Free ranging in predator country

[MiddleAmerican]

Im in rural southeast Kansas, and have as many predators as anyone. I free range successfully, and rarely lose a bird. I have Dominique’s, which are excellent free rangers to start.

I have also trapped over 50 coons / opossums / skunks on my 20 acres over the winter. Anything that attempts to attack my chickens, will quickly find itself shot.

In my opinion, free ranging is the way chickens are “supposed” to live. I realize it’s not for everyone, but I wouldn’t do it any other way. There are risks, and you will occasionally lose a bird or two. I can live with that, and always hatch out more than enough replacements every year. That said, I have only lost 3 in the past year, most recently in early November. All very young birds new to free ranging. YMMV.

 

[Vadard]

I'm in the process of building my flock. I have a predator proof coop/run with concrete flooring, but as my flock expands I'm considering free ranging them.
I have raccoon, fox, bobcat, wild hogs, coyotes, and the occasional mountain lion out here, not to mention owls and hawks out here in west Texas. There is plenty of cover with cedar, mesquite, shin oak, live oak, Texas persimmon and other brush. To say the grass is sparse is a bit of an overstatement.
I've looked into electric fencing and guardian animals. Fencing cost is not an issue when compared to purchasing and maintaining a guardian animal in my opinion, but it would be labor intensive due to the brush. I don't think I want a guardian animal in the event I go out of town.
My questions are:
Does anyone here have similar challenges with predators and environment and how you deal with them?
Do you you think my losses will be acceptable if i just let them roam with a flock of 30+ as long as they are locked up nightly? The only predator I occasionally see during the day is gray fox.

You’ll have coyotes during the day if it suits them.

I think you’ll have losses, but it might very well be acceptable depending on what’s acceptable for you.

I hate losing birds, so I keep mine locked up and lose few to critters. My neighbor down the road free ranges his and shoots predators, but always loses a few. Doesn’t seem to bother him.

 

[mudd32]

Get a LSG Dog to hang out with the chickens...short of you hanging out with them with a gun that's the next best thing if your gonna free range them.

 

[dekel18042]

I do extreme free ranging in a predator-thick environment. My 40 acres is in the middle of a few thousand acres of wider swamp and pine flatwoods. I have bobcat, coyote, black bear, red and grey fox, stray domestic dogs, coons, possums, skunk, 7 species of birds of prey, lots of large rat snakes, and probably more I can’t think of at the moment. I expect most of my birds to tree roost. Many of my hens brood their nests on the ground.

I lose very few chickens to predators. Its 60% the genetics of the chickens, which have varying percentages of gamefowl and junglefowl in them, and the remaining 40% is the presence of free range dogs combined with the chickens choosing to stay close to where the dogs patrol.

My other poultry (turkeys and guineas), on the other hand, get devastated. Mostly because they roam and nest far from the homestead where the dogs spend most of their time.

I am in the process of starting a new game flock in a remote part of the farm far from where the dogs regularly roam. This is the core habitat for a large bobcat that I’ve fought with for several years. He’s one of the biggest I’ve seen, roughly the size of my female hound. Here’s the main area for my new flock, and here is the bobcat’s pond about 50 yards behind the new flock area:

View attachment 3410645View attachment 3410646
I will kill this bobcat if I can. Most of the mammal predators can’t catch the games, but I consider this individual bobcat to be an elite predator, having patterned me pretty darn well and avoiding my attempts to hunt or live trap him. I am in the process of getting a permit to use leghold traps (illegal in Florida otherwise) to catch him on this log he regularly uses to cross water.

Free ranging in predator-dense environments can be done. But you got to start with chickens that have a lot of their wild survival instincts intact.

Can't repeat that enough! If you free range, what breed/type of chicken you keep can have a very big effect on the outcome.

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

You’ll have coyotes during the day if it suits them.

I think you’ll have losses, but it might very well be acceptable depending on what’s acceptable for you.

I hate losing birds, so I keep mine locked up and lose few to critters. My neighbor down the road free ranges his and shoots predators, but always loses a few. Doesn’t seem to bother him.

I hate to say never because that's asking for a problem..but I free range..I've lost a juvenile pullet 4-5 months old to a heron.. don't get me wrong hawks and owls are always around. I have more roosters than I should but lack of confinement has made it work as all are 7 months to 2 years. The boys are always on guard literally, they stand on rocks,fences, out buildings.. and start screaming at the girls..night predators are around, bobcats, fox,large alligator snapping turtles, coyotes in theory bear..I've never seen them but the county has..
My girls have a ton of safe hide holes too

 

[itsasmallfarm]

define predator country?
i deal with coons weasels and coyotes where my chickens live, too many for us to even think about free ranging
where i farm bees in the north part of my province, we have fisher, weasels, minks, marten, skunks, coons, foxes, coyotes, wolves, lynx, cougars, bears. too many predator too deal with just the bees.