Predators during the day?

[bantyshanty]

Do you have a dog?

If you really want them to free range, consider getting a herding breed puppy and raising him/her to range with your flock to protect them. It will deter hawks, coons & foxes, and possibly bears depending on your dog's size & temperament. Having said that, and wishing for a good border collie, what we have ranging with our flock is a Schipperke mix, who does pretty well, considering he's a small dog.

A dog will alert you much more to the predators as well. Good luck to you in beautiful Appalachia.

 

[colebarnhart]

Quote:
It seems that the most common daytime predator are hawks and other birds of prey and neighbor dogs. I think if your run area is covered and you have good hardware wire up around your coop/run then you should be fine, unless you let them free range. Or you have the bear thing happen as the above poster mentioned, which seems they would be unstopable and thankfully not real common for most predator issues that get posted.