age where their mom's are done with them but not full grown yet. After that the others seem to have learned their lessons and are very good about seeking cover when a hawk is nearby. I've never lost an adult to a hawk.

That's comforting to hear! This is my first year of having chickens (ive planned for a whole year..these past two months just it made it easier for me!).
I've bought a roll of predator tape for my side yard, also. So when they're out when I am out..it's just comforting to know that they're not going to be picked up.

Good thing to hear also, no wonder why my neighbors outside cats has yet to be picked up! they're too big!

 

[Rooapalooza]

That's comforting to hear! This is my first year of having chickens (ive planned for a whole year..these past two months just it made it easier for me!).
I've bought a roll of predator tape for my side yard, also. So when they're out when I am out..it's just comforting to know that they're not going to be picked up.

Good thing to hear also, no wonder why my neighbors outside cats has yet to be picked up! they're too big!

Most common hawks are only a couple pounds. They look so big and intimidating but it's mostly just feathers, lol.
They can't carry off animals that weigh more than they do, although they can kill them on the ground and eat them there. I've seen videos of that. I would assume that most hawks would be less likely to try that in areas with a lot of human/dog traffic.

I did once have a hawk harassing my quail cage that wouldn't go away unless I charged at it, and even then would come right back the moment I left. After weeks of effort it managed to get inside the cage to eat a quail, but then it got stuck and I had to let it out. It did not try to carry any quail off with it. I don't know how common it is for hawks to get fixated like that.