INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Ninjasquirrel]

My chicken area is about 1/2 acre fenced, the only cover come from the trees. I don't have an outdoor dog but I do have pet dogs (two females and two males). The male dogs do not get inside the chicken area without supervision. These are the things that I think it has helped me keep my flock safe from aerial predators:
I have three turkeys (adults) I am assuming this will intimidate an areal predator
I have 7 adult ducks. I have seen them alerting the flock when they see a hawk.
I have 3 adult roosters who protect the ladies.
I also allowed my two male dogs go inside the chicken area ( supervised by me) to leave their scent. I DE shed them and leave some of their hair in the fence and also they urinate in the area . I have heard that male dog scent will deter ground predator.
So far this has helped to keep my flock safe. I only had one accident last winter and that was because the trees give no cover at all.

I had a young hawk eyeing my birds. Only noticed it because the roosters did the "danger" call. I saw it and walked over to where they were and just stared him down. He flew off after a minute or two. Haven't seen him come back since. Our dog is a recent addition to the family and up until then our biggest problem was raccoons. She has managed to chase a few off and a few possums. We have plenty of cover for our birds to hide under if there are hawks around though. If I notice it is really quiet I yell "HEY YOU CHICKENS" and they all run under the porch. Now that we have a roo though he alerts the hens. Havent had a hawk attack yet this year but our first year a red tail came after them. They ran under the porch as he swooped down and then he took off empty taloned

 

[Faraday40]

Well, it certainly sounds that a dog isn’t the silver bullet for all predators. It’s possible I could hit a critical mass where losing a handful of chickens a year wouldn’t interrupt my egg production, but I’m not there yet. I’m just now starting to get a dozen eggs a day and am loving it. I’ll keep thinking it through.

It's never easy to have a predator loss and you'll never get used to it. If you feel your chickens are happier with the freedom to roam your yard, all you can do is try to make free ranging a little safer by adding some deterrents. OR You can keep the flock contained in a coop/run or tractor during the day & a Fort Knox coop at night.

We actually do both. The main flock gets to free range but our children's bantams are trained to go to their tractor during the day & return to the coop at night. The tractor gets moved daily for fresh grass. After losing our favorite silkie to a hawk, our DD won't allow any of her 'babies' to be without shelter.

 

[Faraday40]

I hatched a small group of chicks for my bday

3 white orps, 2 silver laced orps, and 5 seramas

 

[man_of_fishers]

I hatched a small group of chicks for my bday
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3 white orps, 2 silver laced orps, and 5 seramas
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When they hatch in the incubator, do they just wait in there?

 

[Pollitos6]

I hatched a small group of chicks for my bday
View attachment 2326476

3 white orps, 2 silver laced orps, and 5 seramas
View attachment 2326479
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omg what a cuties. Happy Birthday!

 

[Molpet]

I hatched a small group of chicks for my bday
View attachment 2326476

3 white orps, 2 silver laced orps, and 5 seramas
View attachment 2326479
View attachment 2326480
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Happy birthday

 

[Faraday40]

When they hatch in the incubator, do they just wait in there?

They stay in the incubator until fluffed up. I normally remove chicks once per day. The orps were so big & crowded in there, so I took them out so the more delicate seramas could hatch in peace.

 

[Pollitos6]

Hello all,

I have two handsome bantam roosters that need new home. I am willing to give them free to a good home. They are both bantam, 6 months old. One is a red Cochin rooster and the other one is a porcelain d'uccle. I live in Indianapolis. Let me know if you are interested.

 

[Faraday40]

Xansie was broody and sitting on a rock for a couple weeks, so I gave her some incubator chicks as they hatched on Friday. Friday night I added the week old chicks that hatched on Sept 8th, and she didn't seem to mind. After dark, I slipped in the 3 wk old (Aug 27th) chick. I didn't want it to be lonely, right? By Sat morning, I added the 9.5 wk old serama chick. I don't really have a place for it, her serama mama already abandoned her, and I haven't sold her yet. I doubt Xansie will notice.

Here's my very happy hen, Xansie, and her chick hoard. She loves being a mama. Today they got to go outside for the 1st time. You'll notice the little 3 day old seramas zooming about and one in back trying to use the big chicken nipple. The chicks are Orpingtons and Seramas. Mama hen is a very special Silkie.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

View attachment 2324143
does this look like normal molting to y’all? My roo is only six months old.

Yes and heis stunning!

Question, do any of y'all free range your chickens exclusively? If so, do you also have a dog as a primary protector for your free rangers? I have an acre of fenced in yard, but due to both daytime and nighttime predators, I can't let them free range. I've tried and the hawks especially get bold after a few days. As an example, I have a pool in the backyard and had a hawk swoop in for a kill with 20 people swimming and sitting around the pool, barely 25 yards from the coop.

I'm not a dog owner currently, but my flock is getting so big that I'm entertaining the idea of converting much of their critter-proof run to a large, walk-in coop. But to pull all this off, I need a reliable protector for the flock. So I'm considering getting an outdoor-only dog, but I want to be sure before I do so.

I have a LGD named Belle. she's a great Pyrenees. She primarily takes care of my goats. My Ameruacana flock also lives with her, zero losses and I adore her. Spayed or neutered dogs perform better and wont try to roam.