Am I paranoid?

[Chicken Fruit]

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I think part of being a responsible owner is being prepared for anything and everything. It's like having bandaids.... before getting a boo-boo!

I DO expect predators! I know my neck of the woods and know that they are just out there waiting for the opportunity to nab one of my chickens. I've had coyotes in my backyard in broad daylight. Have lost cats/kittens to foxes and coyotes in my backyard. My neighbors lost an entire flock to coons. I don't think being too careful and watchful is a bad thing.

As for the sleep? I'm getting old and have insomnia most of the time anyway.

Might as well be watching out for the chickens. It gives me something to do. LOL

lol. Its better than sitting up watching andy griffith all night I suppose!

I just mean that i dont expect to have issues with predators, but i prepare for them anyway. Its a fundamental mentality difference. One prepares and rests, the other prepares and worries.

I prefer the first.

 

[Stonerowfarm]

I'm in with the semi-paranoid crowd I guess. Before last week I would only check once after dark. However three nights/early mornings this week I have been woken up by a fox yipping in the neighbor's paddock. I saw him once and yelled at him to "leave my chickens alone" and he growled and changed direction. He seems to be slowly moving up to the ridge, but he is still far too close for comfort.

The girls are all locked in, but I can't help wandering out there when he wakes me up at 2:00 in the morning - just to be safe.

 

[mmtillman]

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[mmtillman]

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Yes....we too can hear the foxes in the field behind our house. Just knowing they are near by sets my nerves on edge.....

 

[StupidBird]

I've meet more of the neighbors down the back lane while letting the chickens out of Fort Clux into their little run in my pjs, DH's robe and barn boots at the crack of dawn than I've met any other time in the twenty years I've lived here. They all wave and smile as driving by to work.

Yes I'm in the prepared and still paranoid group. The lockup at night would only be vulnerable to a bear (highly unlikely) or a lock-pickin' human. Like the quote "paranoia is a skill", I work on my skills. ps love this site

 

[ivan3]

Paranoia seems, to this chickeneer, a superfluous affection, i.e., `here be chickens, therefore, here be chicken eating vermin'. The constant in the equation; there is nothing paranoic about it.

Have learned to take all necessary precautions (three live traps set at all times and legholds out when fox sign appears). Armed free ranging.

We don't worry about preds, we retire them and maintain an adequate defensive perimeter. What else is there when attempting to maintain a flock of iridescent, ephemeral (gulp), prey animals?

 

[nzpouter]

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glad to know there are others like me.... this with 3 dogs patrolling the area..