I know it's a part of having chickens but it's still discouraging

[tryingtohaveitall]

Thank you everyone for the kind words and suggestions. I keep hoping that maybe at least one of them will come out of hiding, but I'm afraid it's delusional optimism.

 

[MIKE555444]

If was lucky and found some free chain link. Our local freecycle sometimes has some up for grabs. That let me make a large run that gives my chickies over 50 s/f per bird. I'm hoping it will give them the effect of being free ranging. I ran an electric fence around it to help keep out any preditors

Sorry for your loss... maybe you can turn up some extra free wire somwhere....

 

[twentynine]

Can you build a large run attached to your coop? Protect it with electric fencing? In the long run it would be cheaper than starting over every year.
I currently have my 9 hens and 1 rooster in a 36 sq ft tractor. I move it everyday, but it just don't seem right to keep'em confined. So I have a 4X8 coop and a 600 sq ft run under construction. The coop is centered in the run and the run is divided into 3- 200 sq ft sub runs. I have planted each sub run with turnips, rape, rye grass, clover, and bahia grasses. The run is built with 6' wire and further protected by electric fencing.
The coop and run has electrical service along with a water line.
I need to add that I have never lost a chicken that was protected by electric fencing.
All told at this point I have about $500 in it with maybe another $100 to go.
It is very discouraging to continually lose hens, so I agree with you on that point. The second thing to think about is you will always have to deal with dogs, your own, or your neighbor's.

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

Quote:
Thanks for the input. We do have an attached 18' x 6' run so I feel like they have a decent amount of space. I guess that'll have to do for now, or just spend time with them watching over in the evening. Lessons hard learned, eh?

 

[PortageGirl]

Well, at least it's relaxing sitting out and watching them while the natter around the yard. Not such a bad way to end your day, a cold refreshing drink, or a cup of hot tea while they toodle around might just be the key to lower blood pressure and a chuckle or two!

 

[nancysmith2]

Joann, have you considered buying some cheap wire and making them a free range place for the daytime play and close them up at night. It is really good for them and makes more healthy eggs. Just a thought.

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

Quote:
No, I hadn't thought about that but it's an interesting idea. Do you have something like this? How high is your wire or is it enclosed overhead? How do you have it erected so that it's stable and yet movable?

Thanks!

 

[PortageGirl]

Here's one that ChevygirlBeth and her husband built, one could be quite a bit smaller base size and much lower too, with it all just wire, it would be even lighter, though it's nice to have some cover for the hens, because even if you're home, there's no guarentee you would be able to get them into their regular coop in time if a storm blew up.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=172799

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

Quote:
Very cool. I hadn't seen that design, it looks great. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Olive Hill]

So sorry for your loss. Free-ranging definitely has an element of risk. Here we have dogs (our own and those that are loose), coyotes, fox, opossum, raccoon, eagle, hawk, bobcat, and occasional black bears -- plus outdoor cats (domestic) who live next door and love to stalk but thus far have been unsuccessful in actually catching the chickens.

Surprisingly all of my predator losses have been at night when they're locked up like Fort Knox in the coop. Of course.

The tractors are a good idea. Another if you really want to get away from fences altogether is to provide plenty of cover and height (staggered perches outside, shrubbery, etc) and to optionally add a few guineas to your flock. Guineas are wonderful watch dogs for a flock. They sound off whenever something isn't right and once your flock is used to them they should run for cover as soon as the guineas say the word. It may or may not work with the dogs -- depending on their size and what safety is available for the chickens, but for most other day-time predators especially guineas are a great precautionary measure for flock preserverance.

I think it's great that you're being understanding with your neighbors and taking responsibility for the risk you took leaving the chickens out. We live rurally but still have strays come through now and again that have somehow escaped their home confines. One of my own dogs is a runner if given the chance and despite our best efforts early in her life did escape a couple of times before we got all the systems fool proof for her unique ... style.

So I always try to be understanding too. Accidents do happen. I just wanted to add that, you don't necessarily have to throw stones -- I'm with you there -- but maybe just give them a friendly heads up. If they weren't home or weren't outside they may not even know that the dogs took off. If they don't know they can't fix the problem. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, absolutely. But also give them a heads up in case they're not aware, too.

We have a neighbor down the road that has a yellow lab who used to come over a few times a week. He is a friendly dog and got along with our dogs and kids fine, never made a nuisance so I didn't mind. One day when we were all together I made a joke about the dog coming over for playdates, it'd been months, I thought they knew. It was always when they were gone that he'd do it and they had no idea he was doing that. He was always in the yard when they left and when they got home and never any evidence of anything different so they never even gave it a second thought. They ended up chaining him up when they were gone after that and I felt a bit bad, as he was a great dog and I didn't mind him. But it just goes to show, sometimes people aren't even aware there is a "problem". We're all human.