How Many Chickens Will I Lose Free Ranging

[Beekissed]

Sounds like you need some predators of your own! I've got coyotes, foxes, black bear, bobcat and stray dogs here but my own predators keep those predators off the range area....usually it's only aerial preds that have any success here and that's when the chickens are too far away from the dogs for them to help. Some good chicken dogs out there can help you with four legged predators.

I've heard that, if you kill all the coyotes, that just leaves a space for more to move in and it also causes them to breed more productively to replace those numbers.

 

[ScottandSam]

Sounds like you need some predators of your own! I've got coyotes, foxes, black bear, bobcat and stray dogs here but my own predators keep those predators off the range area....usually it's only aerial preds that have any success here and that's when the chickens are too far away from the dogs for them to help. Some good chicken dogs out there can help you with four legged predators.

I've heard that, if you kill all the coyotes, that just leaves a space for more to move in and it also causes them to breed more productively to replace those numbers.

so what predator do you have. I use to have huskies but down sized to yorkies cause the eat less and take up a lot less room. Plus I had plenty of room with all 3 on the couch.

Scott

 

[Beekissed]

so what predator do you have. I use to have huskies but down sized to yorkies cause the eat less and take up a lot less room. Plus I had plenty of room with all 3 on the couch.

Scott

I have the kind of predator you have to keep outside for it to do any good. I have a mutt farm dog and a LGD breed that's also sort of a mutt, being a mix of three different breeds of LGD....but any good mutt mix will do if they are courageous and have a good prey drive. The other night the coyote pack were singing in the field next to ours and the dogs sang along for a bit then everyone got quiet and it was quiet the rest of the night. My predators told the other predators "we are here, we hear you and now you hear us so keep your distance".

The older dog I've had for 10 yrs now, since he was 2 mo. old, and has been an incredibly good dog with many kills to his credit...he's a quiet dog, so easy to tolerate out there all night and he gets to kill smaller preds that come in and don't realize he's there. He helped me train up the younger dog, also obtained at 2 mo. of age and is now 1 1/2 yrs. He also has learned to be more of a quiet dog from mimicking the older dog, which I love, since it's really not in the nature of his breeds to be so quiet and only barking when a real threat is there and close.

Jake, the elder, a Lab/Border Collie mix.



Ben, the younger, an Anatolian/Maremma/Great Pyr mix.



A good working team already, they compliment one another and I get good rest at night knowing they are out there and on guard.



In "wait" mode for feeding....good and great dogs, both of them. They do eat more than Yorkies and I can't breed them and make money off them that way, it's true, but they are worth their weight in gold to me and I wouldn't sell them for any price.

 

[flyin-lowe]

You could lose them all, none, or anywhere in between.

My neighbor had 15 hens that he bought 3 years ago, he lost one the first year and never lost another. He has no protection, they free range and there is no door on the coop, just an opening so a predator could go in any time day or night.

I built my coop and fully wrapped the run in HC and I only let mine free range when I was home and out in the yard. Within the first few months, while my wife was 20 feet away and fox darted across the yard and got one. Fortunately she scared it away and it dropped the hen. About two weeks later my neighbor started loosing some until he finally shot the fox. But out where we live, to go several years without loosing any is a miracle.

 

[chickens in the yard]

There's always a chance of loosing them when letting them free range. I was so lucky for 7 years. Even though there have been hawks, turkey vultures and coons, skunks and other critters in our area. Last fall we lost a girl to a fox. Looked out the window and saw it standing above her. By the time we got outside the fox was too far to do anything. Had only taken the neck/head. The girls (26 of them) were then inside for a week. We let them out again the following Sunday thinking that we were in the yard mowing and cleaning and thought we would keep predators away. Nope! I had gone inside and my husband was mowing. It was that pre-dusk and thought we should start getting them inside. That is when I heard their warning clucks and when I looked outside the fox was in the middle of the yard not far from where he was mowing. I went out running and screaming at it. I startled it and the girl it had was unharmed but the fox ran behind the chicken barn where it took one. Luckily my husband was somewhat prepared and actually got that fox! However our cameras show there was another in the area. Weather wise it was close to keeping them in for the winter but now have to decide what to do this Spring. I LOVE letting girls free range and they are sooo happy but my heart would hate having this happen again. Dilemma of letting them live happy lives free ranging or safe lives fenced in. I have many hiding places in the yard but would hate to have something get inside the fence and attack where they are truly confined.....*Sigh* the dilemma every chicken owner deals with! Not sure this is helping you in your decision....LOTS to think on but the forums are great in reading the pros and cons of it all. Much luck in every ones decisions!!!

 

[Big Bubba]

I appreciate all of the replies.

The thing that gets me about the whole thing is I've seen the hawks try to attack my girls and they always seemed to have a beat on the hawks. There was too small an area for such a big, fast animal to catch them. At least, I thought. And my girls had tons of hiding places.

I haven't had to worry about any other predators, luckily and just for now.

All of my girls are locked up in a coop and run until Spring. They aren't happy about it either. I do give them a 30 minute free range right before sundown.

I guess there is only so much we can control.

Thanks.

 

[ScottandSam]

I have the kind of predator you have to keep outside for it to do any good. I have a mutt farm dog and a LGD breed that's also sort of a mutt, being a mix of three different breeds of LGD....but any good mutt mix will do if they are courageous and have a good prey drive. The other night the coyote pack were singing in the field next to ours and the dogs sang along for a bit then everyone got quiet and it was quiet the rest of the night. My predators told the other predators "we are here, we hear you and now you hear us so keep your distance".

The older dog I've had for 10 yrs now, since he was 2 mo. old, and has been an incredibly good dog with many kills to his credit...he's a quiet dog, so easy to tolerate out there all night and he gets to kill smaller preds that come in and don't realize he's there. He helped me train up the younger dog, also obtained at 2 mo. of age and is now 1 1/2 yrs. He also has learned to be more of a quiet dog from mimicking the older dog, which I love, since it's really not in the nature of his breeds to be so quiet and only barking when a real threat is there and close.

Jake, the elder, a Lab/Border Collie mix.



Ben, the younger, an Anatolian/Maremma/Great Pyr mix.



A good working team already, they compliment one another and I get good rest at night knowing they are out there and on guard.



In "wait" mode for feeding....good and great dogs, both of them. They do eat more than Yorkies and I can't breed them and make money off them that way, it's true, but they are worth their weight in gold to me and I wouldn't sell them for any price.

Sorry to hijack the thread.

But thanks so much my wife is leaning toward a Maremma/Great Pyr mix. She found some local at a good price (compared to yorkies But she want to wait for the next geese to show up in April to get @ a 8-10 week old puppy and start raising it with the new geese. I am fine with another big dog as long as it was a outside dog which is something we have never owned in 20 years we have been together. But she read up and agreed it will be a outside dog.

Thank You
Scott

 

[spiceholler]

thinking about doing a temporary fence as we've had some more intense predator pressure of late. most likely fox but we have seen a bobcat in a thwarted attack. how long would make sense to cordon them off until the predator (or predators) move along?

we know this isn't a certain solution, but need to remedy things in the short term.

meanwhile, we've been putting what we scoop out of the cat box in the area to create a hostile territory. no real certainty it would work, but worth a try.

 

[Sally PB]

@spiceholler, this is a very old thread. You'll probably get more answers if you start a new thread with your specific concerns.

Also, if you can include pictures of your coop/run/yard, it will help people to see what you have to work with.

 

[Birdinhand]

Its a common story… everything goes great, sometimes for years and then bam, you lose one or sometimes the whole flock in a heartbeat. Whether it’s worth it is entirely your call. I see my birds as livestock and even still, the stress of fixing a predictor problem is so much greater than the ounce of prevention provided by a solid coop, hardware cloth, wall to wall, ceiling and floor. For me, I’ve opted for expanded covered runs, it’s the peace of mind I like the most.