Minnesota!

[Angiebubs]

Argh! This is my greatest fear. We have a hunting dog who is the same way-something runs shes after it. We have been lucky so far, the few times a chicken has escaped or been out somehow-they haven't run. I feel so bad for your son-glad he is comforted with his two roos. Wishing you the best of luck with your hatch.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Thank you for sharing Lauralgirl. Before our Lab was "trained" --and I put that in quotes because I know she's sneaky and has mind of her own, so I still keep an eye on her-- I knew there was a possibility that I would or with the kids there could be loss with a human error... As I've said before I've just been lucky. Hard thing to go through, though, to be sure. It will only be better from here on out....

 

[lauralgirl]

lauragirl,
so sorry.  I lost 15 hens to two dogs who dug under fences to get to them a few years back.  I can't free range because there are occasional dogs passing through - they are more of a problem then the coyotes, the wolves, the bears or the foxes.  Now I have fenceline laid on the ground and tied to the upright fence to prevent digging under.  Still have a problem now and then with the horned owls - they will walk under the pine trees/under the coop and get the hen. 

I am glad you have some eggs that you think will hatch.

Wow! That's some determined critters! I just hate the idea of not letting them free range, but a wise woman once told me that life is about giving up ideals... I never liked to agree with her, but maybe she has a point.... So, we'll see.... Maybe I'll be fencing 4 acres of chicken "pasture"

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I leave my chickens out to free range lately only when my dog is out. It's his job to protect them. I'm so glad he knows they are off limits (he is a hunting dog) The feeling of one of your pets killing another is terrible. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[zsooman]

Hello
Don't post to often but thought I would chime in on the predator issue.
First off we live near Nevis which is close to some of you that were recently posting. We have a couple or different flocks along with the bantam Cochin's which are in doors. The main layer flock is kept in the greenhouse with an enclosed run during the winter and allowed on range with an electronet during the rest of the year. We also have a group of older hens with 2 roosters that free range. As far as predators we deal with skunks, raccoons, foxes, wolves, pine martins, mink, weasels, hawks, owls and eagles. After naming all those the only thing we have actually had problems with are the weasels and domestic animals (neighbors dogs and some feral cats). For aerial predators we did the Fishing line works well we also added cheap Cd's every few feet and run is from the movable coup to the fence posts and haven't had problem with the range birds. The Electronet was definitely money well spent for keeping out predators.

With the free ranging birds I agree the roosters definitely pull their weight and keep their girls safe.Last summer I was working outside and took a break to sit in the shade for a few minutes. All of a sudden I heard one of the roosters make a noise, not really a crow just a kinda little short cry, I looked and within 10 secs you couldn't see a chicken any where. I looked up and there was an Eagle flying over. It circled about 4 Times and then left. Then heard another little cry out of the roosters and 30 seconds latter all the hens were back out from wherever they went and were scratching away again. Showed me how important the roosters were for a free ranging flock.

The only other problem we had was with the neighbors dog but some rock salt at 1200 ft per second and we haven't seen them again. With the cats even though I'm an animal lover they got a case of lead poisoning. Also had a weasel get into the ducks once but since I trap haven't had a problem with them in a while.

Sorry If I got a little long winded here but hopefully it gives someone some info.

Matt

 

[Triplell]

Thank you Zsooman, very informitive. I also had something get into my ducks last summer. It killed 4 of my fav ones including my Blue headed Rouen drake and hen.

 

[coldupnorth]

Quote: I am so sorry this happened to you. I agree with lalaland that dogs are probably one of the worst predators we chicken keepers have to look out for. We cannot free range here because of the constant visiting of neighbor dogs. Our own two dogs have a fenced in yard and a larger invisible fence to keep them on our 10 acres, but we are the only ones who do this, everyone elses dogs just roam. Our own dogs (hunting breeds) are fine with the chickens if we are with them, but they are fair game if they aren't being watched, so not to be trusted. However, they are good watchdogs and will bark and scare away anything that is interested in the chickens, night and day. Most of the chicken pens share a fence with the dog's fenced yard or are penned in their own coop/runs within the dog's fenced yard. Feral cats are another big problem here, however, they do respect our dogs.
My hubby bought electric poultry netting fencing for me for Christmas. I am hoping that I will be able to semi-freerange some of the chickens with it. Just have to figure out how to protect from aerial attacks over it. Maybe, I'll try the fishing line idea. We see hawks and eagles regularily hunting our field, so I will have to figure out something.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Our Labrador is a house dog 10 months out of the year and a hunting dog 2 months out of the year. In fact when we got the chickens my husband gave me the stink eye and said,"Don't Mess Up my hunting dog." We worked with her all spring and summer, yanking a leash at the first sign of "birdie" with our calmest hen. By August, with encouragement by my father in law, we let her go in the yard with the chickens. I was a mess watching her interact with them. Really she just walks around them. Looks the other way from them and knows they are a firm, "NO!" I don't know if she would ever protect them. I'm just grateful she's leaving them be. After they are roosted up at night she goes down with me and closes the pop door and I let her sniff and piddle around the coop laying down her scent hopefully to deter any would be wild predators. (that's my hope anyway) One day I watched my not so bright Easter Egger Violet start to chase her in the middle of the lawn. I thought, "Oh boy this is it. Violet is going to get it and I'm going to have my first loss!" I stood helpless from the windows of the house too far away. Violet snuck up behind the lab and picked at her tail, and Jasmine jumped sky high. LOL. Ran back up to the house making a wide circle away from the chickens. Whew.

Come October she did great for my husband and son duck and pheasant hunting. Pointing, flushing, chasing, retrieving. So I'm not in the dog house with the husband for getting chickens. Thank goodness for smart Labradors. Jasmine knows the difference. Whew....

 

[bobbi-j]

Our Labrador is a house dog 10 months out of the year and a hunting dog 2 months out of the year. In fact when we got the chickens my husband gave me the stink eye and said,"Don't Mess Up my hunting dog." We worked with her all spring and summer, yanking a leash at the first sign of "birdie" with our calmest hen. By August, with encouragement by my father in law, we let her go in the yard with the chickens. I was a mess watching her interact with them. Really she just walks around them. Looks the other way from them and knows they are a firm, "NO!" I don't know if she would ever protect them. I'm just grateful she's leaving them be. After they are roosted up at night she goes down with me and closes the pop door and I let her sniff and piddle around the coop laying down her scent hopefully to deter any would be wild predators. (that's my hope anyway) One day I watched my not so bright Easter Egger Violet start to chase her in the middle of the lawn. I thought, "Oh boy this is it. Violet is going to get it and I'm going to have my first loss!" I stood helpless from the windows of the house too far away. Violet snuck up behind the lab and picked at her tail, and Jasmine jumped sky high. LOL. Ran back up to the house making a wide circle away from the chickens. Whew.

Come October she did great for my husband and son duck and pheasant hunting. Pointing, flushing, chasing, retrieving. So I'm not in the dog house with the husband for getting chickens. Thank goodness for smart Labradors. Jasmine knows the difference. Whew....

My lab knows the difference, too. He's almost 10, and never been a problem with the chickens. But he does hunt pheasant and duck with my DH. My dog thinks he's the top bird in the flock when he's out with them. This summer when my young roosters started maturing and chasing the hens around, the dog would intercept them. Any conflict between hens, he separates them. Any rooster fights, he breaks them up. He also protects them. His favorite game is "chicken bowling". Sometimes when they're gathered in a clump, doing their chicken thing, he'll start from halfway up our driveway and run as fast as he can right through the middle of them, scattering them everywhere. Then he'll stop and look back like, "Huh - who did that?" I'm going to miss him when he's gone. We just found out a couple of weeks ago that he has cancer. It's supposedly slow-growing, so I don't know how long he has. We'll let him be until it appears he's suffering. Then we'll do the kindest thing we can for him. Anyway, I just wanted to chime in on my hunting dog and let people know that they can be trained to leave the chickens alone and still be great hunters.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

bobbi j: fun to hear about chicken bowling. I sense Jasmine would love to do that herself. But she still looks to me as if to say, "I'm doing okay, right mom?" She's timid yet with them. She'll find out what's okay to do and what's not I guess soon enough. Funny picturing the bowling in my head though...LOL.

Sorry to hear he has cancer. ugh. that's tough. Especially when you have them trained with the chickens.

On one "dog killed my chicken" thread though...a lady scared me. Said her daughter had labrador with chickens 4 or 5 years without problems and then the lab just "snapped" one day and took out 2 of her birds. Feathers on the dogs lips--so there was no doubt. So I still sort of keep an eye on Jasmine, fully respecting she could possibly go back to her innate hunting behavior. Want to trust her though, and maybe with good time, although you'd think 4 or 5 years would surely be enough time. That's for sure.