Keeping Chickens Free Range

[vpatt]

I deal with coyotes on a regular basis, I am a trapper. If a coyote sets tooth to a chicken, that chicken is not going to be found. This time of year, coyotes will kill what they can fit in one's belly and carry in the mouth. They will take them back to the den to feed the pups and nursing female. Later in August or September, in a pup training foray, they might take the whole flock. Coyotes that depend on chickens and have anything more than just a random schedule are either denned very close or have some sort of disability preventing normal hunting behavior. Normal hunting behavior for coyotes might cover several square miles, eating a variety of prey species, they might only come through once a week.

Foxes behave in the same way, but they will make multiple kills and cache them, somewhere near the den, buried in dirt and leaves to keep for later. They might kill a couple or more a night until the chickens are gone, or until you kill them. All but the biggest, fiercest roosters will be gone if engaged by a fox. Sometimes with fox you will see a feather trail, as they can do a bit of struggling, and aren't carried as high off the ground as when a coyote takes them.

Is it possible your roosters got in a fight and you have some hens off broody somewhere?

I did wonder briefly if the two biggest roos had fought each other. But four other chickens disappeared, two roosters and two hens. They are all very subdued now and sticking close to the house where they can run under the porch. I wish i knew more what to do with the injured ones.

We know there are foxes here VERY close. And we have heard coyotes in the national forest adjoining our land. So i dont know which did this. No problems at night, only daytime.

There are lots of coyotes in the next county where many people raise sheep. It sounds grose, but there is a man there who has a coyote tree. He hangs them in the tree i guess to scare off the others.

Before i have only lost the occasional chicken and didnt find feathers. But this time there was a mess of feathers from one or both of these injured roos. They are the same color.

Thank you for the info.

 

[lynnehd]

I did wonder briefly if the two biggest roos had fought each other. But four other chickens disappeared, two roosters and two hens. They are all very subdued now and sticking close to the house where they can run under the porch. I wish i knew more what to do with the injured ones.

No expert, but I do know you want to keep injured hens or roosters quiet and warm. that might mean dog crates or a blocked area in the basement or garage, if their wounds are more severe.
Supplement with some scrambled eggs to encourage them to eat.
Wash the wounds with saline or lukewarm water, gently, pat dry and apply BluKote or Vetericyn spray

 

[varidgerunner]

You could have what we call a red herring in the two injured roosters. Maybe your roosters got in a fight and during the noise and confusion something was attracted that carried off a few hens and broke up the roosters.

Survivors would indicate a botched attempt, would rule out all but coyote pups, who aren't much past the eyes open stage yet, so I'm thinking fox, or coyote attracted to fighting roosters. Dogs tend to maim and cripple, but usually leave bodies of the ones they kill. In a few rare instances where dogs are actually feral, they will carry them off just like any wild canine. Dogs are often the culprit in many chicken killings. Bobcats can be bad too, but usually pick off one at a time.

 

[vpatt]

You could have what we call a red herring in the two injured roosters. Maybe your roosters got in a fight and during the noise and confusion something was attracted that carried off a few hens and broke up the roosters.

Survivors would indicate a botched attempt, would rule out all but coyote pups, who aren't much past the eyes open stage yet, so I'm thinking fox, or coyote attracted to fighting roosters. Dogs tend to maim and cripple, but usually leave bodies of the ones they kill. In a few rare instances where dogs are actually feral, they will carry them off just like any wild canine. Dogs are often the culprit in many chicken killings. Bobcats can be bad too, but usually pick off one at a time.

Thank you. I think fox or coyote, too.

 

[SmColorInDaPan]

Listening to all the depressing stuff, Roos getting hurt protecting hens, fighting, WHATEVER; thought I would put in some humor.
Kitten waiting..'ANY MINUTE one of those wiggly things will drop down so I can play with it.'

 

[vpatt]

Both the roos are still here. Joe is still shut up, but he has been eating a bit and drinking lots of water. The other roo is walking around but cannot get in the coop by himself at night.

I guess i will be putting up another fence so i can shut them up during these times.

Smcolorindapan, humor is always good. I dont think we can survive without it. My 7 month old kitten has grown bigger than her mama.

 

[mossyroo]

Thank you.

We are wondering about coyotes......anyone have experience with them? We know there are coyotes around. Do foxes hunt together that way? The final count of the missing is two roosters and two hens. Joe and Honeycutt made it through the night, but i have no experience with injuries so i dont know what to expect.

We had 4 foxes come after our chickens but we think it was vixen and kits. I think as adults they are normally solitary.

 

[MountainPea]

Do you guys free range your chickens when you are away from home for a few hours or for the day? I've only had my flock a couple of weeks (they're about 22 weeks old), and if I know I'm going out that day I wait until I get back to let them out. There was just one time I went out unexpectedly for a couple of hours and didn't put them back (they are hard to catch during the day and have too many good hiding spots under dense foliage). So I took my chances and left. All were there when I returned. Plus yesterday we spent several hours down the back of our farm cutting firewood so we were effectively out as we have 84 acres and 'down the back' is nearly a kilometre away (3 miles?).

Just wondering what others do. We are in Australia, so the only predators we really have to worry about is foxes and wedge tailed eagles. The chooks have good tree cover so I'm less worried about the eagles, more so about the foxes.

The peacock we used to have survived here 8 years before it got sick and died, and I've never seen a fox near the house, if that helps ( though I'm sure they're there and have seen them down the road)

 

[slordaz]

We didn't until we were sure everyone knew where safety was and that the roosters were doing their job, They were supervised by us until they were 4-5 months old and laying, more to make sure they came in to lay their eggs so we didn't have to go on egg hunts.

 

[mossyroo]

Do you guys free range your chickens when you are away from home for a few hours or for the day? I've only had my flock a couple of weeks (they're about 22 weeks old), and if I know I'm going out that day I wait until I get back to let them out. There was just one time I went out unexpectedly for a couple of hours and didn't put them back (they are hard to catch during the day and have too many good hiding spots under dense foliage). So I took my chances and left. All were there when I returned. Plus yesterday we spent several hours down the back of our farm cutting firewood so we were effectively out as we have 84 acres and 'down the back' is nearly a kilometre away (3 miles?).

Just wondering what others do. We are in Australia, so the only predators we really have to worry about is foxes and wedge tailed eagles. The chooks have good tree cover so I'm less worried about the eagles, more so about the foxes.

The peacock we used to have survived here 8 years before it got sick and died, and I've never seen a fox near the house, if that helps ( though I'm sure they're there and have seen them down the road)

We have lost a number of chickens to predators and were just given 5 pullets who were the only survivors out of a flock of 24; and they are all missing all the feathers from their butts. If we know we are going to be gone they stay in their run.

BTW 1.6 km = 1 mile