Keeping Chickens Free Range

[duluthralphie]

Loss to predators-

Can I get your all's input? I can handle and occassional loss. To me, that is manageable, expected, and a trade off between having fenced/cooped up birds and happy free rangers. But, what is a 'usual' loss to predators? What is the norm, during the day hours? What has that meant to you? One hen every 6 months? That sort of thing...I can handle an rare loss every so often, but I certainly don't want to come outside to find my flock of 8 missing in one day. I would love to hear about your experience regarding loss--frequency, amount lost.

I will tolerate no loss. There is no such thing as just one loss to a predator. You cannot sit down and have a negotiation with a predator. If they get one, they will come for 2. They will never stop. If I lose 1, I will protect the birds ( cage em) while I eliminate the threat.

I am not a PETA member. I eat animals and I will eliminate any animal trying to eat my food. I have a live trap, It works in some cases, however, no animal in my live trap should assume he will leave the trap alive.

 

[heiditam]

I will tolerate no loss. There is no such thing as just one loss to a predator. You cannot sit down and have a negotiation with a predator. If they get one, they will come for 2. They will never stop. If I lose 1, I will protect the birds ( cage em) while I eliminate the threat.

I am not a PETA member. I eat animals and I will eliminate any animal trying to eat my food. I have a live trap, It works in some cases, however, no animal in my live trap should assume he will leave the trap alive.

I am so worried about it all! I really want to free range girls but I don't know if we can handle a predator that comes back again and again-I assumed an occasional rare loss happened but I fear what you describe. I am considering electric netting or a portable coop but both ideas are not as ideal as total free ranging, but from reading the articles here, I don't think it would work well for us(we have no dog, can't have a roo).

 

[earlyredrooster]

Loss to predators-

Can I get your all's input? I can handle and occassional loss. To me, that is manageable, expected, and a trade off between having fenced/cooped up birds and happy free rangers. But, what is a 'usual' loss to predators? What is the norm, during the day hours? What has that meant to you? One hen every 6 months? That sort of
thing...I can handle an rare loss every so often, but I certainly don't want to come outside to find my flock of 8 missing in one day. I would love to hear about your experience regarding loss--frequency, amount lost. 

I agree with deluthralphie. I assum if it gets one it will come for another and deal with it with absolute prejudice. That bieng said I factor in about six losses a year, two in spring to hawks and the other four in winter when easy prey is scarce.
Regardless I refuse to cage my birds except for breeding my purebreds

 

[K Epp]

In two years of having 50+ birds I've lost 5 to wild predators and 7 to domesticated predators. The wild were taken airborne. 5 of the domesticated were to my 10yr old sons puppy. I tried to train it to no avail. It was rehomed. I have 3 acres fenced in they free range on with 2 creeks running through it. They get locked up at night and turned out in the mornings.

On a side note all the wild predator losses, but one were roos. I figure they earn their keep on my place. Although, I do not keep agresive anything.

 

[QueenBubbles]

Heidiam:
It is my opinion that a tractor makes it easier for predators because the chickens are out in the open and can't run or stay hidden.
I think you need to figure out what predators you have. Are you in town or in the country? Do cats disappear in your area (coyotes)? Birds of prey? I have scrub jays and others have lost chicks to them. My local jay was not happy when I got chicks and dive bombed them. I had a Light Brahma chick (yellow) and had to chase off the jay for awhile. The next chicks were all black and brown (Australorp and Black Sex Link).
Most places do have raccoons but those are night predators and your coop should be take that into account.
I lost a runt chick, probably to a hawk. And yes, the hawks still come by looking for more.

The remaining chicks, esp one, is always in high alert now, scanning the sky and really good at staying hidden. They are big enough now that I'm not worried about the hawks.
Another consideration is the color of your chickens - pretty white ones (or yellow babies) stand out.
The other consideration is what kind of cover you have.

There is a space behind the Nandina and the house is behind that. I consider that deep enough cover.
I also have a fenced yard which is where they spend most of the time:

There are two mature citrus tree they hide around but when I'm out they come out and explore more.
You could post pix of the area you would be letting your chickens into and your chickens. It is a big decision, especially if you have speciality chickens.

 

[QueenBubbles]

Hey Duluth! So happy to hear most of your CXs were so smart and able to hide so successfully! What was the furry beast?

 

[heiditam]

Heidiam:
It is my opinion that a tractor makes it easier for predators because the chickens are out in the open and can't run or stay hidden.
I think you need to figure out what predators you have. Are you in town or in the country? Do cats disappear in your area (coyotes)? Birds of prey? I have scrub jays and others have lost chicks to them. My local jay was not happy when I got chicks and dive bombed them. I had a Light Brahma chick (yellow) and had to chase off the jay for awhile. The next chicks were all black and brown (Australorp and Black Sex Link).
Most places do have raccoons but those are night predators and your coop should be take that into account.
I lost a runt chick, probably to a hawk. And yes, the hawks still come by looking for more.

The remaining chicks, esp one, is always in high alert now, scanning the sky and really good at staying hidden. They are big enough now that I'm not worried about the hawks.
Another consideration is the color of your chickens - pretty white ones (or yellow babies) stand out.
The other consideration is what kind of cover you have. There is a space behind the Nandina and the house is behind that. I consider that deep enough cover.
I also have a fenced yard which is where they spend most of the time:
There are two mature citrus tree they hide around but when I'm out they come out and explore more.
You could post pix of the area you would be letting your chickens into and your chickens. It is a big decision, especially if you have speciality chickens.

We have alot of red tail hawks. We have open spaces but also alot of wonderful cover-the woods here are full of brush and trees. Things get very overgrown in there, so much so that I have trouble trekking in. I think in woods they are safe from hawks.

We have very very rare coyotes-2 to be exact. Saw them 2x in the winder but have not seen them since.

We set up a game camera and spotted a red fox at night. :/ My neighbor said she saw it around 5PM once. So I know that is out there.

We have two stray cats that I see frequently on our land. :/

No loose dogs, and it is pretty unlikely here as we are in the city limits.

We have 11 acres, but we are sandwiched in between neighborhoods. It is like a teeny bit of country in the city. But we see plenty of rabbits and deer, and there seems through way between us and the wild...

I WOULD love to free range like you all do here!

 

[heiditam]

ETA-I asked a silly Q about baiting and trapping...just ignore that... *embarassed*

Carry on!

 

[duluthralphie]

Hey Duluth! So happy to hear most of your CXs were so smart and able to hide so successfully! What was the furry beast?

Young fox small and stupid, he stayed in the yard to eat it,,DUH..... He only moved about 30 ft from were I first saw it and went for my gun.

I am actually surprised it was not with a Mother. BUT I have a neighbor across the swamp ( about a mile away) that has birds, maybe he had problems with the mother. A young one like that starting early on chickens would never have rehabilitated. It seems IMHO if they start on domestic animals they stay with them.


And I could not agree more on the tractor, a fox, coon, skunk, or anything else the digs would be in it in 2 minutes and have a smorgasbord. Tractor are great for hawks, and eagles but not a digger.

 

[duluthralphie]

We have alot of red tail hawks. We have open spaces but also alot of wonderful cover-the woods here are full of brush and trees. Things get very overgrown in there, so much so that I have trouble trekking in. I think in woods they are safe from hawks.

We have very very rare coyotes-2 to be exact. Saw them 2x in the winder but have not seen them since.

We set up a game camera and spotted a red fox at night. :/ My neighbor said she saw it around 5PM once. So I know that is out there.

We have two stray cats that I see frequently on our land. :/

No loose dogs, and it is pretty unlikely here as we are in the city limits.

We have 11 acres, but we are sandwiched in between neighborhoods. It is like a teeny bit of country in the city. But we see plenty of rabbits and deer, and there seems through way between us and the wild...

I WOULD love to free range like you all do here!

Cats would be a problem for young chicks. The animals you mentioned besides the Hawks, I would feel reasonably safe if you waited a couple hours after sunrise this time of the year. Winter is another story. I Will not be FR in winter here. Food is too scarce and chickens too tempting then.