Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Beekissed]

Here's a question for the OTs: What is your biggest/strongest defense, if you had to name one, that insures the safety of your flock?

For me, I've already stated it was my dogs living near/with the chickens 24/7.

 

[warbirds]

Here's a question for the OTs: What is your biggest/strongest defense, if you had to name one, that insures the safety of your flock?

For me, I've already stated it was my dogs living near/with the chickens 24/7.

Definitely dogs.
My many bird pens are protected by the way they are placed on the land, coupled with Great Pyrenees, Akbash, and Maremma livestock guardian dogs (LGD's). The pens are built where they are surrounded on 3 sides by pasture area for the meat and dairy goats, so that also includes field fence bolstered with electric where most of the dogs live and work, and one LGD lives with the birds all day and night, with an additional one that joins her during the day. They can get to all of the bird pens, on all sides of each grouping.........and they make rounds quite often just to check on "their" birds. It is quite effective, since the LGD's will go after anything that they perceive as a threat, including running off hawks, owls, etc. I could not do what I am doing here without them, as we have significant coyote, fox, coon, the occasional mountain lion or bear, along with those aerial threats.

 

[fowlman01]

My electric fence. I also have 6 dogs, but the predators never get that far. You should hear the sound of a raccoon that has just been zapped.

Walt

 

[Dead Rabbit]

just getting back to replying......

IMO a good dawg is the second phase of said defense. the first phase is a good strong perimeter fence. w/o a fence. most gardian dawgs or any dog will have the tendency to roam. or chase for quite a distance deer or predator. whereas this method leaves the yard/lot unprotected. peremeter fence keeps dawgs in place, but even better is the first line of defence against invading predators. other than aerial.

a good 5-6' welded wire fence with a hot wire around the bottom and perhaps the top will keep most all ground covering and burrowing predators out. and hot wire on interior along bottom will keep dogs in.

if you dont have a peremiter fence up you best wait on the fowl.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

Can someone tell me the right size and height i should have for a roost.
How big, how wide, do they need the edges trimmed. How far off the ground should they be. Do they need a ramp to get to them?

6 ft up is max. most layers need less, mine are 5 ft up wit ladders. but ive found they climb first ladder to a jump board i have that allows them entrance/exit to nest boxes, the second ladder is from jump board to roost. they dont use this ladder and usually go from roost to jump board. the jump board is about 3 ft off floor of coops.

i use 2X4 turned on side for roosts. i take a blade and shave any rough edges off, but most modern 2x4 are rounded on the edges already. i just"touch" them up some. nothing over 2". this is what a chicken naturally likes to wrap her toes around. 2" or less.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

Those were my thoughts as well. We had a terrible mouse problem as a teenager, but thinking about our methods then versus now, there are some things I would have changed.

We had a lots of cats, but I think they were rodentia challenged.........

very true. ive had good cats and ive had bad. last cat i had was excellent. never ever saw signs of rodents once he was of age. after i put him down, the last two cats i have/had, were poor mousers. with two cats running around, i had mice in barns. but recently one cat disappeared. they were both toms. and were always fighting. now im down to one, the mouse problem is much better. i reckon they were too worried about each other than taking care of business.

 

[galanie]

Those were my thoughts as well. We had a terrible mouse problem as a teenager, but thinking about our methods then versus now, there are some things I would have changed.


We had a lots of cats, but I think they were rodentia challenged.........

very true. ive had good cats and ive had bad.   last cat i had was excellent. never ever saw signs of rodents once he was of age.  after i put him down, the last two cats i have/had, were poor mousers.  with two cats running around,  i had mice in barns.  but recently one cat disappeared. they were both toms.  and were always fighting.   now im down to one,  the mouse problem is much better.   i reckon they were too worried about each other than taking care of business.

There's your biggest problem. They were toms. It's the females that hunt the best.

ETA: I've had tons more cat years then chicken years!

 

[Beekissed]

I've only ever had toms and they were all superb hunters. I've always heard that females were better mousers but could that be because females have more of an instinctual drive to provide food for kits and toms do not?

 

[Dead Rabbit]

My electric fence. I also have 6 dogs, but the predators never get that far. You should hear the sound of a raccoon that has just been zapped.

Walt

i know a fella that his peremeter fence is nothing but strands of hot wire. about 4 ' high and the strands were a couple inches apart all the way to the ground. nothing came through it and it kept his 3 GP inside. a very cheap but effective way to build a fence

 

[Dead Rabbit]

this past yr i switched types of waters. i now use the type that is made for watering dogs. its a 3 gal. clear bluish bottle that turns up side down and keeps the dish full at a designed height. bottle similar to the ones youve heard of in an office and everyone stands beside it talking when they should be working. over time the inside gets nasty from the residue and minerals in all water. and in sunny summer time algea can grow.... all i do is put an ounce of bleach per gallon and let it soak. it cleans it up nice.