Chicken owner performance anxiety

[cheirogloss]

Last fall our beautiful flock of 12 chickens was massacred in a matter of days. We were down to 3 hens, who we re-homed to a woman with a pred-proof setup. Anyway, the story goes that we were pred-free for 4 months, the coons then discovered our flock, and they dug under wire, through brick, past hot wire, and under river rock where they commenced dragging our chicks to their deaths. Those that made it out of the coop alive were run down in our yard. We were devastated.

DH has offered to build me a new coop/run that is essentially a super-max facility for chickens. While I miss my chicks horribly and really want more, I now have chicken owner anxiety about our ability to protect them. We are getting some new traps, 2 LGDs in the spring, and DH is shopping for a new semi-automatic rifle with a medium capacity clip

. A couple of my issues are: 1) before our chicks free-ranged during the day and we never had a loss, but as soon as the pred attacked they stopped going home to their coop at night. So now we are going to keep them in a run during the day to avoid tree roosting. I feel horribly guilty keeping them in a run all day long. Would making little chicken tractors be a better option? We could exercise them during the day. 2) What if we can't protect them again. Our last chicks were so overwrougt with anxiety after the pred attack they they stopped laying and roosting in their home. I feel horrible about this. I feel like going Rambo and sleeping by the coop armed to my teeth.

I guess I am looking more for moral support than for advice. I loved my chicks, miss my chicks, and would love to have more. The biggest issue is keeping them in the run, which seems somehow unfair when we have 8 acres. I know it is for their own protection and we can bring the good eats to them, I just need to hear someone say its ok to keep them in the run as long as its done the right way.

Ok, I am now finished with my over-emotional chicken lover emote

 

[Mahonri]

You are so blessed to have 8 acres.

Yes it's OK to keep them in their run. It's what most of us have to do when we have chickens in the backyard in an urban setting.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Or sometimes in a rural setting. I keep my eight chickens in a 12' x 32' run. They like to play in the road when I let them out so they stay locked up. They do eat well when the garden is producing. Just give them as much room as you reasonably can and go for it.

 

[Garden Gal]

Ours have a large, enclosed, netted, hotwired run (two lines) and they are very content! I give them cut grass during the seasons we are mowing, all the appropriate refuse from garden and kitchen, straw to pick through, etc... We put an upright roost in the yard and they love that as well. Go for it!

 

[joedie]

Don't feel guilty! I have 50 acres and still keep mine in the run for the most part. I think they are quite happy and fed lots of scraps.

 

[Uzuri]

*hugs cheirogloss*

I understand how you feel, and I've not had any predator problems yet. Just give them plenty of space in the run and things to do; they'll be happy

If you want to let them out of the pen sometimes, why not build a lightweight tractor for supervised "on the grass" time? They'll be quite as content with the change of scenery as they would with an entire yard, you can put them back in the pen when you can't watch them any more, and you get peace of mind from having them protected

 

[Keri78]

Try to relax and just think of making a fresh start!

Chickens have been kept very healthy and happy for many years in runs! Here is a pic of the two chickie tractors that my sweet non-chicken lovin Hubby built me last year and they have held up really well! If I were to do it over I would have raised the nesting boxes up off the ground and used hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. OOOOH...yeah....I just remembered reading on here somewhere that someone was building a similar "tractor" and to make it COMPLETELY predator proof they were going to attach hardware cloth across the bottom of the tractor too and then just toss hay on the "floor" of the tractor! Anyway...if this thing had a bottom it is near impossible for a predator to get into!!! I started out moving my tractors every other day and after a month they had eaten my side yard down to the dirt!!! So now I don't move them anymore...I just keep fresh hay in the "run" area so their feet stay nice and dry and it keeps the mud out and they love picking and eating and scratching around in the hay! When we mow the grass we dump fresh grass in for them and they love that too! Plus you could always let them out when your going to be in the yard with them. It's going to be great...we all have to constantly learn and adjust to our particular environments!

Blessings, Keri

Oh yeah...forgot to mention I added cheapy lamanite stick tiles to the floor of the nesting box and this makes clean up sooo easy!

 

[NellaBean]

I like to let mine out but do sometimes keep them locked up....keep in mind that even keeping yours in a run all the time is 100x more humane than factory conditions.

 

[sherrydeanne]

I feel your pain. My four were wiped out about a month ago by a fox. I'm in the same boat; they used to free-range during the day but I'm going to build a run. I keep reminding myself that even though we love them and think they're fantastic, they ARE chickens. Compared to what factory chickens go through, a run *is* 8 acres

Good luck!!!

 

[CTChickenMom]

Mine also stay in an enclosed run.

(This will get siding this spring)

I have too many hawks and coyotes to risk them running loose. Our house sits between 2 hills, each with a family of coyotes. Out back some nights it sounds like a coyote convention!

I would suggest building as big a yard as you can afford to build. Add some hardy trees and shrubs and they'll be happy. Make sure you cover the run or it won't do much good. Coons and possums are great climbers.