Which of these breeds would survive a predator-heavy environment?

[poultrycrazy711]

I live in Upstate New York and I am planning to keep either Dominique and/or Brown (or other dark colored) Leghorn chickens. I am aware of all the predators around the property like coyotes, raccoons, and foxes. I have read that Leghorns are excellent fliers and can roost up in trees and are very predator wary. I couldn't find anything on the same status of Dominiques however. Which of these (both, one or neither) can survive these conditions the best. Also, if you know of another breed that is of very good egg production that would do well in this area please post. Thanks!!

 

[hdowden]

i dont know the answer as ours have coops and runs but if free ranging i would get some sort of game foul. my oegb rooster stays very alert and is the first to signal danger.

 

[Jaxon4141]

I live in Upstate New York and I am planning to keep either Dominique and/or Brown (or other dark colored) Leghorn chickens. I am aware of all the predators around the property like coyotes, raccoons, and foxes. I have read that Leghorns are excellent fliers and can roost up in trees and are very predator wary. I couldn't find anything on the same status of Dominiques however. Which of these (both, one or neither) can survive these conditions the best. Also, if you know of another breed that is of very good egg production that would do well in this area please post. Thanks!!

Without proper containment any breed will do, they will be meat for the above mentioned.

 

[what did I do]

I have white leghorns so I'll comment about them. My leghorns are the first into the coop at night and some of the first to fly out in the morning. It is so nice to have them in when I go to lock them up at 9pm , sort of dark. The leghorns do seek shelter by flying into the trees. They handle the cold well too. The one time my D's locked all the chickens out of the coop the leghorns roosted do high in the tree we couldn't reach them. They are easy to see because they are white. Now that I think about it, my dog the chased chickens never got a leghorn - the dog never killed a chicken, he just went after them to watch them fly.

My leghorns are calm birds. They are not flighty at all but they are handled all the time.

We don't have a rooster and my chickens free range all day long. I have not lost one yet to a predator. I don't consider us to live in a predator dense area although we did have a skunk living under one of our coops, a family of raccoons a little farther south in the tree line, and 3 or 4 foxes all living close by.

Over all, I think the leghorns do very well. I am happy with the leghorns. I'm thinking of getting different colors of leghorns next year. Right now I have Trader Joe's leghorn eggs in the incubator. Good luck.

 

[centrarchid]

poultrycrazy711,

I keep American Games and American Dominiques. As juveniles all are kept free range and some game hens free range while rearing chicks. If I had 100 of each breed running about as juveniles, all of the doms would be taken by predators before first 10 games. Predator management and proper facilities can greatly enhance survival of both breeds. Night time roosting facilities can be designed so even raccoons and owls can not get at birds yet retains free-range conditions. During day, long-term free-ranging will require a dog able to go anywhere chickens go and is big enough to handily take on any predator. You are in a location that is much more demaning than where I am located. My biggest baddies are true coyotes and bobcats which my 60-65 lb bird dog can handle easily. You are where the coyotes are crossed with grey wolves and those animals would do my dog serious harm. If you go dog route, go big and think more than one. Otherwise go game only or confine birds to hardened coop and run.

 

[Contrary]

I live in Upstate New York and I am planning to keep either Dominique and/or Brown (or other dark colored) Leghorn chickens. I am aware of all the predators around the property like coyotes, raccoons, and foxes. I have read that Leghorns are excellent fliers and can roost up in trees and are very predator wary. I couldn't find anything on the same status of Dominiques however. Which of these (both, one or neither) can survive these conditions the best. Also, if you know of another breed that is of very good egg production that would do well in this area please post. Thanks!!

I grew up in upstate New York outside of Ithaca on a small farm. A big problem in that area were dog packs.

What is your proposed method of farming? Are you in a rural area?

 

[RedDrgn]

Without proper containment any breed will do, they will be meat for the above mentioned.

X2

Breeds that fly well are still food for raptors of both daylight and darkness, or anything that can climb a tree in the night (e.g. raccoon). Heavy breeds may be able to fight for a bit, but a coyote, fox, raccoon, opossum, bobcat, etc. will still be able to take them down and find the trouble worthwhile.

We've got bear, bobcats, fox, raccoon, opossum, weasels, cats, dogs, skunks, hawks, eagles, owls and humans to contend with where we live and in the year that we've had our flock, not a single chicken has been lost to any of them and none have even been able to breach our run. If they did, and it was night time, they'd still not be able to breach our coop.

You need to have some "safe" place for the chickens to live or you're going to be a constant source of food for your predator population (especially once a few find your flock and start coming back for seconds).

 

[HouseCat]

I live in an area with quite a few predators and I think darker colored hens and a full size gamecock are your best bet. Even then, if you freerange, plan on 5-10% loses a year. A decent cock will fend off a raptor, coon, or opposum but when it comes to the bigger predators, all he can do is let out a warning cry and sacrifice himself for the hens. You'll most likely spend as much if not more on a decent cock as you will on all of your hens. Even then, he'll be worthless for the first year and you'll have to keep an eye on him. There are some really nice Dominique game cocks and they're alot more colorful than the hatchery birds.

 

[centrarchid]

X2

Breeds that fly well are still food for raptors of both daylight and darkness, or anything that can climb a tree in the night (e.g. raccoon). Heavy breeds may be able to fight for a bit, but a coyote, fox, raccoon, opossum, bobcat, etc. will still be able to take them down and find the trouble worthwhile.

We've got bear, bobcats, fox, raccoon, opossum, weasels, cats, dogs, skunks, hawks, eagles, owls and humans to contend with where we live and in the year that we've had our flock, not a single chicken has been lost to any of them and none have even been able to breach our run. If they did, and it was night time, they'd still not be able to breach our coop.

You need to have some "safe" place for the chickens to live or you're going to be a constant source of food for your predator population (especially once a few find your flock and start coming back for seconds).

Get yourself some games, keep them free range, and you will learn a few things that typical domestic breeds can not teach you.

 

[RedDrgn]

Get yourself some games, keep them free range, and you will learn a few things that typical domestic breeds can not teach you.

Is it possible to mix games and domestics in a flock, though? I've seen people say it's fine as long as no gamecocks are involved and then there are those that say they must be separate flocks since games tend to be hard on domestics. I really know next to nothing about games at this point, though (other than that they are gorgeous), but they are something I'd definitely be interested in down the road.