Fox Troubles

[WthrLady]

Wishing my night security camera had take-out capability.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Ya. We have one named Boots" who has eluded me for two months.

Once you start putting the pressure on them the smart ones take a break and wait until you start to relax then they come back again. Lol maddening.

 

[WthrLady]

Oh I know.

 

[Howard E]

Can't speak for everyone, but I've never lost a bird to a predator, and that includes foxes. Although I've never seen one, neighbors on both sides of me say we have them....one momma raised 4 kits no more than 200 yards from my coop.

So what do I do? First, when the sun goes down and the birds go to roost, door behind them is closed. Once that happens, the vault door has slammed shut. No varmint can get into that coop. They are safe there until morning when they are let out again. But let out where? Into a yard, with perimeter established by a brutally hot electric fence designed to keep the birds in and predators out. A predator trying to get to the birds has to negotiate that fence and not knowing what an electric fence is by sight, they find out what it is by touching it........where they get to experience a near death jolt of juice. I have seen dogs and cats reaction to this jolt and it ain't pretty (for them). Once properly shocked, you can hardly get them to go near it. So the birds get to roam around inside a safe zone oasis where they are free from attacks.

Compare that to a true free range situation where there are no barriers to separate the birds and predators. In that scenario, the birds are helpless......the predator is going to win that battle almost every time. Not IF they are going to get nabbed, the only question is when.

Moral to that story is that unless you enjoy loosing your birds to a never ending supply of predators, DO NOT FREE RANGE. Yard them instead.

 

[WthrLady]

You have been lucky.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Can't speak for everyone, but I've never lost a bird to a predator, and that includes foxes. Although I've never seen one, neighbors on both sides of me say we have them....one momma raised 4 kits no more than 200 yards from my coop.

So what do I do? First, when the sun goes down and the birds go to roost, door behind them is closed. Once that happens, the vault door has slammed shut. No varmint can get into that coop. They are safe there until morning when they are let out again. But let out where? Into a yard, with perimeter established by a brutally hot electric fence designed to keep the birds in and predators out. A predator trying to get to the birds has to negotiate that fence and not knowing what an electric fence is by sight, they find out what it is by touching it........where they get to experience a near death jolt of juice. I have seen dogs and cats reaction to this jolt and it ain't pretty (for them). Once properly shocked, you can hardly get them to go near it. So the birds get to roam around inside a safe zone oasis where they are free from attacks.

Compare that to a true free range situation where there are no barriers to separate the birds and predators. In that scenario, the birds are helpless......the predator is going to win that battle almost every time. Not IF they are going to get nabbed, the only question is when.

Moral to that story is that unless you enjoy loosing your birds to a never ending supply of predators, DO NOT FREE RANGE. Yard them instead.

Everyone’s situation is different. The amount of predators you have, the number of chickens you have whether or not your property is wooded or bordered by woods can all make a big difference.
It’s not difficult to keep a dozen chickens inside a permanent enclosure healthy but much more than that and most people start having health issues. They’re walking on the same beat down ground every day.
For those that are unwilling to catch and kill predators on a regular basis free ranging may not be for them. The trade off is happy healthier chickens and that is indisputable. Of course you may lose a few here and there that’s also a given. For raising large numbers of birds free ranging can be the best option.
Personally I have some free ranging 24/7 but most get locked up at night behind an electric fence, inside of coop which is also locked up.
How long have you had chickens?

 

[Howard E]

3 years.

Lucky? In this, I tend to believe you make your own luck. Lucky would be trusting to chance that the free ranging birds were going to elude capture while out and about.

It's not that we do not had predators. We have em all and in abundance. The only ones I see in the daylight are dogs, and I've seen what happens to them when they hit the fence.

Back in the spring of this year, I made mention of a big white dog that was hanging around. One I'd never seen before. He got it, left and has never been back. I saw him again over the weekend. He was hanging around a house 1/2 mile away. It seems he is left to roam around. On that day, he roamed here. He has not been back. I doubt that would have been the case if he had got to the birds and killed a bunch of them. That would have led to trouble. Lucky for me (and him) the fence dealt with it. Instant justice.

 

[roosterhavoc]

3 years.

Lucky? In this, I tend to believe you make your own luck. Lucky would be trusting to chance that the free ranging birds were going to elude capture while out and about.

It's not that we do not had predators. We have em all and in abundance. The only ones I see in the daylight are dogs, and I've seen what happens to them when they hit the fence.

Back in the spring of this year, I made mention of a big white dog that was hanging around. One I'd never seen before. He got it, left and has never been back. I saw him again over the weekend. He was hanging around a house 1/2 mile away. It seems he is left to roam around. On that day, he roamed here. He has not been back. I doubt that would have been the case if he had got to the birds and killed a bunch of them. That would have led to trouble. Lucky for me (and him) the fence dealt with it. Instant justice.

3 years? I’d didn’t even lose a bird for almost 5 years. Electric fences obviously work.
How many chickens do you have in your enclosure?

 

[Howard E]

Currently 23 birds on about 1/2 acre. Inside that area is an abundance of food and cover options. I am about to double that as the existing area includes our garden. Birds have an uncanny knack for getting in trouble by going straight to the one thing they should avoid. Currently, that is late pumpkins that are trying to ripen. So they will be fenced out of that area into a different one that doesn't matter what they do.

My daughter has had (past tense) two small flocks. As long as she kept them penned up in a secure pen, they survived. But in both cases, she decided to let them free range and in both cases, all birds were wiped out. Last flock lasted only a few days.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Currently 23 birds on about 1/2 acre. Inside that area is an abundance of food and cover options. I am about to double that as the existing area includes our garden. Birds have an uncanny knack for getting in trouble by going straight to the one thing they should avoid. Currently, that is late pumpkins that are trying to ripen. So they will be fenced out of that area into a different one that doesn't matter what they do.

My daughter has had (past tense) two small flocks. As long as she kept them penned up in a secure pen, they survived. But in both cases, she decided to let them free range and in both cases, all birds were wiped out. Last flock lasted only a few days.

The types of birds you raise can make a big difference in survival also. The idea of free ranging isn’t just let them run around and never pay attention to them. You would obviously have to keep an eye on them and trap a few animals here and there.
It’s far less work than keeping a small area half way clean enough to keep birds healthy and free of bumblefoot. With every year that goes by birds kept on the same ground have a higher chance of having issues. Your set up sounds fairly large but most have a dozen birds or so in a small run. They get bored, aggressive and spend more time in the coop. They will destroy the ground and turn everything into a mess.