What Time Do You "Release The Fowls"?

[Sandstorm495]

Wow there is actually so much involved in this whole letting them out business. My times don't change to much only when we have daylight savings but that's only 1hr difference.
Mrs Maggo your hens go in early, is it Winter over your way. My girls don't go to bed till 8:00pm at the moment.

Yeah our chooks get put away early, but if they are left out, then they will still go and roost around 8pm as well.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

I find it to hard to try and heard them in, they are still eating and foraging at 7:30 so I don't want to take that from them.

 

[Sandstorm495]

Yes...but will they still roost later by themselves?

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Yes...but will they still roost later by themselves?

Yeah, all I do is go down and shut the door, when I get down at 8:00 they are already in and start flying up to the roosts.

 

[redsoxs]

I let mine out when it is still dark - the dogs and I do a perimeter sweep - that keeps the predators back in the woods where they belong.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Why cant you catch the owl.

If it where me I would sneak down just before dusk and wait inside the roost (hiding) until It came if then I would catch it with a big net and either kill it or release it far far away.

When did I say I didn't catch the owl(s)? Of course I caught them--that's how I got them out of the hen house.

It's illegal to kill an owl. And I don't believe in relocating problem animals to become someone else's problem.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

When did I say I didn't catch the owl(s)? Of course I caught them--that's how I got them out of the hen house.

It's illegal to kill an owl. And I don't believe in relocating problem animals to become someone else's problem.

Oh I thought you just scared I and it flew out. So did you just release it back onto your property?

 

[cluckcluckluke]

I let mine out when it is still dark - the dogs and I do a perimeter sweep - that keeps the predators back in the woods where they belong.

Dogs are great. Mine marks their territory all around the coop and run so I believe this helps keeping predators at bay.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Oh I thought you just scared I and it flew out. So did you just release it back onto your property?

Yeah, we just let it go. They were Great Horned Owls, and awesome, beautiful animals. As I said, I don't release animals "far away" to become other peoples' problems. Either I kill the problem animal, or in the case of the owls, let them go and hope that being caught in the hen house makes them leery of returning. Also, I always make sure I close the hen house door as soon as all the chickens come in to roost. The only times I had owls in the hen house, it was well after dark and I'd delayed shutting the pop door for some reason. I also have good neighbors who will come over to shut the pop door for me if I'm delayed.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Yeah, we just let it go. They were Great Horned Owls, and awesome, beautiful animals. As I said, I don't release animals "far away" to become other peoples' problems. Either I kill the problem animal, or in the case of the owls, let them go and hope that being caught in the hen house makes them leery of returning. Also, I always make sure I close the hen house door as soon as all the chickens come in to roost. The only times I had owls in the hen house, it was well after dark and I'd delayed shutting the pop door for some reason. I also have good neighbors who will come over to shut the pop door for me if I'm delayed.

Yeah, i suppose you would have to release an owl really far away for it to work. I had a goanna in our chook pen the last couple of days and one day we finally saw it and chased...but up a tree so we had no way of catching and releasing it (far of in the bush) so we showed it not to mess with us (they are really tough critters though) but he has not been back since.
I hope that you don't have anymore run ins with you owls. Hopefully after a while they realize they are not going to get anything from you girls so leave, but you never know so keep up the good work.