Feeding predators

[roosterhavoc]

How often do you think I have a dead bird? If those animals are lucky they will get a tiny cockerel or pullet once a month, that definitely is not enough food to create some army of predators that just sit around waiting for me to toss them their next 1/2 pound meal.

I hate to tell you but losing a bird a month is an awful lot. I free range every bird I can and I don’t come anywhere close to that many losses.

 

[Kessel23]

It's actually pretty great for a flock infected with Marek's disease. And I said 1 per month if they are lucky.

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

It's actually pretty great for a flock infected with Marek's disease. And I said 1 per month if they are lucky.

That is pretty good if they are infected with Marek’s disease

 

[BigATC]

Sounds like the pets or not pets kind of debate. I love and enjoy all our animals and think of them as pets, however, my definition of a pet is much different than my families! My pets are not people. Vet bills and other issues are strictly limited so to speak. I don't have enough property to leave a carcass around for the ecosystem to naturally incorporate but I also don't have a problem putting them in a pot or donating to a local zoo/animal rescue when appropriate. I've told my wife to do the same to my old carcass when the time comes.

 

[Dona Worry]

I have a ton of property and I wouldn't do it, but you do you. The pictures are great, thanks for sharing!

 

[2 many chickens]

How often do you think I have a dead bird? If those animals are lucky they will get a tiny cockerel or pullet once a month, that definitely is not enough food to create some army of predators that just sit around waiting for me to toss them their next 1/2 pound meal.

Everyday? lol I don't know.

 

[Cragg Klefor]

You guys are acting like my coop is some secret that the wild animals have never found. It has been up for 2 decades, every animal in the area already knows it is there lol. Also, scavengers like possums live off of piles of food sitting around in the woods, if they were so worried about it then I would have gotten plenty of pictures of animals several feet away from the turkey checking it out first instead of a few animals just immediately showing up and eating after they had stumbled across it. 1500 feet is the length of 7.2 acres. A foxes family territory is 200-220 acres, my property is 75 acres, trust me the foxes around here are already well aware of my coop and they associate the property with food because they live and hunt on it. I have plenty of turkeys on the property, these predators regularly scavenge off of turkey nests and turkey remains from owl and coyote kills, a dead turkey in the woods, or deer or other animal, is not uncommon around here. Turkeys also get killed by the weather all the time here, the snow is to thick for them to forage and they starve.

I burry birds that were special, I bury them just 50 feet from the coop, last winter we had a fox come and dig half of them up. Also, if you guys wanted me to break through the frozen ground and dig a hole big enough to fit a 25 pound BBB Jake then I don't know what to tell you besides that's definitely not going to happen. What I did was way more fun for me and it helped the animals get some easy food. I am going to keep on setting my dead birds out for the wild life.

 

[Eilsel]

Very cool pictures! I especially like the ones with multiple types of animals in them. I don't put carcasses out because I don't want my dogs to get into them, otherwise I wouldn't have an issue with it... though I wish I could pick and choose which predators I could feed! I wouldn't mind feeding the foxes but the opossums can go straight back to their maker

 

[PirateGirl]

I had this discussion with a friend recently that asked what I do with my chickens that stop laying, and/or pass away? He said he returns them to the wild, as in, he puts the carcass out in the wilderness and lets scavengers do their work. Personally it depends. In summer the things my cat catches/kills get tossed in any number of holes out the field. I generally shovel a scoop of dirt on top and figure they will get eaten or decompose, but I do not want my own dogs to be tempted to go rolling in things. If the ground is frozen, the deceased chicken (or other) gets wrapped in a plastic bag and goes out in the trash can. I don't like things to go to waste, and I know there are plenty of critters that will make a carcass disappear relatively quickly, so this is preferred, but not always realistic.