Have you given up your flock because of neighborhood predators?

[Abriana]

Yes! My neighbors dog killed my entire flock but 2. My barred Rocks where the first I bought and they were 4 years old. Big John, my rooster was huge and gentle. He would pick food and give it to the hens who ate it from his beak. His second in command was J.D. a barred rock Turken, unique because most turkens are big and red. He and Big John had a great rooster relationship in the evenings J.D. was responsible for getting any rebel hens in the shed. My broody hen was a white Turken named Prissy, as soon as her current chicks were on their own she would start setting again. I lost my interest after the horrifying raid and I still miss them. Today I put 14 hatching eggs in the incubator. I know they will be a good flock in their own way but their will never be another Big John, J.D. or Prissy.

I know how it feels to lose chickens. I lost a chick six days after i got my first batch, a pullet was picked up by a hawk, i had to give away a cock who would meet certain death where he went, and i lost a sweet little chick to an unknown sickness. There will never be another Lindsey, Rocket, Celia, or Faith, but the chicks i bought after they were gone have made me feel much better. I know that the flock you are hatching will help you feel better after losing your other flock. Good luck with your chicks!

 

[centrarchid]

We have lost birds to dogs in the past also. We use dog kennels now for our birds (to keep dogs out) and cover in 16 gauge strong hardware cloth with 1/2 inch openings (due to raccoons). This covers the top of the kennel too and an apron around the outside bottom to prevent digging.
View attachment 1045638
Size large 90 inch diameter advantek pet gazebo covered in fencerwire.

We have lost birds to dogs in the past also. We use dog kennels now for our birds (to keep dogs out) and cover in 16 gauge strong hardware cloth with 1/2 inch openings (due to raccoons). This covers the top of the kennel too and an apron around the outside bottom to prevent digging.
View attachment 1045638
Size large 90 inch diameter advantek pet gazebo covered in fencerwire.

Those would not stop dogs I have dealt with. The dogs would run into them to push them and / or make them collapse. Not much in the way of hotwire would make them much harder to break into.

 

[ladyearth]

Those would not stop dogs I have dealt with. The dogs would run into them to push them and / or make them collapse. Not much in the way of hotwire would make them much harder to break into.

Not the 2 together dog kennels I had with welded wire and hardware cloth with hdwe cloth buried apron...unless they were wild boars or bears or rabid or far from the house...
Heck Iould like to buy the speaker like the bank drive in window has... so I could hear whats going on outside when windows are closed..

 

[bajabirdbrain]

Wow, what an interesting thread! Well for our $.02 on this topic, we got intro'd to chickens by vacation baby sitting a couple of neighbor's old hens. We went on 2 Chicken Coop Tours sponsored by our 4H Club and saw many operations of others.

When we decided to give this a try we read many numerous articles on raising of chicks and, of course, found Backyard Chickens. Even though we were new to this we were pretty well educated on the good, bad, & ugly. We designed our coop/run to meet the challenges of raising chicks in a rural unincorporated area where most lot sizes are 2.5 or 5 acres and with lots of trees. We knew that hawks/eagles, raccoons, coyotes, and dogs were what we had to defend against.

We built the coop and run to be totally predator resistant so and large enough to allow the girls as much room as we could allocate. Overall footprint is 10ftx30ft with the coop being 6ftx10ft and 2ft above the ground.

We virtually never see raccoons or coyotes during the day. Hawks are present as we also feed a ton of wild birds but with the trees around the birds can hide quickly. We have an automatic coop door opener so the girls can get outside early(5:15am) and they go to their roost on their own before the door closes at 9:30pm.

We have had several encounters with neighbor's dogs. One neighbor had 2 Great Danes that would charge BB as she walked our dog down the street. After many encounters we finally called the county animal control and complained. No further problems. However, our next door neighbor has 2 dogs and one of them kept attacking our 30lb female for no reason on a public street. I FINALLY had this happen when I was walking the dog and the property owner was outside. I let him know in very colorful language that he needed to control his dogs. After this he put a fence around his 2.5 acres and that helped but didn't stop it. We saw both dogs at our coop/run one morning, staring in and the next day I saw one of the dogs go over the fence with ease. Again, we called animal control and had a good chat. She contacted the property owners and let them know the rules and WHAT COULD HAPPEN if this trespassing continued.

Girls are 12 weeks old tomorrow and we have been letting them out of their coop/run for several weeks now. One or both of us supervise their wanderings. I carry a .22 rifle with bird shot and will quickly use it IF the need arises. So far, no issues. I don't think the bird shot would be lethal to a dog, hawks, maybe. The bird shot is safer to use as I don't have the same worry as keeping track of where a bullet might end up.

We love ALL animals and our dog has total access to the outside on her schedule(doggie door) as have our previous dogs for over 30 yrs. Our animals are our pets, period, chicks included. IF others threaten our pets, whatever measures are needed will be usedl

We know some of you are not as committed to the protection of your flock as we are, but you can't just talk to irresponsible people and keep replacing your losses. Maybe some should not have animals that are at risk if they can't be protected properly for whatever reason. We could never allow the chicks to totally free range as that would be almost a 100% certainty that we would lose some or all. We know that and have worked out a compromise that suits us. One neighbor has 3 chickens in a prefab coop that is about 4ft square and the chicks NEVER get out. This is, to us, as bad as having a pet dog and keeping it on a 10 chain day in and day out. Not for us. You just have to decide what you can and are able to do to meet the quality of life you want your animals to have.

Sorry to rant and ramble so long but we are constantly reminded how different people are. PS Our next door neighbors are NOT on our Christmas Card list or we on theirs and that is just fine.

The girls like the long grass around their condo. Note the surrounding trees brush, the deer love it as well as the rabbits.

We have tried to make their run as interesting to the girls as we can. Dust bath, numerous perches, water, swing with dry meal worms in a suet cage, chairs with towels which they love to gang nap on. Trying to keep some grass growing but it is a losing effort despite watering every other day and raking it. Their free range time helps.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Heck Iould like to buy the speaker like the bank drive in window has... so I could hear whats going on outside when windows are closed..

You could probably get a wireless camera with speaker for not too much. Watch the inside of your coop from inside your house.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

View attachment 1045804

What is that white sloped surface at the edges of the run?

 

[livhatcher]

I always think it puts you in an awful position. A lot of us are in a weird zone of "chickens are ok to have at your semi-suburban/rural-relatively large tract but not a farm, but not if your neighbors complain" and I think it's difficult. I'm zoned ag but classed as residential so they can tax the living mess out of us. I can have my chickens, but it's sort of at the pleasure of my neighbors and whether they crow about it. Across street neighbor has a definitely against local law un-fixed male dog who goes to the bathroom EVERYWHERE in our yard. I could call, but then they could complain against me in retaliation... It stinks. My only solution is to build a coop large enough that it makes it bearable if the birds don't get free range time.

 

[TheWickedChicken]

Have you tried a BB gun? A nice pop in the rump every time they near your property could dissuade them.

 

[centrarchid]

Have you tried a BB gun? A nice pop in the rump every time they near your property could dissuade them.

Can be effective but generally not legal.

 

[TheWickedChicken]

Can be effective but generally not legal.

Never heard of a BB gun being illegal. Doesn't the owner have a right to defend her/his property? At least a BB gun isn't lethal.