Keeping Chickens Free Range

[Tikkijane]

e :yiipchick     
SO GOOD to hear folks vaccinate their cats, even farm cats. Had a neighbor dump 2 kittens on his property for mice and rats, no food, as though they will know after being used to having food given to them.. There are foxes, a bobcat occasionally, mountain lion, around. They said to keep the mice down but since 1 F, 1 M, the mice will be gone, the CATS will multiple, then the ones who Prey on cats get closer, any pigs, calves they have in the future will be at serious risk. Is it that hard to figure out??
  Discovered the dog that watches me drop a bit of wet dog food for my 2 adult chickens was nabbing her eggs, gots to be on my toes, with him... he learned to catch mid air by a senior dog I adopted some years ago...
    Much as I hate to leave house on weekends, when Nosy A** neighbor is home, so easily comes up here, talk about how MUCH I NEED HER HELP,     Pretty sure lots of Nuts NEEDS to hear her BS too......  
       We NEED cat food, chick start. Made my own chick start, but not everyone so game on that idea. They ate it rather fast...Need grain for horses too.

          LOVE how everyone chimes in on their animals hijinks... Wish i knew how to post video of bigger dog opening screen door on his own. Not that computer savvy, I guess.

2 sets of kittens {we have 3 sets of 3 sibling litters and the last one obviously had the same parents because he's literally identical to one of the others} were bottle babies. The second set were born and abandoned in the one of the barns and my girls heard them.

Our only solo kitten is identical to one of the barn babies. The girls got him out of a tree the dogs had chased him up.

We are in flea central here. Actually, little kitten ended up with tape worm from the fleas, so we have to stay on top of it. We have an *awesome* equine vet who will vaccinate all the cats and dogs. And she fixed little kitten for cheap the last time she was out this way. She used a collapsible table {sterilized, of course} right outside and knocked it out. Of course, she gelded our stallion right out in the field, so we knew what to expect.

 

[duluthralphie]

I am afraid to state my cat view here, so I will just sit in the corner and pretend I care about all of your cats......

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

I am afraid to state my cat view here, so I will just sit in the corner and pretend I care about all of your cats......

 

[Limeaide]

Hi! and oh my goodness there's a lot of pages on this thread!

I'm getting my first chickens in over 15 years. I had them (on the same property) growing up as a kid but the coop my father had has long since been demolished and when we had it it was hardly used. A relative is giving me 5 10 month old hens tomorrow and I'd like to free range them eventually. Right now, I have a barn with 5 empty horse stalls that I plan on keeping them in, and unfortunately I'm not carpentry-inclined at ALL. I remember us free ranging all of our chickens and we didn't really lose many except the neighbor dog would occasionally get out and snag one. There are no neighbor dogs now, I live in Ohio and aside from my resident Red Shouldered Hawk and some raccoons, there aren't many predators out here as far as I know.

I plan on keeping them inside the barn for awhile until I figure out the free ranging. The walls are not all the way to the ceiling, but I do have live traps (and dog-safe leg traps) for raccoons I can place on the outside of the barn, they'll be removed once I start letting the chickens out. The barn has two giant sliding doors that we keep locked and no other outside access so there isn't a way they can go in and out on their own. So free ranging wise, how do I encourage them to stay in my yard without fencing? My front yard is 5 acres and it's a low traffic area. Is there anything else I need to know about letting them free roam?
Thanks!!

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

I free range mine. No fence, gravel road they never bother going on, surrounded by pasture they mostly avoid. I also keep mine in the barn over winter, I did not bother fashioning anything in there for them except nesting boxes they do not use.
Your birds are unlikely to range to far from their "home" esspecially if you provide them a little food.

 

[gander007]

I am afraid to state my cat view here, so I will just sit in the corner and pretend I care about all of your cats......

Cats are a fine animal at someone else's home just not mine not that I am a cant hater as I do really adore the pussycat but I found with all the poultry and chicks in my yard I have a tendency to be forced to protect my flock put I do not in anyway attest to others having them just not in my yard ..




I have one of these for the last four nights trying to get into my cages

 

[Tikkijane]

Cats are a fine animal at someone else's home just not mine not that I am a cant hater as I do really adore the pussycat but I found with all the poultry and chicks in my yard I have a tendency to be forced to protect my flock put I do not in anyway attest to others having them just not in my yard .. I have one of these for the last four nights trying to get into my cages

That's the kind of cat that needs to be trapped! We had a bobcat fir a while a year or so ago. It never came uo the driveway, but I could see it watching something in a nest along the side of the road. It's been a while since I've see it, though. We have a lot of dog pee out here. My Forestry Service neighbor would have trapped it for me if I had needed him to.

 

[duluthralphie]

That's the kind of cat that needs to be trapped! We had a bobcat fir a while a year or so ago. It never came uo the driveway, but I could see it watching something in a nest along the side of the road. It's been a while since I've see it, though. We have a lot of dog pee out here. My Forestry Service neighbor would have trapped it for me if I had needed him to.

I have a Bobcat story. It is not for the faint of heart.

I am a retired Law enforcement Officer. Early on, ( meaning about 40 years ago) in my career I was working the north eastern area of Minnesota on the shores of Lake Superior. We had a large area to cover and not many of us up there. The closest other Law Enforcemenrt officer to me was about 10 miles away and he was a game warden. We would team up fairly often to patrol together. ( the state was into teaming up to save gas back then).

He had gotten a radio call to call an elderly woman with a bobcat problem. NO cell phones so we stopped at a place and he called her. He told me the woman had a bobcat living under her porch that was killing all of her cats. When we got there she said she wanted it destroyed. My buddy decided we should just get rid of it.

She had a porch about 12x12 on a crawl space. on the lake side of the crawl space was an opening,\ covered with a gunny sack hanging from above. She told us the bobcat was in there now, she was sure of it.

The warden asked if she mined if we shot it right there under the porch. She said sure, and she went to the far side of the house. This "porch" was exterior and there was no way an errant bullet could go anywhere on a ricochet. So we decided to shot it. ( Now remember we are Younguns back then.


My buddy asked if I wanted to shoot it or lift the gunny sack. I elected to shot it, it seemed smarter than lifting a gunny sack with a bobcat hiding under/behind it. My Buddy lifted the gunny sack.


And there it was, laying against the back wall in the dirt, a huge cat! I have never seen a larger cat in my life, with the exception of a lynx or Cougar. It had a nasty snarl on it's face and was growling at us. The ears were straight up and it had tufts about 2 inches long out of each ear. While mean looking it was an impressive bobcat. I was taking a few seconds to admire the animal while I had my service revolver ( yea that's what we carried back then) at the head of the cat. It was going to be a easy 15 ft shot. My buddy must have been a little nervous holding the gunny sack up with both hands while the bobcat was growling and snarling at us. I had a gun, I was not afraid of anything. My Buddy says " well, shot already!"..


So I shot. A head the cat right between the eyes and a little high, A perfect shot! I was overjoyed for about 1.5 seconds. I had just shot my first Bobcat!


Then it happened. The cat went into a jump and roll, like cats do when shot. They have a reflex like a chicken with it's head cut off. It went up and rolled to the left, I can still see it, as it is rolling I see the tail following it. It is about 18 inches long! The longest tail I have ever seen on a cat. I looked at my buddy and he looked at me. He was pale white. I am sure I was too, we just stared at each other. I know I had visions of my short law enforcement career ending with that shot.

I am pretty sure he did too. One of us said, and I am not sure which one " oh boy, now what do we do" We may have used other expletives also..

About that time the old woman opened the door, and asked if we got it. I looked at her seeing myself in deep doodoo and said " I am sorry, I made a huge miostake, I think I shot your cat, I thought it was the bobcat it looked just like it, I am so sorry".

She had no expression on her face, and simply said " which one?" Now this woman was a true cat woman and had about 30 cats, so it was a logical question. My buddy pulled the cat out and left it lying on the bottom of the steps. He said "this one", in a real apologetic voice.

She looked down on it and without cracking a smile said " good, I never liked that b-word".....


We had escaped major problems, we even offered to take her cat and dispose of it and she thanked us for that!

 

[Tikkijane]

I have a Bobcat story. It is not for the faint of heart.  

I am a retired Law enforcement Officer.   Early on, ( meaning about 40 years ago) in my career I was working the north eastern area of Minnesota on the shores of Lake Superior.  We had a large area to cover and not many of us up there.   The closest other Law Enforcemenrt officer to me was about 10 miles away and he was a game warden.  We would team up fairly often to patrol together. ( the state was into teaming up to save gas back then).

He had gotten a radio  call to call an elderly woman with a bobcat problem.  NO cell phones so we stopped at a place and he called her.  He told me the woman had a bobcat living under her porch that was killing all of her cats.  When we got there she said she wanted it destroyed.  My buddy decided we should just get rid of it.

She had a porch about 12x12 on a crawl space. on the lake side of the crawl space was an opening,\ covered with a gunny sack hanging from above. She told us the bobcat was in there now, she was sure of it.

The warden asked if she mined if we shot it right there under the porch. She said sure, and she went to the far side of the house. This "porch" was exterior and there was no way an errant  bullet could go anywhere on a ricochet. So we decided to shot it. ( Now remember we are Younguns back then.


My buddy asked if I wanted to shoot it or lift the gunny sack. I elected to shot it, it seemed smarter than lifting a gunny sack with a bobcat hiding under/behind it.  My Buddy lifted the gunny sack.


And there it was, laying against the back wall in the dirt, a huge cat! I have never seen a larger cat in my life, with the exception of a lynx or Cougar.  It had a nasty snarl on it's face and was growling at us.  The ears were straight up and it had tufts about 2 inches long out of each ear. While mean looking it was an impressive bobcat.  I was taking a few seconds to admire the animal while I had my service revolver ( yea that's what we carried back then) at the head of the cat.   It was going to be a easy 15 ft shot.   My buddy must have been a little nervous holding the gunny sack up with both hands while the bobcat was growling and snarling at us. I had a gun, I was not afraid of anything.  My Buddy says " well, shot already!"..


So I shot. A head the cat right between the eyes and a little high, A perfect shot!    I was overjoyed for about 1.5 seconds. I had just shot my first Bobcat!


Then it happened. The cat went into a jump and roll, like cats do when shot. They have a reflex like a chicken with it's head cut off. It went up and rolled to the left, I can still see it, as it is rolling I see the tail following it. It is about 18 inches long! The longest tail I have ever seen on a cat. I looked at my buddy and he looked at me. He was pale white. I am sure I was too, we just stared at each other. I know I had visions of my short law enforcement career ending with that shot.

I am pretty sure he did too.  One of us said,  and I am not sure which one " oh boy, now what do we do"   We may have used other expletives also..

About that time the old woman opened the door, and asked if we got it.  I looked at her  seeing myself in deep doodoo and said " I am sorry, I made a huge miostake, I think I shot your cat, I thought it was the bobcat it looked just like it, I am so sorry".

She had no expression on her face, and simply said " which one?"    Now this woman was a true cat woman and had about 30 cats, so it was a logical question. My buddy pulled the cat out and left it lying on the bottom of the steps. He said "this one", in a real apologetic voice.

She looked down on it and without cracking a smile said " good, I never liked that b-word".....


We had escaped major problems, we even offered to take her cat and dispose of it and she thanked us for that!

!!!!!

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

That's the kind of cat that needs to be trapped! We had a bobcat fir a while a year or so ago. It never came uo the driveway, but I could see it watching something in a nest along the side of the road. It's been a while since I've see it, though. We have a lot of dog pee out here. My Forestry Service neighbor would have trapped it for me if I had needed him to.

I have a Bobcat story. It is not for the faint of heart.  

I am a retired Law enforcement Officer.   Early on, ( meaning about 40 years ago) in my career I was working the north eastern area of Minnesota on the shores of Lake Superior.  We had a large area to cover and not many of us up there.   The closest other Law Enforcemenrt officer to me was about 10 miles away and he was a game warden.  We would team up fairly often to patrol together. ( the state was into teaming up to save gas back then).

He had gotten a radio  call to call an elderly woman with a bobcat problem.  NO cell phones so we stopped at a place and he called her.  He told me the woman had a bobcat living under her porch that was killing all of her cats.  When we got there she said she wanted it destroyed.  My buddy decided we should just get rid of it.

She had a porch about 12x12 on a crawl space. on the lake side of the crawl space was an opening,\ covered with a gunny sack hanging from above. She told us the bobcat was in there now, she was sure of it.

The warden asked if she mined if we shot it right there under the porch. She said sure, and she went to the far side of the house. This "porch" was exterior and there was no way an errant  bullet could go anywhere on a ricochet. So we decided to shot it. ( Now remember we are Younguns back then.


My buddy asked if I wanted to shoot it or lift the gunny sack. I elected to shot it, it seemed smarter than lifting a gunny sack with a bobcat hiding under/behind it.  My Buddy lifted the gunny sack.


And there it was, laying against the back wall in the dirt, a huge cat! I have never seen a larger cat in my life, with the exception of a lynx or Cougar.  It had a nasty snarl on it's face and was growling at us.  The ears were straight up and it had tufts about 2 inches long out of each ear. While mean looking it was an impressive bobcat.  I was taking a few seconds to admire the animal while I had my service revolver ( yea that's what we carried back then) at the head of the cat.   It was going to be a easy 15 ft shot.   My buddy must have been a little nervous holding the gunny sack up with both hands while the bobcat was growling and snarling at us. I had a gun, I was not afraid of anything.  My Buddy says " well, shot already!"..


So I shot. A head the cat right between the eyes and a little high, A perfect shot!    I was overjoyed for about 1.5 seconds. I had just shot my first Bobcat!


Then it happened. The cat went into a jump and roll, like cats do when shot. They have a reflex like a chicken with it's head cut off. It went up and rolled to the left, I can still see it, as it is rolling I see the tail following it. It is about 18 inches long! The longest tail I have ever seen on a cat. I looked at my buddy and he looked at me. He was pale white. I am sure I was too, we just stared at each other. I know I had visions of my short law enforcement career ending with that shot.

I am pretty sure he did too.  One of us said,  and I am not sure which one " oh boy, now what do we do"   We may have used other expletives also..

About that time the old woman opened the door, and asked if we got it.  I looked at her  seeing myself in deep doodoo and said " I am sorry, I made a huge miostake, I think I shot your cat, I thought it was the bobcat it looked just like it, I am so sorry".

She had no expression on her face, and simply said " which one?"    Now this woman was a true cat woman and had about 30 cats, so it was a logical question. My buddy pulled the cat out and left it lying on the bottom of the steps. He said "this one", in a real apologetic voice.

She looked down on it and without cracking a smile said " good, I never liked that b-word".....


We had escaped major problems, we even offered to take her cat and dispose of it and she thanked us for that!

Did you end up getting the bobcat?