Is free range safe?

[jeepgirl13]

It's been about 2 years ago now. A neighbor let her little dog out to do it's business before retiring for the evening. I don't know if it was more than one but a coyote got it and hurt it so bad it died the next day.

This would happen back in Arizona where I lived. Little dogs would get snatched up out the yards and never seen again. One time, my neighbor was out walking her little dog, and a coyote ran up and snatched it from her and took off. Leash and all. We were in a bad drought that year so they were looking for any easy meal they could get.

 

[HopeSprings]

Last week I lost my second pullet to a hawk. Now they don’t free range until late in the afternoon when the mountain is shading the areas they like to hang out in. Hoping that the hawk will have found a fat rabbit by then!

 

[Ghosty]

A doe with fawns hanging around my Dad's house stomped their favorite cat one night. They rescued him as a kitten when they were walking around the lake. It had a hurt paw and he and his momma and litter mates had been dumped there. They nursed him back to health, and he would ride around the house on their shoulders. He was such a sweetie, and Dad, who had never been a cat person, loved him dearly. They were crushed when he got killed. They learned that having a momma doe around the house isn't the best thing.

 

[Ghosty]

I always worried about my Cairn Terrier running around the fields where we have lived, even at night. My neighbor would chastise me because we both knew there were coyotes around. She is a street smart one, though, and 10 years and going strong. Where we live now the coyotes stay away from the houses. They get hunted quite a bit, as there are a lot of livestock around. It puts the fear of humans into them.

 

[Ghosty]

This would happen back in Arizona where I lived. Little dogs would get snatched up out the yards and never seen again. One time, my neighbor was out walking her little dog, and a coyote ran up and snatched it from her and took off. Leash and all. We were in a bad drought that year so they were looking for any easy meal they could get.

That's crazy. I would be out shooting some coyotes.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

That's crazy. I would be out shooting some coyotes.

You can't, in some areas, the houses are too close together. But the coyotes come up close to the houses. At least around Tucson they do.

 

[Ghosty]

They come close here sometimes, but it is more rare. Fences and big dogs I guess. Big dogs to protect your little ones when you walk. I initially also got my dogs because of more mountain lions in the area. A couple where my wife works had one stalk them back to their car when they were out walking some old railroad trails.

 

[doublecrossranch]

Here is my chicken coop/run and ?garden?. It is Fort Knox but I leave the gates open during the day so they can free range.

 

[Ghosty]

Here is my chicken coop/run and ?garden?. It is Fort Knox but I leave the gates open during the day so they can free range.

Very nice!

 

[doublecrossranch]

Here is my chicken coop/run and ?garden?. It is Fort Knox but I leave the gates open during the day so they can free range.

And they are locked in the coop at night