Give up free-ranging?

[Blacksmithchic]

Pardon my ignorance to the exact verbage of the law, but isn't it completely legal to shoot any animal (protected species or not) if it harasses your livestock/poultry, especially if it is on your own property? I know that if, for instance, a neighbor's dog comes on my property and chases my sheep, I am within the protection of Federal law to kill that dog dead...and the same goes for predatory birds, as far as I know. Granted, if a predatory bird makes a nest in one of my trees, it is against the law to move the nest or kill the bird, BUT, if I witness the bird killing one of my animals, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong), I am allowed to dispatch the offending bird. Is that not the case...?

 

[Ravynscroft]

Pardon my ignorance to the exact verbage of the law, but isn't it completely legal to shoot any animal (protected species or not) if it harasses your livestock/poultry, especially if it is on your own property? I know that if, for instance, a neighbor's dog comes on my property and chases my sheep, I am within the protection of Federal law to kill that dog dead...and the same goes for predatory birds, as far as I know. Granted, if a predatory bird makes a nest in one of my trees, it is against the law to move the nest or kill the bird, BUT, if I witness the bird killing one of my animals, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong), I am allowed to dispatch the offending bird. Is that not the case...?

No, it is not legal to harass, injure, or kill any protected species in the defense of any livestock, including chickens, etc. A domesticated animal, stray, feral, or your neighbors, or any wildlife that is not protected is totally different. Each state differs on exactly what is and is not legal in protecting your animals, some say chickens are livestock and some say they are not, but that is consistent throughout the States. Federal law states you may not harm, harass, injure or kill any protected species, unless you or another human being's life is threatened, and even then they want proof of that.
Thus the saying, the 3 S's...

 

[Skylarwahl]

We have geese, they don't crow early in the morning and they are always on the job. They occasionally loose a hen to the hawk but not often, fox and stoats won't come near them. The dogs come in the house at night but the geese are always there to protect their flock. I would suggest having at least two males (ganders), when the females are on the nest they are sometimes killed by fox themselves, with two males there is always someone awake and on guard.

 

[fadedracer]

faded where do you live.

Kansas, Thanks for asking, I hope you are not plagued with raptors like me.

 

[fadedracer]

Pardon my ignorance to the exact verbage of the law, but isn't it completely legal to shoot any animal (protected species or not) if it harasses your livestock/poultry, especially if it is on your own property? I know that if, for instance, a neighbor's dog comes on my property and chases my sheep, I am within the protection of Federal law to kill that dog dead...and the same goes for predatory birds, as far as I know. Granted, if a predatory bird makes a nest in one of my trees, it is against the law to move the nest or kill the bird, BUT, if I witness the bird killing one of my animals, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong), I am allowed to dispatch the offending bird. Is that not the case...?

I agree, we should be able to protect our livestock, pigeons, chickens etc. But in Kansas I can protect my birds from neighbors dogs etc. but need a special permit for rocoons etc. if it is out of trapping season. As for Raptors, owls etc. ( any federally protected raptors etc.) I can not even harass or scare them off even if they attack my pigeons or chickens etc. I talked to a Fish and Game commission guy, several of them, and they all said I have to just keep my birds locked up. Some America we live in!!!!!!! That is why I said its too bad its not the America I grew up in. Its not the Fish and Game Commissions fault, its the stupid law. We need to get congressman to see there is too many raptors and we should be able to protect our livestock. It has gotten so bad here, that I see Chicken Hawks with live cats and kittens in their talons and the poor cat being torn apart and screaming as it is eaten when the hawks land. Not a very nice sight. Just sick!, sick!, sick!!!!!. I am not a cat lover, but nobody deserves that kind of death. Oh well, I lived in a better america years ago.

 

[Jack Speese]

Unfortunately predators have always been the worst problem I've dealt with in raising birds. Not even a full-grown goose is safe from a vicious dog, even a small to medium-sized one. A strong fence, perhaps supplemented with electric fence to keep out digging and climbing predators, goes a long way to protecting your flock from land predators, and getting your flock into a pen with a top and/or enclosed coop at night is an absolute must for any species of poultry. That's not so hard, most domestic poultry species, even ones that prefer to be outdoors like waterfowl, will return to such a pen and/or coop if their feed and water is kept in it. In my opinion the worst predators are birds of prey. Other than a pen with a top it is hard to prevent an aerial attack. And they can be much worse in some regions (like along coastal flyways) than others, and worse in the colder months when there is less natural prey available and when they are migrating. Having a rooster to keep watch and raising more active, alert chicken breeds with colored and patterned plumage helps, but not even guineas can't get away from hawks all the time. In the winter I lose an occasional bird to a hawk, and usually keeping the flock penned inside for a couple of days will cause it to give up and look elsewhere. I am not advocating, but can sympathize with the 3 S's approach (shoot, shovel, shut-up).

 

[Hard Boiled]

My Father-in law had 6 guineas and they were all killed while free ranging. We caught the culprit..a fox!!! Sometimes fox kill just to kill and leave the carcass for a later time.

 

[flghtmedic]

In three years of raising chickens in the Florida Panhandle I have lost only 4 birds. Two were to Sickness, one was likely to a hawk and the last one to a dog, I think.

A few of my birds didn't like to stay confined to their side of the yard and would get on top of the coops or the compost bins and fly over the fence, either to the other part of the yard or outside the 6 foot hurricane fence. Last year they got chased into the brambles by a dog and learned their lesson and stopped doing it. I got a few new birds this year and of course the old birds didn't pass on the info.

I ended up buying a poultry net 25'x100' to cover their run to keep them in and the hawks out. I have never had a fox or coyote problem because the 6 foot wood fence keeps them out. I have also not had a problem with bears or possum yet either.

I still let my chickens free range for an hour to and hour and a half each evening before sundown. I open the gate and they a go running to get all the bugs on the other side as well as eat the flowers on the weeds. they have just enough time to walk the acre and get back to the coops by dark and so don't have time to dig along the foundation of the house (as they used to do).

To limit the digging in their run I put chicken wire on the ground and let the grass grow up through it. They still have an area to dig in for the dirt bathes they are so fond of, but they still have grass to eat too.

 

[fadedracer]

I have found here that it doesn't matter what time of year it is, I live in the plains state ( Kansas ) So the hawks are always here. It does not get better and worse, just always bad. I have three other friends that live in country by me also, and they have exactly the same problems. Raptors, Raptors, Raptors!!!!! Lots and Lots of losses. We have all tried everything to no avail. They even get wound up I the top netting, ( the hawks ) so we have to buy new netting for the tops all the time.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Yeah, friends that use poultry netting usually have to rescue the hawks but at least the chickens have been safe - for the most part.

Good roosters have been my best defense against birds of prey and unmonitored flocks.