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Wow, brave turkeyI have a heritage turkey hen that paralyzed a hawk.
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Wow, brave turkeyI have a heritage turkey hen that paralyzed a hawk.
Love your reply, Ms. Mudpie sounds like a character! You have an appreciation for nature's encounters also! It made me smile just reading about it.Living in proximity to wildlife can be a two-sided coin where chicken safety is concerned. We've had 2 gray fox moms, plus the dads, bring kits into our yard (when we had no dog) for a Romper Room fest--11 total foxes! They'd come to eat sunflower seeds that the songbirds had billed out of the feeders; not interested in trying to catch the birds. Sunning themselves on landscape rocks beside the Frog Pond near our porch. It really was cool. I had a pesty armadillo (Ms. Mudpie) who insisted on joining my hens for breakfast in the barn each morning for a few months. Ms. M learned my routine and would waddle into the barn when she'd see arrive. She was not afraid of me in the least. Ate off the same "treat plates" as my hens. She wandered into my feed room once and refused to leave, attempting to stand firm as I shoved her out the door, growling at me the entire time . Stubby Squirrel, who would come running from across the yard when we called her, begging for a treat each time we went outside. Made her own "doorway" by gnawing a small hole in the porch screen. Thanks, Stubby! At least she saved us from always having to open the screen door for her! Great memories of wildlife encounters. Getting to see and appreciate things folks would never believe.
But I digress! If your husband wants to fence in your 2 acres I'd say go for it! I have 5' no-climb horse fence for my Barn Pasture and the Barnyard where my hens wander around during daylight hours. Electrified with a strand of hot tape along the top and hot wire along the bottom of the Barnyard (both strands are mounted on the outside). I use 2x4 mesh fence pieces to add "aprons" extending out from the bottom of the fence on the outside if I discover holes being dug. Requires due diligence for monitoring, but has kept out many a terrestrial predator for years. I notice your yard is one wide-open space, a perfect flight path for raptors. If you could place some hen hide-a-ways (picnic table, pallet hut, etc) out there it would help provide cover if your chickens come under attack. You might suspend some heavy duty avian netting like a canopy, coming off from one side of the run. We have trees and shrubs around the barn and in the Barn Pasture so hens can quickly duck underneath if they feel threatened.
IMHO, adding a critter to be flock guardian means management, training, vaccinations (dogs/livestock), feeding, watering, manure/poop management, $,$, etc. etc. You'd still likely need a fenced area for containment of the guardian animal, too. Maybe start with fencing and some hide-a-ways first.
Best of luck!