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

[Beekissed]

That's our biggest threat here as well. People drive out in the country and drop off their unwanted dogs or neighbors move in that think that the country is the place where all dogs get to run free...free as the wind blows, la, la, la....

All those dogs wind up on the back forty and it's a crying shame that folks don't care about their dogs anymore than they do, but that's not my problem...my problem is my animals on my property and the line is clear.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Yeeeeeup. There's a loaded varmint gun nearby at all times. This is the country. We don't think twice. Hate to sound heartless, but......
Plain as that.

 

[Beekissed]

I know that many do not have the luxury of putting down the rampant dogs because they live in more heavily populated areas, so I'm assuming the defenses have to be much more fortified just to prevent ever having to deal with the dogs and their owners.

Heavy perimeter fencing, hot wired fencing around runs, hardware wire where I get by with plastic mesh or chicken wire. The expense of keeping chickens safe would definitely be a deterrent to ever getting chickens in the first place.

 

[thedragonlady]

That's our biggest threat here as well. People drive out in the country and drop off their unwanted dogs or neighbors move in that think that the country is the place where all dogs get to run free...free as the wind blows, la, la, la....

All those dogs wind up on the back forty and it's a crying shame that folks don't care about their dogs anymore than they do, but that's not my problem...my problem is my animals on my property and the line is clear.

Amen to that Bee! Last night when we came home from dinner there was a very large possum 20 feet from the orchard fence where my Orps live. Mind you, they were all securly locked up in their respective stallags. We tried to hit him with the truck, and missed. An hour later, at bed check, there were 2 possums surveying the chain link. There are now 2 more possums in heaven, if that's where they go.

I'm going to try to send you photos of my maypole of monofilament covering my orchard.It has multi colored sparklies ,which 2 of the neighbors can see.Totally unnecessary,as I now know that the whole thing is VERY visable from the air, but fun. We tell the neighbors that those are the chickens' holiday decorations! Twice we have seen Red tailed (BIG) hawks sitting in a nearby tree trying to figure it out, but they don't want to risk their wings. .22 magnum rat shot is the last defence. Won't kill them, but will leave a lasting impression at 25 yards.

After serving years on our county humane society board, any stray dogs not wearing collars go to heaven too if they dig under my 8' fence.

 

[Mountain Momma]

Yeeeeeup. There's a loaded varmint gun nearby at all times. This is the country. We don't think twice. Hate to sound heartless, but......
Plain as that.

lol. We are in varmit country too. This fall all those scrawny foxes look like a different animal. Their fur is thicker than any year I can remember and they actually look huge. All healthy and thick and they seem taller. They look like they are 45-50 pounds but its got to be fur because all summer they looked like third world refugees barely 20 pounds. Its almost like a pack of heritage foxes was let loose in our area. Everyone is talking about how big they are and how many there are.
The kids were late getting ready for school today because daddy was out with the bb rifle and nothing would make them miss that first thing in the morning.lol.

My dogs only wanna fight the dogs that are interested in chickens. We have a lot of neighbors dogs that will come and bark at the back deck to see if ours can come out and play but they ignore the chickens. All fed up on their designer dog chow. The only one that is curious is an English sheep dog and believe it or not Darcy, the king of the chicken dogs, wants to go rounds with him. I'm thinking of getting a "free to good home" Aussie English sheep dog mix. Female. Hopefully with some serious common sense. DH wants to wait until we can afford a Bernese. Not sure what to do since the pair I have are never alphas and are fearful with no real game plan under attack.

Havent seen the mountain lion in over a month so hopefully he moved on and it looks like the neighbors are right about the bears because the garbage cans have been safe for weeks.

I have two friends with chickens that are always under attack. A bear has been in their coop several times and I finally got to meet the DH that shot him point blank with rubber bullets. He is maybe 5ft and 7 inches and quite possibly the bravest chickener on the mountain.

The other gal sells eggs to an organic market and others. She has over 50 chickens and she has had some kind of varmit stealing eggs every night. The trap gets sprung but wont catch the critter. Footprints look like small raccoon prints and the trap caught a magpie this morning. The coon or weesel gets the bait and never gets caught. She forgets to get the eggs which is my suggestion....some peoples' kids huh?

So far, knock on wood, mine have stayed safe. Took Al's advice and put up chicken wire over the pig wire. Chickies go in right at dusk every night and under lock down until 7 am. The neighbor's neighbor wants me to walk her property Tues to see where I think they should put a coop and other thoughts. So I'm passing out cigars.

Yep, we are going to have
another newbie.
Arent you all excited? I kinda want to give her a shower, and
three of my grown up hens to see how she does before she commits to babies in the spring. One of my Australops is getting pecked a lot so i'd like her to go and maybe a plym rock and one of the old girls. Just a starter set nothing to brag about for sure.
That will make some room for me to get a couple cool looking chckens and some meaties in the spring.

Anyway out in the land of rural suburbs with tiny little 1 acre lots and high and mighty log decks the chicken craze is coming on strong. Go to a birthday party, talk about chickens and walla another chickener is born. at this rate maybe every pot will finally have a chicken and one in the freezer to grow on.

Oh, and Nina spent 80 Eagle bucks (good behavior fake money) On yes, bringing a live chicken to school. Thats Weds and Speckleberry gets to go. She is the most curious. Of course daddy thinks taking a rooster would be more exciting. lol. Maybe next year. I also think Nina will be doing fermented food for her science project. So many chickeners are overwhelmed with the idea that it will get it out there and she did do it herself, kinda.

So to all you old timers that make me a better chickener every day just know in your marrow that every day, since I blog with you, talk to you, and talk about you all the time, I am spreading your wisdom and your tricks of the trade to a lot of people who arent inclined to read a whit about a chicken. Thanks. I feel more responsible doing this, certainly more competant and the word gets around. You guys rock!
You guys plymouth rock!

 

[Kansas Prairie]

I have two friends with chickens that are always under attack. A bear has been in their coop several times and I finally got to meet the DH that shot him point blank with rubber bullets. He is maybe 5ft and 7 inches and quite possibly the bravest chickener on the mountain.

Why rubber bullets?

 

[Beekissed]

I was wondering the same....who in the world buys rubber bullets except cops? When I think of bear, my mind just does not go to rubber bullets.

 

[Pozees]

Regarding protecting chickens, I can't be considered an OT since I was away from them for 10 years and only this year have enjoyed being a chicken keeper again, but I do have some thoughts.

I can be considered a worry wart to some degree, and frugal to the extent I cannot abide the thought of all the time, money, thought, and effort that has gone into my girls, though only 7 they may be, dying because someone didn't keep their dogs contained. I am a lifelong dog lover, like many here, and the only thing that would pain me more than killing one would be standing and watching one - or many - kill my girls, or coming home to learn that has happened. Anyone who is a dog lover makes sure his or her dogs are safely within the confines of their own yard or car or on a leash sufficiently controlled by the human on the other end.

I agree that the cost and utility of complete protection can be untenable, and many of us accept the risk of free ranging in exchange for the clear benefits it provides our chickens and the eggs and meat they return to us. I'm not sure I will ever know the perfect compromise. What works for me this time around is letting them free range the three days a week I am home all day, and letting them free range a couple of hours after work the other four days. While I am not home, they are in a chain link yard wrapped with chicken wire and an electric fence. I am sure they would rather free range every day regardless of whether I am home, and maybe I am a bad chickener for not allowing them to do so. I did when I last had chickens and rarely had losses - but my greatest loss was thanks to a neighbor's dog, who essentially frightened or ran to death 50 white leghorns who had just reached the point of lay, who were confined in a "safe yard" - all it had to do was race around the yard barking furiously at them. I came home to a sea of white death.

I don't think an electric fence would have changed the outcome, I may be wrong, but have always and will continue to believe, as Bee and others stated earlier, the greatest threat to our chickens is stray dogs. There is no perfect solution. I would bet we have all thought we had it at one point or another, only to lose a chicken or 50. We do our best. I know Al's looks like one heck of a sturdy setup to me, and whoever commented that the dogs had to have been hungry is probably right on the mark.

It's sort of like trying to always be ready for a nuclear attack - living life in constant fear isn't really living life, and sometimes we do our greatest thinking when dealing with unthinkable challenges. My father would call this a crisis of opportunity - a phrase he shared with me many years ago, upon which I have often relied when all seemed lost. Turned out it wasn't, it was just changed in a way I had not anticipated.

 

[Pozees]

Lisa, I adore you, thanks for such an uplifting post Your cheery and forward-looking attitude are deeply appreciated.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree!