TOMTE
Chicks from the Disc
I live in the woods, relatively. Our property is about an acre of clearing which our house sits on, and an acre of woods surrounded by... Lots more woods.
Our current setup is on the side of the house but we're planning on converting an old playhouse at the edge of the woods into a coop/run. Much larger and won't get direct sun to bake them in summer like our current south-ish facing setup does.
My flock of 5 will be a year old at the beginning of July. We started letting them range with supervision when they were about 3 months old. Had plenty of hawk scares (mostly Cooper's, known chicken hunters). We stopped letting them out of the run around late November when there was less cover for them with the leaves gone off the trees and bushes, because a Cooper's had them pinned under a brush pile after nearly grabbing one of the girls.
We have a pair of red-shouldered hawks that fly over almost daily and watch the girls but haven't hunted them, even while nesting and raising chicks themselves in a tree on a neighbor's property. I've seen/heard red tails, but they don't seem interested, so far.
We have confirmed raccoons, foxes, and large cats (domestic and potentially bobcat). Coyotes and stray dogs and weasels wouldn't be a surprise either. Or fishers, despite them not being confirmed in this area of Michigan. There are several dens/burrows from all different critters on our property.
From my personal experience chickens who have access to both wooded and open areas prefer to stay near the woods so they can dart to the relative safety of the underbrush. They tend to stick to the shade and near covered areas (a large stump surrounded by ferns, a patch of fir trees, an upturned wheelbarrow...) on their way back up to the run.
My chickens aren't very flighty. They can fly and jump up onto (very) low branches but it seems like they'd rather escape under rather than above.
They know what "hawk" means so if I manage to spot one before they do and shout a warning, they freeze and look around. But I trust that they instinctually know what they're doing, so I try not to stress about it much. Most of their ranging time is unsupervised. I check on them every half hour or so and sometimes accompany them while they forage for a few minutes, but mostly, they're on their own. I only tend to intervene when one is by herself, and I lead her back to her sisters (or the nest box, depending on the situation). I don't follow them into the woods because 1) they rarely go more than 5 meters or so in, and 2) it's too overgrown with invasive autumn olive and honeysuckle. Can hardly pick my way through the path anymore that used to cut through the woods when we first moved here
Grass holds a lot of yummy critters for chooks to eat like moths, flies, caterpillars, and spiders, and while my girls enjoy picking through the grass in the yard for goodies (and eating the grass itself), they seem to have more success under leaf litter. Lots of worms, earwigs, ants, spiders, slugs, mice, shrews... Grass is easier for prey to escape into and hide within than dead leaves which are easily scratched away.
That's what I've observed, at least. They also have some luck picking bugs off of low hanging branches and smaller plants that grow on the forest floor like mayapples, raspberry, and virginia creeper.
How long they spend ranging varies day by day and by season. Currently they're getting at least 2 or 3 hours a day. Sometimes more, if I let them out again for an hour or 2 before roosting time.
As far as I know, everybody lays in the nest boxes. Wouldn't be surprised to find a hidden nest somewhere though, there's so many potentially great spots for a hen to hunker down and go broody.
I sometimes throw eggs out into the yard/woods for the wild animals, if they're extra dirty or cracked for example. The wild animals rarely find them before the chickens do and sometimes the eggs sit on the ground for days before something finally gets to them. I don't know what does take them, other than the chickens. Maybe squirrels, maybe crows, maybe raccoons or foxes. We don't have trail cams but dad and I would love to have them.
I don't worry about my egg offerings attracting predators. I'm not one to assume that the mere presence of a predator means my chickens are in immediate danger. If that were the case then my girls would all be dead by now. I do believe however that you can strike a balance with nature through lots of education on one's own part about the local ecosystem and some trial and error. Losing chickens is inevitable at some point, either way.
Personally, I'd rather my flock be happy and able to live as close to natural as possible, able to be active chickens and risk the predators, than keep them always shut in a run of any size.
Generally, I think the more chickens allowed to experience, and when they're allowed to use most or all of their chicken senses and behaviors, the more they learn from and adapt to a variety of situations, including dangerous ones.
That's not to say I'd just let a predator take one of my girls without at least trying to drive it off first. My role in the flock is basically part-time weird-looking rooster. I escort them to and from the nest box. When they squat for me I "breed" them by petting their backs. I find and give them treats. I guard them while they dirt bathe, separate them when their fights get too serious, scold them when they peck me too hard, herd/lead them around the yard as they forage, and when I see a hawk watching them I alert them, keep an eye on it, and wave my arms and shout at it if it gets too close until it flies away. I'd do the same for any other predator.
Lots of chicken shelters throughout the area if you don't have much underbrush are essential. Many birds of prey hunt by waiting on high branches and scanning the forest floor. Accipiters like Cooper's are notoriously agile in forest habitats and will chase birds and squirrels through the trees like it's nothing. Juveniles are especially bold but less successful hunters. That doesn't mean they won't injure or kill a chicken on impact, though.
Fishers also hunt from up in trees and are very agile both in the trees and on the ground.
Brush piles can serve as great shelter for chickens but also for certain predators (and pests) so it's a good idea to check/rotate (burn and replace/relocate) them often.
Flies love the shade and relative dampness of forests so definitely keep things clean to prevent flystrike.
Oh! The wildlife also serve as great alarm systems that my chickens really pay attention and react to. Blue jays, crows, robins, chipmunks, chickadees, titmice, sparrows, finches, woodpeckers... They all have specific alarm calls for different types of predators and my girls seem to have picked up on at least a few of them! Maybe it's just me but sometimes it seems like they follow the wild birds as they forage around the yard, maybe so they can take cues from them about what's happening in the area (as well as steal the goodies)
(Not to mention the delicious fledglings they find when they follow the chipping sparrows
)
What I worry about most (besides flystrike. 3/5 girls have lazy cloaca and/or mega butt fluff, dangit) is branches and trees falling. It happens all the time in our woods. Lots of poplars that don't live long but grow fast and fall virtually every windstorm. Dead and heavy limbs come down a lot too, especially in winter. Not sure what to do about that, we have no money to hire someone to take out the widowmakers.
Anyway.
I think once we start building the new setup, critter-proofing it will be the most annoying part. Mice, squirrels, skunks, voles, probably rats too and who knows what else use it as their own personal clubhouse and cafeteria, there's a groundhog that has lived underneath it in previous years... There's going to be so much hardware cloth involved...
Ok I've blabbed on long enough (can't think of what else to bring up
)
Our current setup is on the side of the house but we're planning on converting an old playhouse at the edge of the woods into a coop/run. Much larger and won't get direct sun to bake them in summer like our current south-ish facing setup does.
My flock of 5 will be a year old at the beginning of July. We started letting them range with supervision when they were about 3 months old. Had plenty of hawk scares (mostly Cooper's, known chicken hunters). We stopped letting them out of the run around late November when there was less cover for them with the leaves gone off the trees and bushes, because a Cooper's had them pinned under a brush pile after nearly grabbing one of the girls.
We have a pair of red-shouldered hawks that fly over almost daily and watch the girls but haven't hunted them, even while nesting and raising chicks themselves in a tree on a neighbor's property. I've seen/heard red tails, but they don't seem interested, so far.
We have confirmed raccoons, foxes, and large cats (domestic and potentially bobcat). Coyotes and stray dogs and weasels wouldn't be a surprise either. Or fishers, despite them not being confirmed in this area of Michigan. There are several dens/burrows from all different critters on our property.
From my personal experience chickens who have access to both wooded and open areas prefer to stay near the woods so they can dart to the relative safety of the underbrush. They tend to stick to the shade and near covered areas (a large stump surrounded by ferns, a patch of fir trees, an upturned wheelbarrow...) on their way back up to the run.
My chickens aren't very flighty. They can fly and jump up onto (very) low branches but it seems like they'd rather escape under rather than above.
They know what "hawk" means so if I manage to spot one before they do and shout a warning, they freeze and look around. But I trust that they instinctually know what they're doing, so I try not to stress about it much. Most of their ranging time is unsupervised. I check on them every half hour or so and sometimes accompany them while they forage for a few minutes, but mostly, they're on their own. I only tend to intervene when one is by herself, and I lead her back to her sisters (or the nest box, depending on the situation). I don't follow them into the woods because 1) they rarely go more than 5 meters or so in, and 2) it's too overgrown with invasive autumn olive and honeysuckle. Can hardly pick my way through the path anymore that used to cut through the woods when we first moved here
Grass holds a lot of yummy critters for chooks to eat like moths, flies, caterpillars, and spiders, and while my girls enjoy picking through the grass in the yard for goodies (and eating the grass itself), they seem to have more success under leaf litter. Lots of worms, earwigs, ants, spiders, slugs, mice, shrews... Grass is easier for prey to escape into and hide within than dead leaves which are easily scratched away.
That's what I've observed, at least. They also have some luck picking bugs off of low hanging branches and smaller plants that grow on the forest floor like mayapples, raspberry, and virginia creeper.
How long they spend ranging varies day by day and by season. Currently they're getting at least 2 or 3 hours a day. Sometimes more, if I let them out again for an hour or 2 before roosting time.
As far as I know, everybody lays in the nest boxes. Wouldn't be surprised to find a hidden nest somewhere though, there's so many potentially great spots for a hen to hunker down and go broody.
I sometimes throw eggs out into the yard/woods for the wild animals, if they're extra dirty or cracked for example. The wild animals rarely find them before the chickens do and sometimes the eggs sit on the ground for days before something finally gets to them. I don't know what does take them, other than the chickens. Maybe squirrels, maybe crows, maybe raccoons or foxes. We don't have trail cams but dad and I would love to have them.
I don't worry about my egg offerings attracting predators. I'm not one to assume that the mere presence of a predator means my chickens are in immediate danger. If that were the case then my girls would all be dead by now. I do believe however that you can strike a balance with nature through lots of education on one's own part about the local ecosystem and some trial and error. Losing chickens is inevitable at some point, either way.
Personally, I'd rather my flock be happy and able to live as close to natural as possible, able to be active chickens and risk the predators, than keep them always shut in a run of any size.
Generally, I think the more chickens allowed to experience, and when they're allowed to use most or all of their chicken senses and behaviors, the more they learn from and adapt to a variety of situations, including dangerous ones.
That's not to say I'd just let a predator take one of my girls without at least trying to drive it off first. My role in the flock is basically part-time weird-looking rooster. I escort them to and from the nest box. When they squat for me I "breed" them by petting their backs. I find and give them treats. I guard them while they dirt bathe, separate them when their fights get too serious, scold them when they peck me too hard, herd/lead them around the yard as they forage, and when I see a hawk watching them I alert them, keep an eye on it, and wave my arms and shout at it if it gets too close until it flies away. I'd do the same for any other predator.
Lots of chicken shelters throughout the area if you don't have much underbrush are essential. Many birds of prey hunt by waiting on high branches and scanning the forest floor. Accipiters like Cooper's are notoriously agile in forest habitats and will chase birds and squirrels through the trees like it's nothing. Juveniles are especially bold but less successful hunters. That doesn't mean they won't injure or kill a chicken on impact, though.
Fishers also hunt from up in trees and are very agile both in the trees and on the ground.
Brush piles can serve as great shelter for chickens but also for certain predators (and pests) so it's a good idea to check/rotate (burn and replace/relocate) them often.
Flies love the shade and relative dampness of forests so definitely keep things clean to prevent flystrike.
Oh! The wildlife also serve as great alarm systems that my chickens really pay attention and react to. Blue jays, crows, robins, chipmunks, chickadees, titmice, sparrows, finches, woodpeckers... They all have specific alarm calls for different types of predators and my girls seem to have picked up on at least a few of them! Maybe it's just me but sometimes it seems like they follow the wild birds as they forage around the yard, maybe so they can take cues from them about what's happening in the area (as well as steal the goodies)
(Not to mention the delicious fledglings they find when they follow the chipping sparrows
)What I worry about most (besides flystrike. 3/5 girls have lazy cloaca and/or mega butt fluff, dangit) is branches and trees falling. It happens all the time in our woods. Lots of poplars that don't live long but grow fast and fall virtually every windstorm. Dead and heavy limbs come down a lot too, especially in winter. Not sure what to do about that, we have no money to hire someone to take out the widowmakers.
Anyway.
I think once we start building the new setup, critter-proofing it will be the most annoying part. Mice, squirrels, skunks, voles, probably rats too and who knows what else use it as their own personal clubhouse and cafeteria, there's a groundhog that has lived underneath it in previous years... There's going to be so much hardware cloth involved...
Ok I've blabbed on long enough (can't think of what else to bring up
)
