Is anyone NOT bothered by predators?

[halo]

If not, what are you doing to prevent losses such as these?

 

[nccountrygirl]

I'm like egh, I don't free range mine and I pray that my coop and run will keep them out, plus I have 2 big dogs about 20 ft. from them and they will bark at the wind, so I hope that to will help.

 

[speckledhen]

I do freerange mine when I'm home. I live in a heavily wooded mountainous area with all the predators you can imagine, including roaming dogs. We even had a fox's den on the corner of my property about 200 ft from our coop and the kits were coming out of the den by the time we knew it for sure.
I know my time is coming to lose one, but in two years we've owned chickens, no losses. Part of the credit goes to my rooster, Hawkeye, who is the best warning system and bodyguard my girls could have. Part of it is that we are most often home and in and out of the house with the girls quite a bit. I have CDs strung on mason's line over the open pens, which reflect and make it hard for a hawk to make an easy dive by the physical barrier of the crisscrossed string and the blinding effect of the flashing CDs. Other than that, it's been sheer luck, I guess.
Edited to add: They are locked up tight in pretty much predator proof coops at dusk every night. A bear could get in, but a bear pretty much goes wherever he wants to go anyway. A human predator could get in but we'd probably hear him over the baby monitor trying to unbolt the stiff barrel bolts that go vertically and horizontally.

 

[okiechick57]

Mine all freerange......... I have only to deal with Coyotes....I think I am fortunate considering all the racoon/fox/dog stories I have read here..........I also have a horse that is my alarm for any coyote and dogs that keep most other things away I think......

 

[Itsme]

Mine free range during the day and are locked in tight at night. Course this is during ther warmer months, they won't even step foot outside the coop now....
the sissys!

I have not lost any YET. I am not so nieve or bold as to think that I will not in the future.
We have hawks and Eagles galore, but they don't seem interested.
Theire is always the chance of a stray dog coming through.
The coyotes are around but are mostly night time critters
(from my experience around here)
We have a resident opossum that I could very much identify with Red Rooster on in an early thread, they are opprotunist and eat the cat food.
My coop is built like fort knox so at night time I have zero concerns about their safety.
I 've had to shag the grand boys away a couple of times, but they have learned that Grandmas chickens are nothin to chase...never mind the roosters...... beware of grandma!!!

 

[SpottedCrow]

Not around here. I've got hawks, raccoons, possums, skunks, dogs, cats, foxes and coyotes all looking for fun or a free meal.

I only let my girls out when I'm gonna be able to watch them. Which they don't really mind during a New England winter.

 

[peeps7]

I don't free range my chickens. I put the garden fence on my coop instead of chicken wire, raccoons can't tear through it. I have a wood roof on my coop so hawks can't get in. I also put rocks around the bottom so dogs and foxes can't dig under the fence.


Edited to add: I also have a poodle and an american bulldog that go out to the coop alot.

 

[Redfeathers]

I don't have predator problems so far, I have two intact male dogs that mark along the fence lines constantly, I think that helps because when we first moved here I had racoons and possum in my garden area, they haven't come back since the dogs started marking. I do let mine free range but I try to be out with them the majority of the time.

 

[adeters2]

I have been fortunate so far as well. I have not lost any of my "Children" to a predator in 2 years. They free range about once a month while I clean the run. But the run is more than big enough for them. approx 9 x 60 feet total. And totally enclosed. My neighbor has problems with black snakes, but I have not had any problems so far. (snake away around the perimiter of the fence) But I do have squirrels coming in from time to time for free corn...does that count? lol

 

[mdbucks]

I have no fence, mine truly free range everyday. I did have loss, but that was because son said he closed up the coop, and door was standing open. I have 3 dogs that patrol yard during the day, but are in house at night. Knock on wood, between the dogs and the guineas, nothing gets into the yard unnoticed. If the coop is locked up nothing can get in short of throwing a brick through the glass. And if there is a preditor out there throwing bricks I dont know that I want to go out to stop it anyway.