Is free range safe?

[gtaus]

I'm wondering if I should just build a Fort Knox coop and then a topless enclosure (all hardware cloth of course for the sides) that takes up the entire 3/4 of an acre that's unused.

I have a Fort Knox coop for the night. In the daytime, my chicken run is fenced in with 6 foot tall 2x4 wire with bird netting on top for Bald Eagles and hawks which I have where I live. My chicken run is not predator proof, but it is predator resistant.

Hardware cloth is expensive, and if you don't have the top enclosed, a predator could just climb over the hardware cloth fence. My daytime concern is from above, which is why I have bird netting on top of the chicken run. At night time, when I would have most of my predator concerns, my girls are locked up tight in their coop. So far, it has worked well for me.

 

[nevrenufanimals]

Dogs are great, until they aren't... My coop is in my 1 acre fenced backyard. We have coons, coyotes, foxes, hawks, owls, god only knows what else. My coop is fort knox, but no electric fences, etc. I have an attached 24 x 13 ft pen made of chicken wire. I first purchased my chickens years ago with the idea of free ranging all the time too. Had that same dream of chicken with adorable chicks out on the grass!...and wonderful bug eaters. Well, that dream didn't go so well. Hawks rapidly started decimating my silkie flock while they were out of the coop during the day. then we rescued a wonderful, sweet, 2 yr old black Labrador from another family, and I thought, " great, she can help watch the chickens!" So introductions were made, and soft training started. She was great with them as long as we were out there with her and the chickens. turned out she thought they were awesome toys. Several of them were carried around the yard by her until we were able to get them out of her mouth. Needless to say, after several chicken deaths due to her interest, we had to try a stricter approach. It only took one day with an electric collar (like they use to train hunting dogs), and she thought my chickens were satan! She has never touched one again. Even though she is out in the yard with them most of the day, there was an occasion where she was sleeping on the patio while my broody pen with chicks was raided by a coon in the middle of the day. I had left the door open so the rest could free range. Came home to discover a dead hen and missing chicks, and raccoon tracks under the pen. She has also gotten much lazier about keeping them safe from hawks. Unless that hawk lands in the yard while she is out there, I cannot count on her protection. Yes, I have lost several still to hawks, mostly during the months when hawks are moving territories for the winter. I'm in the deep south, so that is fall winter and early spring here. So in summary, dog is great for bigger predators I guess once they are trained, I've never seen a fox or coyote in my fenced backyard at all. But I also learned to keep my birds in the big pen during the cooler months now. They aren't allowed to free range until the summer or unless I'm out there cleaning their coop. I hate it for them. Like you, I have a hard time dealing with the losses.

 

[nevrenufanimals]

Dogs are great, until they aren't... My coop is in my 1 acre fenced backyard. We have coons, coyotes, foxes, hawks, owls, god only knows what else. My coop is fort knox, but no electric fences, etc. I have an attached 24 x 13 ft pen made of chicken wire. I first purchased my chickens years ago with the idea of free ranging all the time too. Had that same dream of chicken with adorable chicks out on the grass!...and wonderful bug eaters. Well, that dream didn't go so well. Hawks rapidly started decimating my silkie flock while they were out of the coop during the day. then we rescued a wonderful, sweet, 2 yr old black Labrador from another family, and I thought, " great, she can help watch the chickens!" So introductions were made, and soft training started. She was great with them as long as we were out there with her and the chickens. turned out she thought they were awesome toys. Several of them were carried around the yard by her until we were able to get them out of her mouth. Needless to say, after several chicken deaths due to her interest, we had to try a stricter approach. It only took one day with an electric collar (like they use to train hunting dogs), and she thought my chickens were satan! She has never touched one again. Even though she is out in the yard with them most of the day, there was an occasion where she was sleeping on the patio while my broody pen with chicks was raided by a coon in the middle of the day. I had left the door open so the rest could free range. Came home to discover a dead hen and missing chicks, and raccoon tracks under the pen. She has also gotten much lazier about keeping them safe from hawks. Unless that hawk lands in the yard while she is out there, I cannot count on her protection. Yes, I have lost several still to hawks, mostly during the months when hawks are moving territories for the winter. I'm in the deep south, so that is fall winter and early spring here. So in summary, dog is great for bigger predators I guess once they are trained, I've never seen a fox or coyote in my fenced backyard at all. But I also learned to keep my birds in the big pen during the cooler months now. They aren't allowed to free range until the summer or unless I'm out there cleaning their coop. I hate it for them. Like you, I have a hard time dealing with the losses.

 

[nevrenufanimals]

Dogs are great, until they aren't... My coop is in my 1 acre fenced backyard. We have coons, coyotes, foxes, hawks, owls, god only knows what else. My coop is fort knox, but no electric fences, etc. I have an attached 24 x 13 ft pen made of chicken wire. I first purchased my chickens years ago with the idea of free ranging all the time too. Had that same dream of chicken with adorable chicks out on the grass!...and wonderful bug eaters. Well, that dream didn't go so well. Hawks rapidly started decimating my silkie flock while they were out of the coop during the day. then we rescued a wonderful, sweet, 2 yr old black Labrador from another family, and I thought, " great, she can help watch the chickens!" So introductions were made, and soft training started. She was great with them as long as we were out there with her and the chickens. turned out she thought they were awesome toys. Several of them were carried around the yard by her until we were able to get them out of her mouth. Needless to say, after several chicken deaths due to her interest, we had to try a stricter approach. It only took one day with an electric collar (like they use to train hunting dogs), and she thought my chickens were satan! She has never touched one again. Even though she is out in the yard with them most of the day, there was an occasion where she was sleeping on the patio while my broody pen with chicks was raided by a coon in the middle of the day. I had left the door open so the rest could free range. Came home to discover a dead hen and missing chicks, and raccoon tracks under the pen. She has also gotten much lazier about keeping them safe from hawks. Unless that hawk lands in the yard while she is out there, I cannot count on her protection. Yes, I have lost several still to hawks, mostly during the months when hawks are moving territories for the winter. I'm in the deep south, so that is fall winter and early spring here. So in summary, dog is great for bigger predators I guess once they are trained, I've never seen a fox or coyote in my fenced backyard at all. But I also learned to keep my birds in the big pen during the cooler months now. They aren't allowed to free range until the summer or unless I'm out there cleaning their coop. I hate it for them. Like you, I have a hard time dealing with the losses.

 

[nevrenufanimals]

Dogs are great, until they aren't... My coop is in my 1 acre fenced backyard. We have coons, coyotes, foxes, hawks, owls, god only knows what else. My coop is fort knox, but no electric fences, etc. I have an attached 24 x 13 ft pen made of chicken wire. I first purchased my chickens years ago with the idea of free ranging all the time too. Had that same dream of chicken with adorable chicks out on the grass!...and wonderful bug eaters. Well, that dream didn't go so well. Hawks rapidly started decimating my silkie flock while they were out of the coop during the day. then we rescued a wonderful, sweet, 2 yr old black Labrador from another family, and I thought, " great, she can help watch the chickens!" So introductions were made, and soft training started. She was great with them as long as we were out there with her and the chickens. turned out she thought they were awesome toys. Several of them were carried around the yard by her until we were able to get them out of her mouth. Needless to say, after several chicken deaths due to her interest, we had to try a stricter approach. It only took one day with an electric collar (like they use to train hunting dogs), and she thought my chickens were satan! She has never touched one again. Even though she is out in the yard with them most of the day, there was an occasion where she was sleeping on the patio while my broody pen with chicks was raided by a coon in the middle of the day. I had left the door open so the rest could free range. Came home to discover a dead hen and missing chicks, and raccoon tracks under the pen. She has also gotten much lazier about keeping them safe from hawks. Unless that hawk lands in the yard while she is out there, I cannot count on her protection. Yes, I have lost several still to hawks, mostly during the months when hawks are moving territories for the winter. I'm in the deep south, so that is fall winter and early spring here. So in summary, dog is great for bigger predators I guess once they are trained, I've never seen a fox or coyote in my fenced backyard at all. But I also learned to keep my birds in the big pen during the cooler months now. They aren't allowed to free range until the summer or unless I'm out there cleaning their coop. I hate it for them. Like you, I have a hard time dealing with the losses.

 

[HuffleClaw]

I’m also in Alabama!
No, it isn’t "safe", but my guineas help a LOT with predators.

 

[Cwestlake]

Can someone tell me the breed of my reddish chicken here in the picture my first thought was Rhode Island Red But Now I’m not sure maybe Isa Brown?

 

[Shezadandy]

Can someone tell me the breed of my reddish chicken here in the picture my first thought was Rhode Island Red But Now I’m not sure maybe Isa Brown?

You'll want to post over in the "What Breed or Gender is this" - if you click on "Forums" - scroll down about a page, it's in the third grouping. Also, add a couple pictures to your post for better guesses.

 

[Milkshakeroo]

That's right, having dogs means having fences!
Mary

Absolutely agree Mary. Luckily in Australia it is illegal to keep a dog unrestrained by a fence on a property. Even then some people let their dogs loose to kill other people’s sheep and fowl. Very frustrating.

 

[Ghosty]

Here is our (me and hobbies) experience with the matter and our views. We have 17 acres. From the very start, we wanted to do free-range as ten acres is pasture and the rest forest. So we set up a coop really secure and trained the chickens to come back to it at night (calling to them with treats every night and on and off in the day so they learn call= treats). When we first started letting them out for extensive times we lost three birds to the neighbor's untrained dog (even with our dog keeping an eye on the girls). Then we called animal control and informed him that by state law I can legally shoot his dog for kill our livestock with no penalty to us. We never saw the dog again. But one night I forgot to lock the coop and two got out. And two got killed. Bottom line. If you raise them wild they will want to be wild. That's okay. But they are not pets then. They won't want to be held. But they make wonderful eggs. It's more work.but cheaper. And to us, better for them.

Did you set up the coop out in the pasture or near the forest?