Cherry tree in the run

[PViolet]

Hello to all of you
I'm learning about chickens * still a newbie and I'm confused over something I read so I'd appreciate if someone well experienced could enlighten me and give me advice. I have 10 chickens, they have a huge run, perches and everything else that should make them happy. There's a cherry tree in the run and right below it is the coop, I've put the coop under the tree on purpose because we have extremely high temperatures in summer so I just wanted to give them a nice shade to use and they pretty much abused it in summer haha, they absolutely loved it. Now, I've been reading some article about biosecurity and it says that the run should be minimized with trees due to potential predators and wild birds cause they could spread diseases. I'm not concerned about predators, no attacks over here, my rooster does his job pretty well and I've secured the run, the sides and the top layer with mesh net. What concerns me are the wild birds such as sparrows, domestic doves etc. I assume they mentioned wild birds and diseases cause of the posibility of them pooping right in the run if they were to use the tree to perch? And it's a cherry tree, it is irresistible... Now, should I really cut the tree due to this? Is it really a major concern? If so, I don't mind doing it for my chickens if it has to be done but then I know they would be struggling in summer cause I'd be depriving them of shade where they love to chill and dustbath... I feel like being torn between two sides haha I'd really appreciate any advice

 

[3KillerBs]

My personal opinion is that it's completely impossible to prevent contact with wild birds short of raising chickens indoors in a confinement system.

I also have a tendency to figure that if something isn't broke then don't try to fix it.

On a more reasoned-out level, I would suspect that the risk of your chickens suffering from the effects of heat without shade is greater than the risk of serious disease passed on from wild birds -- if you're in a location that gets hot summers.

You can add your general location to your profile to help people give you more targeted advice.

 

[CluckerFamily]

My coop is under a huge basswood tree. I haven’t lost a chicken to a predator yet and the predators that choose to perch in a tree, don’t perch in this basswood.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello to all of you
I'm learning about chickens * still a newbie and I'm confused over something I read so I'd appreciate if someone well experienced could enlighten me and give me advice. I have 10 chickens, they have a huge run, perches and everything else that should make them happy. There's a cherry tree in the run and right below it is the coop, I've put the coop under the tree on purpose because we have extremely high temperatures in summer so I just wanted to give them a nice shade to use and they pretty much abused it in summer haha, they absolutely loved it. Now, I've been reading some article about biosecurity and it says that the run should be minimized with trees due to potential predators and wild birds cause they could spread diseases. I'm not concerned about predators, no attacks over here, my rooster does his job pretty well and I've secured the run, the sides and the top layer with mesh net. What concerns me are the wild birds such as sparrows, domestic doves etc. I assume they mentioned wild birds and diseases cause of the posibility of them pooping right in the run if they were to use the tree to perch? And it's a cherry tree, it is irresistible... Now, should I really cut the tree due to this? Is it really a major concern? If so, I don't mind doing it for my chickens if it has to be done but then I know they would be struggling in summer cause I'd be depriving them of shade where they love to chill and dustbath... I feel like being torn between two sides haha I'd really appreciate any advice

I have a huge quince bush in my pen that my chickens utilize heavily during the summer months to stay cool. It is excellent hawk cover. Each year it is also home to a pair of nesting cardinals, humming birds and tufted titmice.

There is always a risk that your birds will contract something from wild birds.
I don't worry about it too much. I'd rather my flock have a more natural setting to live in. I no longer feed wild birds to draw them to my property. They don't fly into my run to eat the chickens food.
Personally, I'd leave the cherry tree.

 

[PViolet]

My personal opinion is that it's completely impossible to prevent contact with wild birds short of raising chickens indoors in a confinement system.

I also have a tendency to figure that if something isn't broke then don't try to fix it.

On a more reasoned-out level, I would suspect that the risk of your chickens suffering from the effects of heat without shade is greater than the risk of serious disease passed on from wild birds -- if you're in a location that gets hot summers.

You can add your general location to your profile to help people give you more targeted advice.

I was thinking the same! Just needed someone who knows a lot more in this area to approve. Thank you!

 

[PViolet]

I have a huge quince bush in my pen that my chickens utilize heavily during the summer months to stay cool. It is excellent hawk cover. Each year it is also home to a pair of nesting cardinals, humming birds and tufted titmice.
View attachment 2529414View attachment 2529415
There is always a risk that your birds will contract something from wild birds.
I don't worry about it too much. I'd rather my flock have a more natural setting to live in. I no longer feed wild birds to draw them to my property. They don't fly into my run to eat the chickens food.
Personally, I'd leave the cherry tree.

The quince bush is beautiful! They seem to love it and actually looks like the camping area for them haha. Thank you for your reply!

 

[3KillerBs]

I was thinking the same! Just needed someone who knows a lot more in this area to approve. Thank you!

I'm not the most experienced of chicken keeper around, but both my in-town flock and my current flock are under trees.

I'm in steamy central North Carolina and heat is a major threat for me.

 

[PViolet]

I'm not the most experienced of chicken keeper around, but both my in-town flock and my current flock are under trees.

I'm in steamy central North Carolina and heat is a major threat for me.

I feel you, the temp here in Eastern EU hits 42C in shade... you can only imagine the temp with no cover. One question, do you have anything on top layer to protect your chickens? If so, what is it?

 

[3KillerBs]

I feel you, the temp here in Eastern EU hits 42C in shade... you can only imagine the temp with no cover. One question, do you have anything on top layer to protect your chickens? If so, what is it?

YIKES, that's worse summer heat than I get (95F at 95% humidity is normal, but it gets hotter sometimes).

The current pen is open, the in-town coop was half-roofed and half wire, the new coop is going to be roofed but I'll use electric poultry netting for additional ranging space.

 

[Alaskan]

The sparrows would bother me because once they get into the run, and figure out the chicken feeding system, they can eat huge amounts.

Simply due to that reason alone I would be tempted to figure out a way to net over the top and keep all wild birds out.

But no, I would NOT cut down the tree. The shade is very important.

Do watch it though... I once had an apple tree in the chicken run. They loved it so much that they would fly up into the branches and eat all of the leaves... and dig quite terrible at the roots. I had to make a little cage around the tree so that it could survive.