Which breed is best for avoiding predators?

[Oven Ready]

Yeah, the red jungle fowl looking chickens live an area around here, have for many, many years and they have no protection from predators...dogs, cats, coons, hawks, they seem to have the smarts and ability to avoid them for the most part.

We have them here, but they are proper wild birds. The big difference between them and chickens seems to me to be their ability or judgement to fly. They never run from predators, like our chickens do - they always take flight and they have no trouble clearing 15-20 metre trees despite the males having huge long tails.
They also don't seem to have such a fixation on food, instead of the whole flock feeding (like ours do, for hours on end in one spot) only one or two feed at a time while the others just stand and watch and then the whole lot quickly move to another place.

I was wondering about catching a few and keeping jungle fowl but I suspect they wouldn't adapt well to free ranging (or they would and they would free range their junglefowly butts way, way, over to someone elses land.)​

 

[pennie1]

Just do not get Silkies

They'd be gone in a day if they ever found their way out of the barn.

 

[Goose and Fig]

I agree with the others- the best thing to do is get rid of the coons. We have been lucky and they only come around after dusk- but my coops are like Fort Knox. They will peel off chicken wire like it's paper if they're desperate enough- so I had to shell out the big buck for welded wire

As for the geese- I have tolouse. They free range all day, and I coax them into the coop at night with a bowl of feed. They tend to stay out of the woods- just wander around and eat grass and swim and sit in the shade. They are alert at night though- even if it's dark and you walk over to the coop, they all stand up and start chattering. Might work- maybe you can find a freebie gander somewhere.

 

[racuda]

Although raccoons run rampant in my part of North Carolina, my flock has never suffered predation from one. Here is my secret weapon:

In the past few years she has killed 3 raccoons that I know of, and treed countless others.

 

[woodmort]

My wife noted this several years ago: At the time we had a flock of about 2 dozen anacaras including 3 roosters. They were scatter around out in the back yard( about an acre) doing what chickens do when a hawk flew over. The roosters began clucking loudly and within several seconds there wasn't a chicken to be seen. The boys had them all herded under the pine tree windbreak where they were invisible from the sky. For that reason I won't allow my chickens to range without their being a couple of roosters in the flock.

 

[gootziecat]

My neighbor has had free range mutt chickens for at least 4 years or better. I'm not sure they have any sort of predator protection day or night, but most of the roosters have managed to survive. The hens tend to get picked off now and then. They're very predator savy. They also can rustle up food for themselves with the best of them.

 

[gvntofly05]

Quote:
We do have a live trap but haven't had any luck with it. The coons are very smart...I actually love the little pests but I know that we can't all be happy together if they come around during the day.

My DH shot one in the coop one last week and he cooked it in a potato stew. That's the second time that we've ate one and it tastes just like beef...way better than venison IMHO (no, we're not rednecks...just don't like killing unless it is for food).

That's exactly what is going to happen to the coon that got some of my ducks!

I figure an eye for an eye. You eat my birds I'm going to eat you!

No we're not rednecks either, raccoon just tastes good!

 

[Redcatcher]

Quote:
He looks like a red Rottie. I suspect he is a cross?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have game and game/bantam and they are very smart. We live in the woods and they free range all day but are locked up at night.

 

[DTchickens]

Games/Game crosses, get the bankiva type birds though (Spanish, American, Old English etc) so they can fly. The Key west birds, Hawaii, and most of the wild chickens in the US all came from the games crossed with other birds, and they will survive longer than any other bird. But again I will say what I told the last one who asked- Don't be surprised if they still get caught. It just happens when they are in a over-predator populated environment.

-Daniel