- Nov 24, 2010
- 17
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I've been running a personal experiment for a couple of years now and have reached the conclusion that it is something others might be able to use to protect their birds from most predators.
Since I'm probably not ever going to be able to afford to support a saddle horse again, my four horse stock trailer has been partly converted to a coop. Only "partly" because I didn't know if it would actually work and didn't want the expense of remodelling if it didn't. It does work.
My chickens....and turkeys when I have them..... daily free range on about 2.5 acres of partly open grass and brushy trees out away from the building site. The trailer is parked in the edge of the pasture near the metal building where the feed is kept. It has a double manger with shavings in it that some of the hens use for a nest. There is a wooden nestbox, with a slanted board on the top to keep them off it, next to the side escape door that the rest use. The roost is in front of the nestbox. Both sides have three 6 inch board filled slots the full length of the trailer that will now be remodelled with heavy duty hardware cloth. The center dividing gate is fastened open against the side of the trailer.
The trailer is tall enough off the ground that if the birds are in the vicinity, they simply duck under it until the threat.....cat...dog...hawk ...eagle...coyote....whatever... has moved on and the dogs have taken control. They also use the brush when out further, but have lost a couple out there when the dogs weren't out. None at night when the trailer is being used.
The trailer's big swing open back door is braced open during the day.....and night, during the summer heat. The open 15-18" on the top of the back door is covered with a section of cattle panel that in turn is double covered with chicken wire. There is a removable panel of the same material that can block the entire door if I want to keep them in for a while, and a smaller panel that covers the side escape door to provide cross ventilation. The trailer is parked under some trees so the prevailing south wind comes in the back door, thru the trailer and out the escape door.
Should the trailer need to be moved somewhere else, just hook up the pickup, make sure everything inside is fastened down, and go. Right now, I have only 12 large breed chickens, but have had as many as 30 in it, since they only need to sleep and lay eggs in the trailer.
When the trailer is open at night time, one of my two dogs (65# Pit Bull cross named Squirt) is chained inside the back trailer door, since when both dogs are free to chase, they tend to get overly enthusiastic and dig under perimeter fences to hunt down whatever critter they're after. The second, bigger, dog (85# Black Lab cross named Pest) is loose and is on patrol all night. During the warmer weather, both spend all their day time in the pasture.
Both these dogs came to me as abandoned, half grown pups; the Lab was started on training by my original Border Collie/Pyranees who was very serious about protecting the birds, and so is Pest. She in turn trained Squirt. Both respond to chicken, crow and blue jay alarm calls and routinely travel the perimeter of the pasture first thing in the morning, and periodically during the day.
After four years of trying to raise birds in Oklahoma, I think maybe I'm getting a handle on keeping the predators at bay. Maybe.
Since I'm probably not ever going to be able to afford to support a saddle horse again, my four horse stock trailer has been partly converted to a coop. Only "partly" because I didn't know if it would actually work and didn't want the expense of remodelling if it didn't. It does work.
My chickens....and turkeys when I have them..... daily free range on about 2.5 acres of partly open grass and brushy trees out away from the building site. The trailer is parked in the edge of the pasture near the metal building where the feed is kept. It has a double manger with shavings in it that some of the hens use for a nest. There is a wooden nestbox, with a slanted board on the top to keep them off it, next to the side escape door that the rest use. The roost is in front of the nestbox. Both sides have three 6 inch board filled slots the full length of the trailer that will now be remodelled with heavy duty hardware cloth. The center dividing gate is fastened open against the side of the trailer.
The trailer is tall enough off the ground that if the birds are in the vicinity, they simply duck under it until the threat.....cat...dog...hawk ...eagle...coyote....whatever... has moved on and the dogs have taken control. They also use the brush when out further, but have lost a couple out there when the dogs weren't out. None at night when the trailer is being used.
The trailer's big swing open back door is braced open during the day.....and night, during the summer heat. The open 15-18" on the top of the back door is covered with a section of cattle panel that in turn is double covered with chicken wire. There is a removable panel of the same material that can block the entire door if I want to keep them in for a while, and a smaller panel that covers the side escape door to provide cross ventilation. The trailer is parked under some trees so the prevailing south wind comes in the back door, thru the trailer and out the escape door.
Should the trailer need to be moved somewhere else, just hook up the pickup, make sure everything inside is fastened down, and go. Right now, I have only 12 large breed chickens, but have had as many as 30 in it, since they only need to sleep and lay eggs in the trailer.
When the trailer is open at night time, one of my two dogs (65# Pit Bull cross named Squirt) is chained inside the back trailer door, since when both dogs are free to chase, they tend to get overly enthusiastic and dig under perimeter fences to hunt down whatever critter they're after. The second, bigger, dog (85# Black Lab cross named Pest) is loose and is on patrol all night. During the warmer weather, both spend all their day time in the pasture.
Both these dogs came to me as abandoned, half grown pups; the Lab was started on training by my original Border Collie/Pyranees who was very serious about protecting the birds, and so is Pest. She in turn trained Squirt. Both respond to chicken, crow and blue jay alarm calls and routinely travel the perimeter of the pasture first thing in the morning, and periodically during the day.
After four years of trying to raise birds in Oklahoma, I think maybe I'm getting a handle on keeping the predators at bay. Maybe.
