Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Shadrach]

Seriously? I had no idea chain link was that expensive. Wow. OK, then maybe not chain link.

Stock net is cheaper but it needs to be put up properly.

 

[MaryJanet]

Can this be used as chicken tax?
View attachment 2811765

Yeeeeesssss!!!

 

[featherhead007]

Yeeeeesssss!!!

Just as long as it doesn’t do that crazy chicken dance!

 

[MaryJanet]

Still Tied

In the longest running contest ever, the second round of voting ended in yet another tie. We are down to 2 now. I need everyone to step up and vote again. One more time.

Lilly. Fear the Brow!

View attachment 2811862

Sansa (No Kernal Left Behind)

View attachment 2811863

Abstain.

I love them both and can't choose.

 

[featherhead007]

Luv you too Shad, you are so creative and intelligent. We would have much to talk about! My tiny aircraft can’t fly the distance to Europe, or I would love to buy you a cup of coffee/tea or whatever. We could talk “chicken “ anytime!

 

[MaryJanet]

Very sad reading this. Eventually when free ranging something like this is bound to happen. I just used to hope the majority found good cover in the event of such an attack..
So, what is good cover?
Well, despite what people may think, runs, unless very well though out are not. The problem is once a predator has got in, the chickens can't get out. At least free range they have a chance of escape. Not much of a consolation for you currently but it's an uncomfortable truth that can be hard to accept.
The best way to free range chickens and have them have a decent chance of survival is to let them breed. The elders teach the yongsters much like any other species. It takes at least three generations I found.

The best cover was the bamboo patches. If the chickens can make it to such a patch, not a lot can get at them and even for such agile creatures as weasels, the chance of a chicken being able to turn around in the bamboo and face the weasel is too much of a risk and the weasel backs off.
Blackthorn bushes make excellent cover but you need to trim away the lower branches just enough to allow the chickens to get underneath without haveing to deal with the thorns.
I've had a few survive by getting into dense rosmary and thyme bushes.
All the above are better than the vast majority of runs.

Some place great stock in electric fences. They're okay for extra run protection but if the run is to be large enough to provide anything like the amount of room chickens will range in naturally then that's an awful lot of electric fence and it needs to be a fence, not set strands.

My recommendation for dog problems is shoot the dog. Back in Catalonia the farmers shoot any stray dogs they find on their land. Shame they're not allowed to shoot the dog owners while they're at it.

Given the right environment chickens are very good at avoiding predators. The first rule is not to be seen. That's how the jungle fowl survive. The next is having the lots of the right sort of cover and this is what I see a complete lack of in most peoples chicken keeping environments. Short dense low cover is what they need. Trees help but a hawk will fly through the trees at incredible speeds. What hawks can't cope with is dense undergrowth.

Finally, small groups or tribes, each with a rooster I found helped. This is how they have lived for centuries and there are so many reasons for this, some of which I explain in this article.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/
and this one,
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-egg-song-it’s-not-about-the-egg-it’s-an-escort-call.74386/

I hope the hurt of the loss passes quickly for both you and the rest of your flock.

@rural mouse I'm always mindful of Shad's advice and recently made shade shelters within an fully enclosed chicken run that look like piles of brush and leaves from above. The idea is that if a hawk is looking from above, it won't even see any hens. While I doubt a hawk could break through the top of the run because the wire covering it quite heavy duty, I'd rather provide hiding places for the hens just in case. The hens also have a couple of old tables in there to hide under, have shade, and shelter from the rain.

That said, we're in a suburban setting and the hens really do live in a backyard.

 

[Scrambles83]

Still Tied

In the longest running contest ever, the second round of voting ended in yet another tie. We are down to 2 now. I need everyone to step up and vote again. One more time.

Lilly. Fear the Brow!

View attachment 2811862

Sansa (No Kernal Left Behind)

View attachment 2811863

Lilly!!!

 

[Scrambles83]

Book week from home.
Ravenclaw all the way, baby!
(I had to use the timer function on iPad, first time )

 

[rural mouse]

@rural mouse I'm always mindful of Shad's advice and recently made shade shelters within an fully enclosed chicken run that look like piles of brush and leaves from above. The idea is that if a hawk is looking from above, it won't even see any hens. While I doubt a hawk could break through the top of the run because the wire covering it quite heavy duty, I'd rather provide hiding places for the hens just in case. The hens also have a couple of old tables in there to hide under, have shade, and shelter from the rain.

That said, we're in a suburban setting and the hens really do live in a backyard.

View attachment 2812591

I like this! I wouldn't have to enclose the olive trees! I did just plant a dwarf mungo pine with the idea of providing winter shelter. The brush table could get moved around too....a pallet on stumps would work easy too.

 

[rural mouse]

I read your thread from the beginning but when I started, it was only 100 pages or so, not 2K+!

It was about 4800 when I started....