free ranging questions

[16 and me]

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We keep our cats locked up to protect them from bob cats and coyotes (I have a tabby Siamese and others we've rescued) We built a couple catio's & attached them to the house. My dogs don't sound alerts to bob cats because we have cats

I am somewhat fortunate in that my dog is an umpteenth generation farm dog. He has an inate skill of detecting & alerting to predatorial and ranging wildlife and driving them off or warning of their presence. The problem is he spent the first 9 years of his life with me and no farm animals, so he has transferred the object of his protection away from livestock and towards me. So he is only around the flock when I am. If I go inside he follows & if I leave him out, he just focuses on the door.

 

[Stephine]

We have hawks all day long every day of the year. Big hawks, small hawks. The small hawks will hunt in the woods and in and under trees and bushes. We lost one hen to a hawk attack, before our dog knew they were a problem. Haven’t had an issue since - they are out all day mist every day, but never without our dog guarding them. Well trained dogs are absolutely essential for keeping livestock (or pets) safe.

 

[McChooky]

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I am somewhat fortunate in that my dog is an umpteenth generation farm dog. He has an inate skill of detecting & alerting to predatorial and ranging wildlife and driving them off or warning of their presence. The problem is he spent the first 9 years of his life with me and no farm animals, so he has transferred the object of his protection away from livestock and towards me. So he is only around the flock when I am. If I go inside he follows & if I leave him out, he just focuses on the door.

Sounds about right lol

 

[No Coop No Problem]

We keep our cats locked up to protect them from bob cats and coyotes (I have a tabby Siamese and others we've rescued) We built a couple catio's & attached them to the house. My dogs don't sound alerts to bob cats because we have cats

Interesting. I have 3 black free-range cats for rodent control and my dogs are very kind to them. However there's also feral black cats in the area that my dogs will viciously run off

I have to get very close to tell the difference but my dogs seem to intuitively know from hundreds of feet away. Perhaps it's the scent

 

[McChooky]

Interesting. I have 3 black free-range cats for rodent control and my dogs are very kind to them. However there's also feral black cats in the area that my dogs will viciously run off

I have to get very close to tell the difference but my dogs seem to intuitively know from hundreds of feet away. Perhaps it's the scent

The locals use cats to train their dogs to hunt a bob cat because the scents the same.He can't see the bob cat in the woods hidden among the rhododendron. And being a Basset hound he's going to pick up the scent before he ever sees it lol

 

[TOR]

I free range and have many predators. Be prepared if you lose. Last year first in a about 3 years I lost couple hens and few chicks, I think 4 chicks.
My chickens do have brush and woods to go into from aerial predators, but then there is the other predators which like the brush and woods, fox etc

I free range everyday and also realize I could come up short on chickens. It is what it is, everything likes chicken.

 

[McChooky]

Hasn't happened to me yet. I've been doing this for years without any difficulty. Every single time I hear about a "devastating loss" it takes place inside of a coop from a surprise predator breaking in

Chickens react to predation by flying away the majority of the time and coops prevent this response from working

Because most coops aren't predator proof chickens can be easy prey locked up at night however the biggest threat to free range chickens here is a fox .They've been known to kill the whole flock in a day and carry them off one by one.Beware they can strike at anytime

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Because most coops aren't predator proof chickens can be easy prey locked up at night however the biggest threat to free range chickens here is a fox .They've been known to kill the whole flock in a day and carry them off one by one.Beware they can strike at anytime

There's tremendous variance in how people free-range their chickens. I have both foxes and chickens here and they haven't caught anything of mine in years except a handful of Fayoumi that didn't camoflage enough

If a chicken can't fly to safety it's screwed. A lot of people I see free-range their heavy, flightless production breeds in large empty fields. Some even clip their wings. Of course those chickens will die if a fox, dog or hawk comes along

My first year with chickens I lost 3 RIR that slept on the ground to foxes. Now that I have a dog the foxes stay off my land and they only attack my chickens that go adventuring into the forest. I've watched maybe 5 fox attacks in the last year but they're completely unable to catch my game chickens

Only the poor Fayoumi vanished, and that's my fault for being foolish enough to purchase white chickens

 

[Folly's place]

Chickens vary in their response to threats, individually. Some birds will freeze on the ground, or under a bush, making them easy prey for a canine. Other birds will fly up into a tree (if they can) which is a fail if the hunter is a raptor. Over the years, once we have a very safe coop for overnight, losses do occur when they are free ranging. Younger smaller birds, and bantams, are easier for a raptor, and here the color doesn't matter. Our losses to a fox, once, during the day, were mature standard laying hens. I swear this fox selected hens actively laying, must have liked the eggs?!
Two of our rescue dogs killed some birds, any size, any color, and got the birds who didn't decide to fly up high in time.
We don't seem to have bobcats or bears, fortunately, and our resident coyotes have stayed away for the coop, near our house, the neighbor's, and our dog fence.
When we do have a raptor visitation, our birds are locked in for two weeks or more, until it's likely the the bird has moved on. Our coop and secure roofed run are large enough for the birds to be okay with being in for weeks, when it's necessary. Plan for a safe space that works for your flock!
Mary

 

[Tahai]

Hasn't happened to me yet. I've been doing this for years without any difficulty. Every single time I hear about a "devastating loss" it takes place inside of a coop from a surprise predator breaking in

Chickens react to predation by flying away the majority of the time and coops prevent this response from working

All of my massive losses have happened to my free ranging flocks. Hawks, dogs, foxes, and coyotes. Raccoons were my only coop predators. Everyone has different predator loads.