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mystic004

mystic004

In the Brooder
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I'm new to posting on this forum (have been reading posts for probably a year)

I finally bought chickens (9hens and a rooster) 2 ish months ago ... They are Ameraucana ( laying light blue eggs)

After having some(3 hens) go broody ... Me and the wife decided to let nature take its course ... Yesterday afternoon we got our little chick!! With 8 more eggs to go(we hope will hatch ha ha )

We have completely free ranged them( we finally built them a coop but they don't use it ... They go under it not in it when it's raining ha ha ) but we haven't lost a single one so I'm not concerned (we also have 2 goats and 2 dogs ... The lgd is a maremma/kuvaz and does her job really well)
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Hi and :welcome glad you joined. Your pics are lovely, especially the last, with
chick. What a cutie. lol Hope you do not mind me asking, have you any predators
where you live. ???? You said, you leave them free range, and although they have a coop,
they use it for shelter, when it rains. lol Your birds, are beautiful especially the baby.
But are"nt you and your wife scared at all, that maybe a predator will find them. 5 yrs
ago i bred 16 of ours. Yes, they free range every day, their coops were on top of our garden, also fenced off, because we had dogs. Every night i would lock their coops, until
one night, my daughter came over, and she stayed late. Yes, i did think of going to
lock the coops, but we had them for 7 yrs, with no predators. Thought they be fine.
Until next morning, there were feathers bodies everywhere, plus in their coops. It
was a horrific site. Anyway a fox wiped them all out, and because he jumped a 6ft wall, he
could not get any of them back over.( My birds were heavy.) It was horrible, and that
happened as i forgot to lock them up. I still feel guilty. It was only since March we bought more. As my husband + boys built a huge double coop and huge run, further down
the garden. We have 12 hens, as we are not allowed roosters. more is the pity.
But even though the coop / run, is fox proof, i go and lock them up every night.
I leave them free range in the garden, for a few hours, but i am also with them.
Your pics, are lovely, and it shows nature at its best, and that is what we would all,
love our flocks to live like. However nature is nature, we did not even know we ever had foxes around, until that night. Please do not take offense, in what i have written, as
you said you have been lucky until now. It would be heartbreaking for you both, if
a predator especially your cutie baby, was all taken. I am only thinking of you both.
And especially your lovely little bird family you have. Your pics, are lovely, but also show,
if something did come along, where would they run too. Are you around them, through the day ???? then fair enough. But if they are left roaming then they are at risk, in a big way. Sorry if what i have wrote sounds harsh, but you have such beautiful birds.
Would not want you to lose them. That one night i did not lock them in, it happened. Many predators find a way, to get in the coops anyway, if there is a way, they will find it. So many of us, on here have lost our flocks, for one reason or another. (Thinking they are safe.) Maybe i should keep my thoughts to myself, lol i do not mean, to
upset you, but like i said, you have such beautiful flock, it would be heartbreaking for
you both. It is only because i care. :love
 
cheekychick3 said:
Hi and :welcome glad you joined. Your pics are lovely, especially the last, with
chick. What a cutie. lol Hope you do not mind me asking, have you any predators
where you live. ???? You said, you leave them free range, and although they have a coop,
they use it for shelter, when it rains. lol Your birds, are beautiful especially the baby.
But are"nt you and your wife scared at all, that maybe a predator will find them. 5 yrs
ago i bred 16 of ours. Yes, they free range every day, their coops were on top of our garden, also fenced off, because we had dogs. Every night i would lock their coops, until
one night, my daughter came over, and she stayed late. Yes, i did think of going to
lock the coops, but we had them for 7 yrs, with no predators. Thought they be fine.
Until next morning, there were feathers bodies everywhere, plus in their coops. It
was a horrific site. Anyway a fox wiped them all out, and because he jumped a 6ft wall, he
could not get any of them back over.( My birds were heavy.) It was horrible, and that
happened as i forgot to lock them up. I still feel guilty. It was only since March we bought more. As my husband + boys built a huge double coop and huge run, further down
the garden. We have 12 hens, as we are not allowed roosters. more is the pity.
But even though the coop / run, is fox proof, i go and lock them up every night.
I leave them free range in the garden, for a few hours, but i am also with them.
Your pics, are lovely, and it shows nature at its best, and that is what we would all,
love our flocks to live like. However nature is nature, we did not even know we ever had foxes around, until that night. Please do not take offense, in what i have written, as
you said you have been lucky until now. It would be heartbreaking for you both, if
a predator especially your cutie baby, was all taken. I am only thinking of you both.
And especially your lovely little bird family you have. Your pics, are lovely, but also show,
if something did come along, where would they run too. Are you around them, through the day ???? then fair enough. But if they are left roaming then they are at risk, in a big way. Sorry if what i have wrote sounds harsh, but you have such beautiful birds.
Would not want you to lose them. That one night i did not lock them in, it happened. Many predators find a way, to get in the coops anyway, if there is a way, they will find it. So many of us, on here have lost our flocks, for one reason or another. (Thinking they are safe.) Maybe i should keep my thoughts to myself, lol i do not mean, to
upset you, but like i said, you have such beautiful flock, it would be heartbreaking for
you both. It is only because i care. :love
Click to expand...

To answer shortly to you ... Thanks for caring ! I take no offence to anything anyone says most the time ha ha

But yes we have coyotes around and foxes ... I hear coyotes every night and Ive even seen one fox within 100yards ish from the chickens ... My one dog chases the predators and my lgd stays back and always puts herself in-between danger and the flock

My wife is a stay at home mom with 3 boys (5 and under) so that could play a factor with the chickens safety as well?
This is a blurry pic (sorry they are always on the move ha ha )
 

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