Does anyone else Free Range?

[centrarchid]

Most of the predation events I have witnessed either the predator knew chickens were in a given location or where in close proximity to flock and watching the flock out in the open and not behaving in a cryptic manner. This situation probably overrides coloration differences. If predators were operating near their visual detection limits, then coloration would be important but I do not think they typically are when hunting chickens because of the chickens decidedly inappropriate behavior.

 

[aslbow]

We have great horned owls here on our land in Vermont. I hear them every evening in the summer.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Absolutely right. We had 6 young birds last spring and two of them were white Bard Rocks. They disappeared over one day. We have never lost any others to predators. We have a donkey in the crew this year so we hope that it helps with our sheep and chickens in the pasture. We also have speckled Sussex hens and roosters, and they DO camouflage in the brush and woods. I am worried about our turkey hen now. She is about a year old and pure white. That's a BIG meal walking around. Although she never gets very far away from her tom who is a Bronze breasted heritage and weighs 40 lbs! We have two very good roosters who are speckled Sussex, father and son. Great looking boys who take good care of their respective hens. The son was one of the young'ins last spring. His harem is the rest of last years crop. We have a hen sitting on 9 eggs in a crate upstairs in our log cabin. They should begin hatching today or at least this week. She is a good momma as she did well with last years babies. These babies will eventually be the sons hens as well. That gives both boys 9 or 10 hens apiece. We do a lot of baking, bread and such, and use many eggs. We also sell them to our friends up and down the mountain on our dirt road. Our barn is new last fall and houses the sheep(5) and the chickens (12) except the one upstairs in our cabin, and both turkeys as well as Ajax our new(last week) miniature donkey. I will add to the barn in the spring a new. larger double coop with separated areas for both boys and their girls, and a shady roofed in area for the four legged ones to lounge out of doors. I also am planning to build a side by side double coop for the ducks and the turkeys to get the turkeys out of the barn permanently. They are very smelly!
in addition to all of that I will clear two more acres of pasture. Busy year ahead!

This may sound silly, but you can put a camo colored, turkey-sized hen saddle/hen apron on your white turkey to break up her pure white pattern. Given that her tom is 40 lbs, she may appreciate it for its intended purpose also. The best hen aprons I've found are from Hensaver in TX. Get the "single strap" style, with the fixed shoulder protectors and optional "predator eyes" (from the air these decals look like eyes looking back up at the raptor, and have been shown to decrease raptor strikes a bit). They have standard sizes, but will custom make turkey sizes at no extra charge. You can e-mail them and they will tell you how to measure your turkey hen to get her best fit. Several of my chicken hens and turkey hens wear them to protect their backs from damage during breeding, and they can potentially save a bird from a raptor. One of my chicken hens was picked up by an eagle and carried about 70 feet before she was able to struggle out of her saddle and fell to the ground. The eagle had one talon in her saddle and one around the tip of her wing, so when the saddle came off her weight pulled the wing out of the eagles grip. She had minor injuries, but survived, which wouldn't have happened if the raptor had grabbed deeper than the saddle and punctured a lung. That was before "predator eyes" decals were available.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

centrarchid: you are one of my favorite posters! I love your objective awesome posts. I think you are right on what aerial predators see for movement. I actually just watched this video on "the secret life of chickens" and they talk about their vision and what seems like a flash or a blur for us is actually very keenly detected by chickens and one can assume birds of prey. BTW I recommend this charming documentary for anybody that loves chickens and knows they are smart. Best 1 hour show you can watch...I'll find the link. In the meantime...

I can tell you with certainty though...LOL. that white bird drew many a fly by this fall from aerial preds and when that hawk camped outside the the run door...I knew exactly what it had seen.

Miss White fluff. And he quit stopping by when she left. But then my birds weren't around the run any more either during the day.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/1c06xOF4uQ8?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Loved this Video!!!

 

[centrarchid]

I try to be objective.

Behavior of chickens and cover to avoid capture as much as to avoid detection should be given more thought. My games can blow the doors off most chickens when it comes to avoiding getting caught, even the Sussex birds, but they are effectively done for if forced to avoid capture if out in the open with a hawk or unable to fly up into a tree when pursued by a fox. This holds true regardless of color-type, which games have the broadest range of.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Oh dear. I need Websters. I meant objective. Always you are, to be certain.

 

[marmo66]

yes we do. I let my flock out first thing in the am and they only return to lay eggs or go in at night. We have a wooded area where they spend a lot of time when it is hot. They come in with their craws full. We also keep crumbles and corn available for them. our customers and us love the eggs. we have had trouble with dogs and at first coons at night, but we are always around and not having much trouble now. the rooster keeps a good eye out for anything out of the ordinary. if we go away we put them in the pen. in the winter, they will not come out if the snow is on. prissy little scamps do not like cold feet.

 

[moreloch]

did you know they eat fleas and ticks?they run me over to get out in the morning .I do keep watch for chicken killers.they follow me around like puppy dogs so cool.






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[marmo66]

mine do too. I feed them scrapes and when they see me coming or I chatter chick, chick, they come running. the garden is a favorite place for them so I have to put up a jed clampitt fence around it to keep them out after it is planted. they go all over and out to the edge of the road, out in the pasture, woods, but I never see them across the road.