Raising chickens in the backyard

[lindasmith587]

Hey all,

As I have mentioned in my post I am here for my cousin, who is just planning to grow a few chickens in the backyard. She has started the work of brooder. The brooder is a DIY Project. She has thought to set the light about 240-270 watt lamp for the chicks. She wants to raise the chickens mainly for eggs. I’ve always seen chickens grown in the closed area. But she is thinking to have a different approach. She is thinking of letting the chickens roam around freely, rather than just caging them. She said this will ensure more immunity for the chickens as well their offspring. She has also fixed security cameras along with the alarm system monitoring for monitoring the chickens. Anyways, is there anything more or less, she needs to be doing? Also, do you think it will be okay to let the chickens roam around freely..?? Please let me know what you think about it...

 

[theoldchick]

Gotta watch out for predators if you allow chickens to free range. Dogs, cats, hawks, raccoons, possums, weasels, rats, bears all love to eat chickens. Have your cousin do lots of research on predator control if she wants to free range.

https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/keep-chickens-safe-from-predators/

 

[Tiana's chickens]

Free ranging in a fenced block of land is perfectly fine but at night they need a coop they can go into when they are adults to sleep and keep safe and warm

 

[Farming Feathers]

I have lost another chicken (less than 4 week old) chick to a bird of prey (not seen just evidence found).

I know it was a bird...open pen no sides disturbed, and limited access from above...this bird had to land on the hen house roof, and make a drop to the ground attack then grab and fly away with body.

..that was evidence confirmed how the attack was made found a bundle of feather and a string of intestine.

Usually you won't find much if anything...from a bird of prey (no blood splatter...grab and carry in flight). so it was my my first chicken loss...a month or so ago.

I knew there was a risk and tried to limit time out of hen house till more protection was in place...but it only takes a few minutes and it happens...you cannot watch the chickens full time and work your farm.

I have now used clothes line strung overhead of the pen, and reshaped the pen for more room..

I added a rolled up 4 foot length of chicken wire tied and laid on the ground...chickens walk thru the roll...but in a pinch emergency if caught in the open...it could save lives...

chicken will likely run into roll and bird of prey won't enter the roll (they won't enter where they cannot fly away or open wings).

because roll is tied a little strength offers some protection from pounce onto roll attack...still cannot get a good grab, and deters the bird from wasting time and frustration of attack that fails.

Predator animals don't linger or waste time if immediat attack fails they leave.

the overhead line has rag strips tied along with canning lids tied onto various lengths of the line. I choose clothes line to make it easy for hawk to see at any distance of vision range.

Birds of prey I have hunted (former falconer) and can tell you with sound reasons what the birds (most common can or will do) There are always exceptions but so few it is not likely you will ever see it.

My birds were Kestrel and red tailed hawk females both...I made an extensive study of related species common to my area, and know what these birds can and will do in most cases.

I returned my birds to the wild successfully and don't recommend killing or harming these animals...You need to know and understand we humans cannot provide proper care to these birds, and why I returned my birds after healed from injuries that found them in my possession.

they will kill your chickens, but unlike other predators (raccoons for example) you will lose only one to a bird with no injuries to others...but racoon does a lot more damage to the entire flock if given the chance.

So far the overhead sting works (no loss in two weeks un-attended chickens in open pen.

next going to string out fishing line braided 40lb test 550 yards length...for side and back yard free range area will use rag strips. Purpose of rag strips. if the distract attention span...birds of prey focus and concentrate on the attack staying on single target....

If anything moves from the sides, or above the bird of prey will notice and lose concentration of attack...They are aware that some other birds of prey may attack and injure them...so they lose focus of attack...that loss will like create a miss or non kill.

Placed on lines with constant movement...they won't even bother trying an attack too many distracting movements from sides and overhead if they were to make such attack it would occur below the lines.

Others have used this method, and it's no idea I had beyond saying think it will work from what I know the birds in question. So far that proves correct and post to help those gain confidence who must deal with birds of prey.

 

[drumstick diva]

Walmart and probably many other places sell holagraphic rainbow tape - if this were zig zagged across the top of a run, would this deter raptors?

 

[Farming Feathers]

Diva, I didn't criss cross as there is no need....let me explain this way....a bird of prey may have a wingspan 20 inches and larger depending on breed and that being a mature hunting size of the hawk types...not falcons with thin wings.

when they focus an attack they don't know how the prey will bolt or twist but have a sense which way they will turn by how the prey walks and move only from millisecond to milliseconds....meaning you only need to estimate how much wingspan will fit into my strands or rows of line if the bird were flying parallel to the run of line.

my spacing is about 8 to 12 inches and very sure this bird has a span near 30 inches minimum,

Why I estimate that span...first I feel certain this bird is migratory mexican species closer to an eagle than a hawk and have seen this bird land on my lot the size on the ground stood nearly as tall as my dog (midsized mutt 52 lbs) and when it took off no run the wingspan was nearly close to 40 inches estimate as seen about 100 yards away...

believe this type or bird took my fancy silver laced Wyandotte and she weighed about 5 lbs max. no trace left found only a few primary feathers from her body feathers...never found remains.

When last may young birds were attacked the run was very narrow 5 1/2 feet wide and length about 12 feet long. area is surrounded on all sides by young and old trees (pecan and others don't know types) all trees are higher than 12 feet off the ground....my point being the bird of prey couldn't make a aerial attack and must land on the ground to chase the prey.

looking over the area for attack angle noticed the hen house which has a run off rain drain at the edge of the roof line...the rail of drain is hanging down free and dislodged from the drain to the ground as is a weight had pushed it down.

The ground was to hard set and thin coat of loose mulch type covering to leave tale tale prints...and my chicks do a lot of scratch and run so prints won't help.

My chick selected was a type of breed that didn't look like the others (they look like golden comets or rhode Island reds to young to know yet) the chick was lighter in color with neck and breast feathers missing...those who have seen the chick said it looked like a turkey cross chicken????

to a bird of prey that look is fatal...they see that as a weakness or lame animal and target of an attack.

Because the remains consist of just a long intestine about 6 inches long no blood or other parts

the bird of prey was large...on the ground in a chase...grabbed the entire head in mouth then the body using his foot... a quick pull literally pulled the chick apart leaving a shell of a body in the foot grasp...it turned and flew away before a single drop of blood could hit the ground swallowing the head in flight.

How he got into the run....he landed on the hen house roof back side out of sight from the chicks...walked over to the edge of the hen house looking down at the prey on the ground to single out which one....

once chosen the bird stepped onto the drain rail, but his weight caused it to break loose from the rain system...and alerted the other chicks leaving the bird of prey to quickly get down and chase the chosen prey.

Now the run is wider definite rectangle shape no roof over run attached to a hen house with lines and rag strips running long length not criss crossed over run...again surrounded by trees no flight attack is possible no clear space.

regret long posts but feel it could help visualize how this can keep a bird of prey out of my run and can help those who read the post to see and understand how these birds do attack even sneak up onto the prey without coming in on the wing...

but be assured if there is room for flight (preferred method of attack) they are skilled at close quarter turns (flight between trees) and just need a length of no obstacle run to grab, lift and gain stability to fly away with victim...how far depends on size of bird...big like this one....18' clear run footage minimum for recovery with heavy victim

 

[X_and_Z]

...can help those who read the post to see and understand how these birds do attack even sneak up onto the prey without coming in on the wing...

I had what I believe was an immature Cooper's Hawk attacking my Zebra finches a few years ago. They were in large cages under an arbor (redwood + clear plastic panels) on a deck in an urban backyard. The hawk flew down to a nearby fence, waited until one of the finches went to a feeder (attached to the cage side) and would then fly/hop to the cages and pull the finch through the bars of the cage. At first I thought that this was other predators and added traps/changes to the setup without success. Eventually I caught the hawk in the act - it was perfectly willing to let me and 2 medium sized barking dogs get within a few feet of it before it flew off. Once I knew it was a hawk I was able to change my setup to keep him/her out, but it was amazing how persistent and acrobatic the hawk needed to be to get to these finches.

I used lightweight bird netting - the stuff you drape fruit trees in to keep birds from eating the fruit before you can pick it - over my chicken yard when my chickens were smaller. I'm currently using fishing line strung about, but the girls probably outweigh the local hawks by quite a bit right now.

 

[Farming Feathers]

they can be clever in methods they use to capture prey and why at times can fool you into thinking it's not a bird of prey...often they become so fixed on a style or pattern that you can predict what their next move will be

 

[lindasmith587]

Thanks everyone...
Thanks for sharing. I'll make sure that my cousin gets all these info...

 

[Farming Feathers]

x_and_z tie some rag strips on you fishing lines...it really helps deter there attention...you could even put a few lines near the finch feeder and see if that alone will prevent the hawk from landing near your cage.