tying out birds

pokey

Warrior Princess
11 Years
Jun 1, 2008
1,313
6
171
upstate
For those of you who tie out birds how do you keep them safe? I had mine running free range behind an electric fence and then the hawks came.I want to let th out but can only imagine the scene in Jurassic park of the goat tied out for bait for the T-Rex.
 
For those of you who tie out birds how do you keep them safe? I had mine running free range behind an electric fence and then the hawks came.I want to let th out but can only imagine the scene in Jurassic park of the goat tied out for bait for the T-Rex.

I am not doing it yet owing to some preparations not met. First you need area fenced in to make access by ground dwelling predators difficult enough so they can not do the snatch and grab. Second a reliable dog needs to be inside the fenced area with tied birds. Mine will be tied for extended periods so some sort of retreat (blue barrels or similar) for roosting and shelter from elements also needed. Another consideration is having pasture properly managed with a mixture of grasses and legumes to provide some nutrition and protect soil from erosion.
 
Guess I will need the dog, a hawk landed about three feet near the birds last year right in front of me as I was walking to the coop. I was in total disbelief . Plus I severely upset I had paid for the electric poultry net to be out done by the flying predators. Someone raises game birds not far from us and seriously has 200-300 birds tied out and I wondered how they don't lose them. I doubt mine have the tenacity to fight a hawk.
 
Having large numbers of may in itself intimidate hawk, there maybe no need for roosters to fight back. The larger scale keepers of games may loose some especially around perimeter of cockyard. When my family kept larger numbers of birds (roosters) in pens and some juveniles running about, we had hounds, most tied but a couple had run of place. In addition we hunted racoons and went on fox hunts so predators where also pressured on their homefront.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom