Wow that's early!!
what a beautiful flock you have!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...
