Keeping Chickens Free Range

[LittleChicken23]

Yep, I think they did. The only difference I know of is the comb.

My leghorn is ok predator wise, though she tends to wander off from the group sometimes. I can't really judge them as a whole since she is the only one I have. My white leghorn mix is better about staying with the flock, but I think it's just difference in personality.

 

[Victoria-nola]

No that is one of the main shared characteristics colorful eggs (they can also be pink). But one of the original breeders who created the Ameraucana is on the EE thread. They also share the tuffs, Ameraucana have a muff (though I could have that backwards)

One of my hens lays pink eggs-- she's one of my best layers and 3 of the 10 eggs that hatched were her eggs. Will be interesting to see if any new pullets lay pink.

But all I meant was that people on BYC, not familiar with EEs as a landrace, are saying that all mixes that lay colorful eggs are "EEs" in the sense that they are mutts. Gosh that's confusing.

In any case, I love my EEs or Ameracaunas, whichever they are! My oldest hens are 4 years old and still laying well. That was part of why I chose them was their long laying life.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

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No that is one of the main shared characteristics colorful eggs (they can also be pink). But one of the original breeders who created the Ameraucana is on the EE thread. They also share the tuffs, Ameraucana have a muff (though I could have that backwards)

One of my hens lays pink eggs-- she's one of my best layers and 3 of the 10 eggs that hatched were her eggs. Will be interesting to see if any new pullets lay pink.

But all I meant was that people on BYC, not familiar with EEs as a landrace, are saying that all mixes that lay colorful eggs are "EEs" in the sense that they are mutts.  Gosh that's confusing.

In any case, I love my EEs or Ameracaunas, whichever they are!  My oldest hens are 4 years old and still laying well. That was part of why I chose them was their long laying life.

Oh I see, yes that isn't quite correct. It is a great active thread if you choose to join it, very informative.
I like my EEs too. My Barr Rocks (who I have had the longest) are always dignified business, very focused on foraging, not interested in the rest of the carrying on. My EEs have alot more personality, skittish, at times awkward, will jump at a gust of wind..they are alot more amusing to watch tagging after the Barr Rocks.

 

[Victoria-nola]

Quote:
What are your legal rights as far as protecting your live stock from dog packs in Mississippi ?


Where I live in Death Valley California once the dogs inter my property and yes I have a fence so they need to dig under or find a gape in the gates, anyway once on the property I my use a shotgun or a .22 funny part is absolutely no traps .
All the law says is that any dog chasing or killing any poultry or livestock can be killed by property owner/family/employees/agents, and also that the dog's owner is liable for costs of lost livestock. No info about methods, which doesn't surprise me, but "nuisance wildlife" does have rules about how and when and licensing to kill, and that includes all the usual predators except dogs. Back in northern Calif the law on dogs chasing livestock were the same, but landowners could also kill dogs chasing/harassing wildlife, such as running loose and chasing deer.

It's kind of a morbid subject but one that is real (and I'm a very soft-hearted person). We recently killed a large rat snake that was on its way to our barn/coop. A friend of mine is a reptile specialist and was kind of upset with us at first, but then he told us he'd realized that we were trying to keep our chickens alive, which is not what happens in nature, and that he understood we'd had to do it. My preference is to keep predators away rather than killing. Especially since any time we kill a predator there is another one ready in the wings to take over their territory.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

See I disagree somewhat. Yes another predator might take over the territory, but less predators overall, decreases the stress in the remaining animals. A predator is less likely to risk human habitation if there is plenty of food where he is (now if he knows there are easy meals to be had on your property, he will go ahead and take that risk) but assuming you take appropriate steps to secure your birds, a predator with plenty of rabbits, squirrels, and quail, will not risk it.
This is of course a general observation, and it does require work to keep the population maintained.

 

[gander007]

Quote:
What are your legal rights as far as protecting your live stock from dog packs in Mississippi ?


Where I live in Death Valley California once the dogs inter my property and yes I have a fence so they need to dig under or find a gape in the gates, anyway once on the property I my use a shotgun or a .22 funny part is absolutely no traps .
All the law says is that any dog chasing or killing any poultry or livestock can be killed by property owner/family/employees/agents, and also that the dog's owner is liable for costs of lost livestock. No info about methods, which doesn't surprise me, but "nuisance wildlife" does have rules about how and when and licensing to kill, and that includes all the usual predators except dogs. Back in northern Calif the law on dogs chasing livestock were the same, but landowners could also kill dogs chasing/harassing wildlife, such as running loose and chasing deer.

It's kind of a morbid subject but one that is real (and I'm a very soft-hearted person). We recently killed a large rat snake that was on its way to our barn/coop. A friend of mine is a reptile specialist and was kind of upset with us at first, but then he told us he'd realized that we were trying to keep our chickens alive, which is not what happens in nature, and that he understood we'd had to do it. My preference is to keep predators away rather than killing. Especially since any time we kill a predator there is another one ready in the wings to take over their territory.

Alright I have to admit that the wild life is just doing what is natural and I have dune my best by putting up a fence all the way around the yard I use for my chickens, guinea, ducks, geese and turkeys and some of them have individual or group six sided cages to protect them from the predators the funny part is that the fox or bobcats and coyotes them are the primary wild animals and the house cats and dogs do more damage as the wild animals only take one bird at a time and come back later and this is the sad part because I have to protect the flock but on the other hand I have people who live around me that go out and pick up a litter of kittens for pets and then let them run free and expect them to feed themselves these become problems as they will wipe out an entire new flock of chicks and the most chicks I have lost was just over 40 that was a lot of my time wasted in hatching them out even if it was accomplished by the momma chickens ..

The worst month I ever had with house cats was two boxes of 12 gauge with 25 shots per box and a single barrel shotgun and I had a large pile of cats as the local small dump said no dumping of a corpse so I dug a hole and later planted a pomegranate bush on top .


The worst day for a dog pack was 3 dogs and one other ran fast enough to get to the other side of the fence and that was a .22 I used there and none of them made me happy and the worst part is when some parents send out their children to find their so called pets ..


Now the State Licensed Trapper from Sacramento had to come by once because I returned a dog that passed away in my yard from lead damage now to make a long drawn out story short I was informed by the State Trapper who is in charge of protecting livestock that I needed to contact the local Deputies and have one of them present when turning over the remains as there are too many lawyers and very few responsible animal owners .


Now I down one wild animal to fifty or more domestic animals .


Oh I do have a local Ferret that got loose several years ago and it just steels eggs and once in a wile a hen looses some rear end feathers .













Gander007

 

[Tikkijane]

ok, do they seem to be alert to predators?
I Guess so!

If you want alerting- you want roosters. And a flock of guineas {which I'll never not have!}.

 

[Tikkijane]

The only thing i have ever seen deter afox is getting shot. Anything short of that and they just consider your challenge accepted.

Yes. We had a fox get one in the front pasture while the horses were right there- and two of my kids {both over 10. We didn't see any kits, and she didn't turn and go back the way she came. I didn't see it, but the girls wee freaked out.

 

[Tikkijane]

Hi All, 

A little of topic here but i am wanting to know the best breed to free range, in terms of predators. I am looks for a dual purpose breed but egg production is more important than meat. 

My plant is to have them free range in the day when someone is home but have a secure pen that they can go in if we go out or on holiday.
I understand there will be some predator loses but i figured they could be minimised by an alert breed with protective cockerels and i secure run for when we leave.

Thanks!

I have at least 15 different breeds of chickens free ranging together, along with ducks and guineas. The ducks stay closest to home. The guineas {of course} travel the farthest. All the rest travel equally, with the exception of the bantams. My silkies and bantam cochin girls tend to stay closer to the coop, but I think it's more because the ratio of boys is like 3 to 1 and they need the escape from them.

The guineas do their own thing, but are great for alarming. And I have a ton of boys- the little pods roam with 2/3 girls and a roo together. It is AWESOME to see the boys work collectively, though. Out of the 15+ boys, 6 are large fowl roos. {I'm not counting Floppy Comb Flo, my EE hen who transitioned to male after her last molt and is crowing now, lol.}

Anyhow. Theh all forage well. They all come back to ved. The lakenvelders and the hamburgs are prone to like laying in the hanging buckets {for the horses in the barn}; my brahmas and marans like between hay bales, under the tarps. Hah! I do get them from the nesting boxes if nobody's broody.

 

[Tikkijane]

Animals pay the price for neglectful or uncaring owners. That includes dogs that run,

A dog that does not stay home is nothing  more than a predator.  I try to scare a dog off the first time.  It could be an accident, it slipped its collar/kennel or a hunting dog that got lost.    2nd time is not an accident.   I would then invoke the three S's.


A power augur is fast and works well to dispose of the evidence.

I am not judging people that cannot kill a dog. I understand it. I love dogs.  I grew up on farm, way back when, All the farmers said the same thing back then. A dog that chases and runs is worthless.   When I was a kid some dogs came and chased and killed a few sheep. Our dog joined in the fun of sheep chasing, He was the first dog to die for the crime.

My Dad knew two of the other dogs owners. Farmers also. He called them, (party Line so everyone knew I am sure)  they took care of their dogs when they got home.  A dog that starts chasing and killing livestock (chickens are livestock) are very hard to break from it.   And back to my first rule, dog that runs is worthless.

Amen. I always catch them {except that 1} because I can't risk it. It is hard to call animal control because we know what is likely to happen. We've been here almost 4 years. Kept 3 of the dogs dumped out here. The dashchund we kept for 2 years until he snapped a few weeks ago and killed a lot of my bantams. This was YEARS after having zero issue with him. I guess the babies were too appealing.

And the other one {that the pit got} killed one of the cats, apparently enjoyed it, and began relentlessly chasing them. He got taken to the shelter and has been adopted.

It's hard. I LOVE dogs. {And cats. And chickens. And horses.

And guineas! And ducks. Lolololol.} I love them. That is why I was willing to keep one {or 3} that didn't go after my chickens. But, dor the sake of my other animals, it's one strike and it's gone. My closest neighbor has hunting dogs, but they have collars. Chances are, if it's not a hunting dog, it's likely going to be a problem. I try to catch it ahead of time, and fortunately, I haven't had any strays take out my birds. It helps that someone is usually home, I think.

The auger is a good idea. Mine is a two-person one, though.......