sigh...giving up.

[pinkyglory123]

I started out a few years ago thinking I would free range my hens. Swapped to birds expected to be the best at free ranging. After losing most of them-switched to confinement with electrified poultry netting. switched to birds well suited to confinement.Now they have somehow figured out how to get over that. So I will now go to total confinement with free range only when I am right there. If I want chickens at all this is all I can do. Hens are kept on a farm of 100 acres I rent and I live off site. I am tired of feeding varmints. I am tired of sacrificing hens. I cannot even estimate the amount of money I have invested in electric poultry netting (very flimsy), pullet shut door (needs rebuild), chargers, netting and birds. Unfortunatly I am on my own and not much good at carpentry.

Problem is shooting and trapping-there are always more where they came from.

 

[theoldchick]

It is frustrating.

 

[stilldeb]

Seems no matter what the situation, there is always something waiting to eat our birds! We live in the middle of a farm and while we usually have no problems with large ground predators due to the lack of cover, we have hawks that come and sit right on our pens and scream like a banshee (a red-shoulder hawk did that just the other day). We can only let our chickens out with supervision if we want to have any left.

deb g
KY

 

[Mattemma]

Sorry to read of your issues. Hopefully you can save enough over time to built a strudy run,though I know even those are not 100% safe when it comes to determined predators.

Have you considered a house hen? Maybe a mini one in a large cage.I had a few in the house.They laid their eggs and did thier chicken thing in the large dog crate.They were just in for health issues,but I always figured if I had too I could actually keep just one hen in the house.

Hopefully you will have your own little space one day ,and will be there more to protect and supervise the flock. I am in a suburb and I can not believe how many coons and possums I have caught. Most of our lots have 1 acre or less.It is like an island surrounded by road.Added up it can not be more than 8 acres total.Lot of animals living in that space.I am the only one with chickens.

You will find a way to make things work.Are you allowed to place traps around the coop/run?Gotta be hard when you can't get out daily to check on them.My birds get into situations all the time!

 

[pinkyglory123]

Thank you for you very kind post. Believe it or not I AM at the farm at least twice a day-I have ten horses there being brought in twice a day to be fed, four barn cats, three geese also. I have trapped probably a dozen coons, shot three foxes which were dangerously bold around humans, a possum, a skunk and a woodchuck! Plus the landowner drives thru twice a day. His grandson often in the evenings. Workers driving thru twice a day. But the wild life is relentless, absolutely relentless. Thanks again for you encouraging words. Am swithcing to outside only when I am there and lockdown otherwise.