I am having a dilemma right now and I would like to get some more experienced chicken owners views. I hope I am posting this to the correct forum, if not please let me know where I should post. First a bit of background. I am a new chicken owner. Last mothers day my husband and children gave me five chickens. My husband built me a wonderful chicken tractor, which I quickly filled up. Here in lies my issue. We want to build a bigger run or put up a electric fence, but due to the time of year with the cost of Christmas coming up, we do not have the finances right now to put in a electric fence or build a bigger run. So I have been thinking for the last few days of letting my chickens free range. We live on nearly three acres of land, with only about two being cleared. Our home is in a very rural area being surrounded by farmland, a cemetery and set off the road a little ways. So there is plenty of room for the chickens to roam.
Here are my issues. Number one we have cats. One cat in particular is a hunter. He is very interested in the chickens, but never seems to be in attack mode around them. He has brought down a few squirrels and may have killed a bunny (we are not sure of the cause of death). The other issue is we have a dog that loves to chase chickens. However the dog is controlled by a invisible electric fence and it does not reach out to where the chickens are. The chickens have a very large area of yard and farmland to roam on. One of the issues would be if the chickens happen to wander into the yard, our dog would chase and possibly "play" with them. Possibly killing them. As long as they stay outside the electric fence they would be fine.
So I am torn. I would love to be able to let them free range, because I think they would be happier. If I can't do this then they will have to wait till the first of the year for a new run or I may have to downsize my flock. Which I really don't want to since we are planning on building a new coop and run next year and then I will have to purchase more chickens.
I need help. If I get some experienced input I would really appreciate it. What would you do if you were in my shoes? Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom.
Rebecca
Here are my issues. Number one we have cats. One cat in particular is a hunter. He is very interested in the chickens, but never seems to be in attack mode around them. He has brought down a few squirrels and may have killed a bunny (we are not sure of the cause of death). The other issue is we have a dog that loves to chase chickens. However the dog is controlled by a invisible electric fence and it does not reach out to where the chickens are. The chickens have a very large area of yard and farmland to roam on. One of the issues would be if the chickens happen to wander into the yard, our dog would chase and possibly "play" with them. Possibly killing them. As long as they stay outside the electric fence they would be fine.
So I am torn. I would love to be able to let them free range, because I think they would be happier. If I can't do this then they will have to wait till the first of the year for a new run or I may have to downsize my flock. Which I really don't want to since we are planning on building a new coop and run next year and then I will have to purchase more chickens.
I need help. If I get some experienced input I would really appreciate it. What would you do if you were in my shoes? Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom.
Rebecca