I got chickens for my new property when I first moved in. Those first chickens are now over a year old and have been free ranging (daytime only) since they were five months old.
The first time I let them out (stupidly, I thought the rain would keep any predators away) they were attacked by the neighbors dog. The rooster, almost two years old at that point, got between the dog and the pullets, then did the injured bird thing and led it away.
We have lots of predators, and I suspect that there have been attacks I didn’t see. I have seen that rooster fluffed and bedraggled many times, but no injuries.
I got rid of the old rooster (he has 5 acres and lots of ladies all to himself) and now have two 9 month cockerels. I have never seen how they respond to a predator attack.
Yesterday I heard the cockerels screaming and ran to the window to see all the girls hiding, the single chick hiding, and a hawk drifting overhead as the cockerels watched it. It eventually drifted away. I guess it didn’t feel like tackling 2 birds 5 times its size.
Eventually the yard will be planted to provide hiding places, but for the moment they're all black or mottled birds (the chick disappears entirely unless he moves) and even the 9 week old chick is larger than the hawk.
I have seen videos of predators that somehow get into a coop and run, and it's horrifying.
The birds have nowhere to go, no place to get away. They have no chance.
We take a risk, when allowing our birds to be birds rather than pet-in-a-box. From my perspective, that risk is mitigated by the fact that they get to be chickens--roll in the dirt, eat grass and bugs, and spread their wings just because.
The first time I let them out (stupidly, I thought the rain would keep any predators away) they were attacked by the neighbors dog. The rooster, almost two years old at that point, got between the dog and the pullets, then did the injured bird thing and led it away.
We have lots of predators, and I suspect that there have been attacks I didn’t see. I have seen that rooster fluffed and bedraggled many times, but no injuries.
I got rid of the old rooster (he has 5 acres and lots of ladies all to himself) and now have two 9 month cockerels. I have never seen how they respond to a predator attack.
Yesterday I heard the cockerels screaming and ran to the window to see all the girls hiding, the single chick hiding, and a hawk drifting overhead as the cockerels watched it. It eventually drifted away. I guess it didn’t feel like tackling 2 birds 5 times its size.
Eventually the yard will be planted to provide hiding places, but for the moment they're all black or mottled birds (the chick disappears entirely unless he moves) and even the 9 week old chick is larger than the hawk.
I have seen videos of predators that somehow get into a coop and run, and it's horrifying.
The birds have nowhere to go, no place to get away. They have no chance.
We take a risk, when allowing our birds to be birds rather than pet-in-a-box. From my perspective, that risk is mitigated by the fact that they get to be chickens--roll in the dirt, eat grass and bugs, and spread their wings just because.
