I just saw the fox right between the house and the coop! Too bad i am not good with a gun.....but i chased him away and locked up the coop. Too bad hubby was not here....he is the hunter.
Keeping Chickens Free Range
- Thread starter LadyBroody
- Start date
Wow ! Beautiful flock !interesting thread. I have supervised free range in the afternoons. they have access to about 2 acres - I circulate and round them up if they wander to the woods or the road. on my mountaintop property, we have lots of predators. Hawks, eagles, bobcat, fox, coyote, wolf, weasel... and neighborhood dogs, although my neighbors are excellent about keeping their dogs controlled, as most of them also have some form of critters like chickens, guineas, ducks and geese...
I've lost a few to fox and coyote, on cloudy drizzly days mostly, but did lose one on a bright sunny afternoon to an opportunistic hunter. it happens. with so many hens, all laying at different times of the day, I can't keep them in until they lay. they return to the nesting areas for the most part, although in summer, I do find a couple of eggs here and there in the flower beds. I know where to look at this point. with 7 roosters, only 1 is a large fowl... they do a great job keeping an eye on the ladies and keeping them in small groups - but there's always that one who wanders or is so preoccupied in one spot that she hasn't noticed that her group has moved to a new spot... so it's my job to keep an eye on them... a lone hen is a target...
I feed the flock every morning, and a smaller meal in the evening. it's easy to get them to go home with a quart container of their favorite seeds... I shake it and they come. all my pens are runs with coops attached or runs with huge nesting areas inside, so they are never cooped in small areas. this way, if work runs late or the weather is bad and they don't get out... it's not like they are crammed together. they have lots and lots of space, and tarps that can be opened to let in sunlight or closed to keep out rain (and snow)
just one of literally thousands of photos...
I am just starting mi first BYC. I am training mi chicks to get in back to the Coop. Last Saturday, but for 1 Orpington, all of them (20) got into the chicken coop at 5:30 pm. Here we've got a Jaguatirica (small jaguar) attacking and feeding from backyard hens. Very furtive, you'll never notice her approaching,neighbors are just find the feathers the next morning. So I'm glad they're getting back to shelter.
Patriciaallison
In the Brooder
You guys crack me up! Thanks for the laughs. I'm new to chickens as well. Mine have not started laying.
P
P
Pretty birds.
Too funny 
)
)
Don't you love those fuzzy butts? Beautiful birds and nice set up. I believe weasels are the worst. They can get inside a very small crack and kill everyone. I've never seen one here and hope we don't have them.
It sounds like you live in a lovely area.
It sounds like you live in a lovely area.
If you're in the US, you have weasels.
Yep,thanks God I don't have those tinny assassins in my area.
I believe you are correct but I haven't heard of anyone having trouble with them around here and hope I don't
Similar threads
New posts New threads Active threads
-
Latest posts
-
My new ducklings and guineas- Latest: Kelenken the terror bird
-
-
Latest threads
-
My new ducklings and guineas
- Started by Kelenken the terror bird
- Replies: 0
-
Trying to breed Blue buff columbian orpingtons- Started by phillip0104
- Replies: 0
-
-
How to stop pin feather bleeding in pekin, help!- Started by Oxydziedhens
- Replies: 0
-
-
-
Threads with more replies in the last 15 days
-
