Clean range q

[Bakka Bakka Mama]

Happy Friday Eve y'all!

Apologies in advance for my stupid q, what constitutes as a clean range? I'm working on getting the yard ready for when the puppies (yes, my chickies are also called my puppies ) head outside once they are old enough & of course, weather permitting. I have 3 dogs that will share said yard but will fence off a good portion of the rear part for the coop & enclosed run.

Short of clearing whatever poop my pyr pittie and poodle drop, may you please recommend what else I can do to get things ready for the pups? They'll be housed under a plum tree and be allowed to free range.

Thank you in advance, much appreciated!

 

[cavemanrich]

If you already have your coop, make sure it is predator proof. Your enclosed run should be predator proof to the best of your ability. That also means protecting from flying raptors if you have in your area. I have hawks as friends. Have interesting bedding in coop and run. Hay, straw, gravel, or combination . Leaves are also good. Keeps chickens busy.
How many 2 legged pups are you going to be keeping??? Ask anything you don't know. Someone here has answer, or suggestion, or idea.
WISHING YOU BEST... and

 

[cavemanrich]

Did you confiscate my dog???

 

[Bakka Bakka Mama]

View attachment 1289184 Did you confiscate my dog???

I'll never teelll

 

[Bakka Bakka Mama]

If you already have your coop, make sure it is predator proof. Your enclosed run should be predator proof to the best of your ability. That also means protecting from flying raptors if you have in your area. I have hawks as friends. Have interesting bedding in coop and run. Hay, straw, gravel, or combination . Leaves are also good. Keeps chickens busy.
How many 2 legged pups are you going to be keeping??? Ask anything you don't know. Someone here has answer, or suggestion, or idea.
WISHING YOU BEST... and

Thank you! I have 9 pups

 

[azygous]

Here are things chicks can encounter as serious hazards:

-Long stemmed grass, so mow all tall grass before free ranging chicks
-toxic plants
-gum wrappers and bits of plastic
-staples, nails, and screws
-recent applications of pesticides
-petroleum distillate contaminated soil under leaky machinery
-dog water dishes that chicks can drown in
-loose dogs

 

[Rubysword]

Have your dogs met your chickens yet? if so, how did they react? If not, how do you plan to ensure your dogs won't get some yummy BBQ? Agree on the pred-proofing things. Make sure the coop is sturdy; bears are predators which will go after chickens, and they are very strong. When we were just starting, we had a tsc coop which looked perfectly predator proof. Raccoon proof latches, no holes big enough for anything to get through, nice roof. But it wasn't as sturdy as it could have been, and one night a bear came, knocked it over, and helped himself too two of our six chickens. they were traumatized, we were traumatized, but we learned our lesson. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm attacking you; I learned a lot of things the hard way and want to help it not happen to others!

 

[Bakka Bakka Mama]

Here are things chicks can encounter as serious hazards:

-Long stemmed grass, so mow all tall grass before free ranging chicks
-toxic plants
-gum wrappers and bits of plastic
-staples, nails, and screws
-recent applications of pesticides
-petroleum distillate contaminated soil under leaky machinery
-dog water dishes that chicks can drown in
-loose dogs

Perfect, thank you!

 

[Bakka Bakka Mama]

Have your dogs met your chickens yet? if so, how did they react? If not, how do you plan to ensure your dogs won't get some yummy BBQ? Agree on the pred-proofing things. Make sure the coop is sturdy; bears are predators which will go after chickens, and they are very strong. When we were just starting, we had a tsc coop which looked perfectly predator proof. Raccoon proof latches, no holes big enough for anything to get through, nice roof. But it wasn't as sturdy as it could have been, and one night a bear came, knocked it over, and helped himself too two of our six chickens. they were traumatized, we were traumatized, but we learned our lesson. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm attacking you; I learned a lot of things the hard way and want to help it not happen to others!

Thank you for the tips! My dogs seem to think they are puppies too, they try to give them one of their toys to play with and look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them the chickies don't play catch...

 

[Bakka Bakka Mama]

Thank you for the tips! My dogs seem to think they are puppies too, they try to give them one of their toys to play with and look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them the chickies don't play catch...

I forgot to add that in addition to the coop and enclosed run, I'm building another fence to go around as well. Going to add hardware cloth under the coop and run to prevent issues of digging.

Was outside playing with my pyr a few weeks back and saw a dove hanging out on the roof of our covered porch. Had the @#$! scared out of me when a pretty red tailed hawk clamped down on the roof and caught said dove!

Thank you again, appreciate all the tips!