Challenges of living in the woods with chickens

[ColoradoChicken89]

My LGD has never harmed anything she's supposed to be protecting. I think most breeds naturally protect anything they're raised around as a puppy. Perhaps it's a breed thing because LGD do come from several different families of dog. When I hear about the LGD murder-phase thing it's usually in regards to Great Pyrenees

Yeah it is the pyrenees I was looking into sadly. I would take some suggestions on other breeds though! TBH this will end up being a last case scenario though, cause I know no matter what they all take some decent training, and IDK if old me has it in me anymore

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Speiden Island is not in BC and not near Nanaimo so I got that muddled up but I am not finding much info on the effect these imported exotic animals had on the ecosystem. So I have gone on a dead-end birdwalk. Apologies to everyone!

 

[Carontheroad]

It's an open grassy flat area near the dry riverbed. Which is like... a large underground river underneath that pumps like millions of gallons of water a second down the mountain, but on top it's just a dry riverbed (unless we get enough rain but the banks are high). It does slightly trickle on the top in certain spaces, which is why we see so many differnet animals, it's a watering spot for many.

It's probably about an acre or two of grassland in front of the house, then behind the house is just straight up a mountain cliff (so woods). Then off to the side of the house (it's a 43 acre property) it's mostly just woods, but a few little flatter grassy areas that peak out around the riverbed as natural flood areas (though the banks are tlal enough its never actually flood much).

It's got a decent little aspen grove on it, and some really tall pine trees... a few sparse bushes... but it's more just a really large open field for awhile. Then our woods don't really have many bushes or things to hide in. A few wild rasberry bushes, but htye are like 6 pathetic twigs. A few juniper bushes, but those grow too low too the ground to get in. It's mostly just really tall pine trees blocking out the sun to the forest floor.

The chickens were red and brown ones (idk what breed), some peacocks (about 8 both male/female), and some black with white spots ginea fowl. So tbh they were decently easy to spot (maybe not the chickens as much, but they were the last to go). They picked them off slowly though. Like 1 or 2 every other week during certian seasons (like mating season or when they had young).

Hmmm, I wonder if the chickens hung out in the open pasture or the straight up mountain woods?

Doesn’t sound like chicken color was a factor since they all got taken in the end and the colours were varied.

Our woods here in the Pacific northwest is kind of like that too, not alot of groundcover. Just really tall mostly pine trees (where I live there is also alot of Arbutus which is my favorite tree). The forest floor is pine needles and roots. Some oregan grape for low ground cover. Some other stuff as well but I’m no botanist. I’m talking the woods on my property. In the other woods there is a bit more ground cover, just depends if people have been tramping through there or not.

I’m trying to get a sense of why some woods work for people and others end in catastrophe. I think as much information as possible about the two scenarios might start to highlight or pinpoint what creates success and what creates failure. In your neighbors case, it could be that the chickens hung out in the open too much, or weren’t feral enough to have some survivor instincts, or that the terrain was not too accomodating for hiding. Probably a little of all 3 as it’s never just one thing.

 

[NetherLeeFarm]

I’m trying to get a sense of why some woods work for people and others end in catastrophe.

You're certainly correct in that it's likely a variety of factors. Here's a few examples, but I'm sure that there are plenty more.

What's inhabiting your property or the property around you?
Each woods is different. For example, although we have black bears here and they come through our property quite often, we don't have any living on our property (thankfully!). And they tend to only come through at night when the chickens are safely locked up.

As far as I know, we don't have any active coyote or fox dens, although we do have a section of our creek that I'm almost certain has a mink/weasel den. However, our chickens aren't anywhere near that area.

How much of a presence do you have on your land?
We have a small hobby farm and work our land almost constantly, so we're outside almost as much as the chickens, at least in the warmer months. We also have a very big dog. All of this helps to keep an eye on things, and while it's no guarantee of safety, active humans and wolf/dog scent may help keep some predators at bay.

What's moving through your property on a regular basis?
Besides keeping an eye on the sky whenever we are outdoors (it helps to know what breeds of hawks are in the area - some are a threat to full grown hens, some are not), we also keep an eye on active game trails and keep chickens away from those areas, if possible.

Thankfully game trails tend to have much less foot traffic in the daylight hours when chickens are out, but we have a game cam so we can watch what's moving through our property. If we noticed something hanging about for several days, it's a sign to keep the chickens in the coop until it passes on through.

Again, these are just a few examples, but mostly it boils down to heightened awareness which is always good from a human safety standpoint, as well. If you free range, expect the occasional loss. If chickens are getting picked off left and right, something needs to be reevaluated and changed.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Yeah it is the pyrenees I was looking into sadly. I would take some suggestions on other breeds though! TBH this will end up being a last case scenario though, cause I know no matter what they all take some decent training, and IDK if old me has it in me anymore

I've only had one breed of LGD in my life so far and only for two years now, so I'm far from an expert on this stuff. I've simply heard about the Pyrenees thing from others with them. I agree with the other poster that I would definitely leave an LGD as a last case scenario

In these parts a lot of people try to get rid of bamboo and find to their dismay that they can't!

This is one of the reasons I like bamboo. Each and every day I watch more and more of the native forest in my state get bulldozed to the ground without any difficulty. However I watched a bulldozer remove an acre of bamboo once and within one year the entire bamboo forest was back, and the developers gave up on the property

The bamboo area isn't a monoculture either because trees and native plants have returned there. It quite literally saved the forest

 

[TOMTE]

This is one of the reasons I like bamboo. Each and every day I watch more and more of the native forest in my state get bulldozed to the ground without any difficulty. However I watched a bulldozer remove an acre of bamboo once and within one year the entire bamboo forest was back, and the developers gave up on the property

The bamboo area isn't a monoculture either because trees and native plants have returned there. It quite literally saved the forest

It makes me wonder what the complete removal of the bamboo could achieve, were it possible (and it is, but not without a lot of long term work which, unfortunately, those with the money and resources aren't likely to be willing to fund unless they can get something out of it. Like land development).

It is backwards and a bit sad that an invasive plant "saved" an area of land for native species though. I mean, when you think about it... Why can't more people care about conservation and preservation before something comes in to shift the balance? If the only reason that area won't become developed is because it's too hard to get rid of an introduced/invasive species there, lots of things went wrong on many levels— the introduction of the bamboo in the first place was not a good thing just because it happened to play out that the bamboo makes it impossible to clear the land for development.

Did the bamboo really save that forest? How healthy and diverse would it be right now, assuming no human intervention, without that bamboo there? I'd rather humans save the environment out of care, than invasive species "save" it out of making it too difficult to do any land development there.

Basically, no, the bamboo didn't save the forest. The bamboo is likely doing damage to the forest, preventing native species from reaching their full potential. The bamboo is just another way that the forest is being destroyed, however slowly.

For like the 5th time, I urge anyone actually interested in learning about the topic and not just making baseless speculations, READ! READ about the environment, native species, how humans are destroying ecosystems by doing whatever the heck we want... Do RESEARCH! Not just brainstorming theories amongst each other and ignoring the possibilities that you personally don't like for whatever reason. And I find that reason usually is "I don't want to take responsibility".

If you read about it and find that you're wrong and that makes you uncomfortable, good. Do something about it. Make changes. I know I have. Otherwise, feel free to keep making statements and decisions based on opinion rather than scientific fact. No one can stop you.

 

[CabritaChicks]

I’d encourage anyone who wants to form a strong opinion to go beyond reading—get a real education. Start with a PhD, and don’t stop there. That includes living in different parts of the world repeatedly- Asia, Germany, Middle east, Americas (and islands in teh middle of no-where)... learning from actual scholars and field study first hand (not just people (sometimes scientists)- with book deals so you can ask questions and challenge ideas as new research emerges), and listening to those who’ve lived through what you're discussing. Just my two cents—because I’ve done all of that.

This thread has taken a turn I’m not really interested in following. I even tried to lighten the mood, but it's heading downhill fast. Unfortunate. I feel bad for the original poster- I think they had the best intentions to build a coop and free range, but was curious about the challenges in the woods and not the perfect 'Instagram' grassy turf.

Edit: I want to be clear- half of what I learned was from field study. Those who are immersed in the regions- ever tried grafting papaya? or know how to treat fungus in war-torn 3rd world?
You need to be careful as BS professors- are pushing agendas (I know my colleges are and I cant stand it).

 

[TOMTE]

I’d encourage anyone who wants to form a strong opinion to go beyond reading—get a real education. Start with a PhD, and don’t stop there. That includes living in different parts of the world repeatedly- Asia, Germany, Middle east, Americas (and islands in teh middle of no-where)... learning from actual scholars and field study first hand (not just people (sometimes scientists)- with book deals so you can ask questions and challenge ideas as new research emerges), and listening to those who’ve lived through what you're discussing. Just my two cents—because I’ve done all of that.

This thread has taken a turn I’m not really interested in following. I even tried to lighten the mood, but it's heading downhill fast. Unfortunate. I feel bad for the original poster- I think they had the best intentions to build a coop and free range, but was curious about the challenges in the woods and not the perfect 'Instagram' grassy turf.

If only that were possible but I literally have no money to get that sort of education. Hence why I (and others in my shoes) do a lot of scientific reading to supplement what we can't afford to do. If you have the money to drop on degrees, great! Most people don't.

You're right though. I also tried to get this thread back on topic more than once but I keep getting sucked back into off topic discussion because it's a subject I'm passionate about.

Once again, I'm sorry to the original poster for this thread going a completely different direction! I'm just as much at fault as everyone else talking about native vs non-native species.

(I hope it's clear that I'm not talking down to/being rude to anyone here. At least, that's not my intention. I tells it like I sees it, is all! I'm not one to tiptoe around issues that I care about!)

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I agree this thread has gone off topic a bit but it illustrates a common theme that free-ranging often brings up: what kinds of plants are healthy, useful or harmful for chickens. A lot of people plant things specifically for their chickens and it’s good to be mindful about whether or not what you’re planting is good for your particular location.

 

[Carontheroad]

I’d encourage anyone who wants to form a strong opinion to go beyond reading—get a real education. Start with a PhD, and don’t stop there. That includes living in different parts of the world repeatedly- Asia, Germany, Middle east, Americas (and islands in teh middle of no-where)... learning from actual scholars and field study first hand (not just people (sometimes scientists)- with book deals so you can ask questions and challenge ideas as new research emerges), and listening to those who’ve lived through what you're discussing. Just my two cents—because I’ve done all of that.

This thread has taken a turn I’m not really interested in following. I even tried to lighten the mood, but it's heading downhill fast. Unfortunate. I feel bad for the original poster- I think they had the best intentions to build a coop and free range, but was curious about the challenges in the woods and not the perfect 'Instagram' grassy turf.

Edit: I want to be clear- half of what I learned was from field study. Those who are immersed in the regions- ever tried grafting papaya? or know how to treat fungus in war-torn 3rd world?
You need to be careful as BS professors- are pushing agendas (I know my colleges are and I cant stand it).

Agreed. Everyone has had a chance to say their bit on native vs invasive species so there is no point belaboring the subject further.

For those of you with roosters, how would you go about picking the best rooster from a bunch of cockerels? I have 9 and I need to pick 2 to keep. They are all Cream Legbars, 6 weeks old. Legbars are supposed to be very good free rangers. The biggest cockerel with the biggest crown so far was starting to peck my hand whenever I invaded their territory to clean. I swatted him away the other day and he stopped doing it. So I’m wondering would this be a good one (protective of the flock) or a bad one (challenging my presence)? I’ve never had roosters before and I’m not sure how to go about choosing the best ones. I know it is a crapshoot but….any suggestions?