Alternatives to Bullets

[centrarchid]

Handily, most of the predators in my area are simply repelled. I have been doing this for some time and have a good number of birds in very close proximity to a lot of wildlife. Most of my birds spend their entire lives in a field. Every once in a while a predator figures out how to defeat my repelling systems. This occurs not every year but when it does lethal force used to prevent loss of chickens. Flexibility in approach should never be ruled out. Going only to killing or never doing it is not something I see in people that keep birds for long periods of time.

 

[Catnip5]

Chickengeorgetto please don't be rude to the OP obviously the electric fence is working out great. Catnip, can you post pics of your chickens?

I can indeed! Here are a few pics of the girls ~ The dirty dozen dames I call them - all named after classic Hollywood icons.


Blueberries & Bugs!

Brigit Bardot ~ Appenzeller Spitzhauben

Wild ducks enjoy the pond on the other side of the fence - chickens stay safe inside the fence.

The now infamous ledge where the fox launched an attack, twice.

Spoiling the girls with fresh corn!

Did someone say treats?

Chillin' on the front stoop of the coop.

 

[dekel18042]

Another piece of the puzzle is that foxes, unless very young, are not likely to go into live traps. If you find a way to make that happen, let me know please.

Please let everyone know. We've tried every trick in the book, but still haven't caught a fox. Everything else (including our rooster). but no fox.

 

[Free Feather]

I absolutely love this thread! It seems the predators and pests forum is dominated by the thinking that all animals that are not domesticated or serve an immediate discernible purpose to humans better just bow or hide all their lives if they want to stay alive. There really is no where for the predators to live or eat if everyone is killing them and kicking them out of everywhere people live (pretty much everywhere). It makes me so sad. I love my chickens, but I have to be the boo-ed severe minority and say the natural, native population is a priority to me. I am happy to see you are not taking the well-trod, bloody path and are doing what is right regardless of the popular opinion.

 

[CrowHollowFarm]

At some point you have to decide, am I running a poultry farm or a soup kitchen for every predator that wants a meal. If you really want to get phylosophical, why disrupt the wildlife natural habits and feeding patterns. Your chickens are changing the way they feed and raise young. They get comfortable as that for a food source and then struggle to find food when they are gone. Also the young may not learn all natural ways to catch food if you keep your buffet open. Maybe if I wanted to be in such harmony with nature I wouldn't own chickens or livestock. I love nature as much as the next, but you have to decide sometime. Just my opinion.

 

[MeepBeep]

There really is no where for the predators to live or eat if everyone is killing them and kicking them out of everywhere people live (pretty much everywhere). It makes me so sad. I love my chickens, but I have to be the boo-ed severe minority and say the natural, native population is a priority to me.

The blunt reality is, if the native animals are a priority and you are not going to exercise 'killing them (predators) and kicking them (predators) out of '' where you live, you won't have any chickens left at the end of the day... There has to be a line drawn somewhere where you decide to allow your chickens the use all or part of your land or you allow the predators the use all or part of your land, they simply will not exist in harmony sharing the land without losses or seclusion by one or both sides...

It all boils down to where you draw the line be it using non-lethal methods to 'kick them out' or use lethal methods to 'kill them' to provide a safe environment for your chickens, or even for yourself for that matter...

I also find that many people seem to deny (or refuse to accept) humans natural role in nature, that being for good or bad that humans are the number one apex predator on this planet, that is our natural role...

 

[Free Feather]

The stuff you are preaching as the blunt reality is all opinion. You are not tough or wise because you think like that, nor am I weak for not "coming to realize' this. It is stronger to do what is right no matter what everyone else believes, not take the easy way out because everyone else does. If you are not willing to take loss, keep them penned. These predators belong here more than the chickens, and even most people, do.

If you really accepted your role in nature, you would not "take revenge" when people are eaten by other animals, and you would not create cities void of animals. There are predators that eat people, yet once a person is eating like nature intended, we eradicate the predators. Say what you will, I can not stop you, but we are meant to be eaten and have our population kept under control. We think that anywhere where we want to live should be free of all animals that eat flesh. That is not the way it is intended to be.

 

[CrowHollowFarm]

The stuff you are preaching as the blunt reality is all opinion. You are not tough or wise because you think like that, nor am I weak for not "coming to realize' this. It is stronger to do what is right no matter what everyone else believes, not take the easy way out because everyone else does. If you are not willing to take loss, keep them penned. These predators belong here more than the chickens, and even most people, do.

If you really accepted your role in nature, you would not "take revenge" when people are eaten by other animals, and you would not create cities void of animals. There are predators that eat people, yet once a person is eating like nature intended, we eradicate the predators. Say what you will, I can not stop you, but we are meant to be eaten and have our population kept under control. We think that anywhere where we want to live should be free of all animals that eat flesh. That is not the way it is intended to be.

I stated that my post was just my opinion. Back to my question, why disrupt nature at all with a non native species like chickens?

 

[MeepBeep]

The stuff you are preaching as the blunt reality is all opinion.

Please feel free to point out what part of what I said was blunt reality that is false... Are you saying predators and prey can live in harmony with no losses?

 

[amiachicknorwat]

LOL: Funny, but I've yet to feed a predator. Our cat acted as a test predator, so right from the start we were vigilant, learning how to protect our investment. .... my partner now interjects that our fences aren't dig-proof, cuz we didn't dig them into the ground. Still, where we live (in S.E. BC) while there is plenty of wildlife here, tho in our immediate surrounds we have neighbours with dogs and fruit trees, providing distraction from us as they're attractive to wildlife. PLus we have good perimeter fencing beyond our coop's. We've only had our chicks'n hens 2 months and already we got fishing line filament criss-crossed over top of the run vs. raptors and we do have over 6ft deer fencing, even if it's not dug into the ground vs. borrowers around our coop. So are you suggesting we kill predatorial wildlife to teach them to stick to wild forage when we, so called humans, have encroached upon and decimated too much of their habitat? Funny, but I dont get what you meant, i think, i hope.