Can Deer and Chickens live in the same yard?

[crittermom]

Hi, I'm new here and I hope I've got this question in the right place. I've been a very happy chicken mom for several years, but this year something unusal has happened. A mom deer was injured and having a hard time walking and standing, and she had her baby to worry about. Mom and baby deer were across the street from me(well, lane, I live in the woods near a wildlife refuge) and my neighbors(well intentioned) were going to shoot the mom and take the baby. Well, mom must have known something was up because she moved into my yard that day and she and the fawn have been here ever since(5 weeks) I can't not take care of a critter in need so I feed them and mom has improved dramatically, but in feeding mom and baby I have attracted the entire local herd of deer(not that I mind

)My girls(chicks) are use to freeranging for at least a few hours a day but I haven't let them since the deer moved in and I'm not sure if deer poop will hurt them(who knew deer pooped so much?)Will deer poop make my chicks sick? The girls are 5 years old and the deer go right up to the coop and outside run and they seem to get on well. Any advice? Thanks! :}

 

[buck-wild-chick]

welcome to byc, I dont see any problem with the chickens free ranging with the deer. Thats really cool. !!! since deer are prey animals them selves, They shouldn't try to harm them.. I think there area few people on here(byc) that have deer in there yards.


good luck.

 

[pkeeler]

Feeding wild animals is never a good idea.

I would think the biggest problem will be destruction of your local chicken habitat. Deer eat much of the same things as chickens. But they will eat much more and could completely bare your shrubs and small trees. This will expose your chickens to the sun and overhead predators.

 

[buck-wild-chick]

Wow i dint even think about that lol

 

[Wildsky]

We've had deer walking through our back yard - they come in to eat the apple tree leaves.... no problems with them and the chickens.

 

[crittermom]

Hi again, thanks so much for your responses! The girls will go out tomorrow!~ I just wanted to update a bit. I'm not worried about destruction of my chicks environment, I REALLY live in the woods, and when I say woods I mean you need a machete to get through some of it

. I have massive amounts of Bamboo growing(which I think the deer like, I know the chicks do) and very old growth trees. The girls(chicks) are very happy chicks, they just make my day! We (chicks and I) have fought off hawks, owls ,dogs, one weird coyote, a crazy squirrel, and a bald eagle that scared the poo out of me. When the deer first showed up in my yard I called/emailed/contacted every state agency/rehabber in 5 states. No one responded.(they don't do adult deer) I went to allexperts.com and asked about injured deer(more specifc for them) and I was given great reponses but told mom would more than likely be dead in a week.(due to injuries) I signed up to Deer and Elk farmers.com(very nice people) and they said to give her antibiotics, but she will still die.(more than likely) She hasn't and isn't dead.She looks great, she stands and runs now, she could not do that before. My hope is some day she will trot back into the woods with her baby. One person even as OCD as I am can maybe make a difference, if they don't let other people drag them down. As to feeding 'wild' animals, I can not in good faith ignore a creatures plea, she picked my house and me to help her, and I'll be darn if I won't do all that I am able. It is my honor and duty to help her, regardless, I don't believe she wanted to die, she just needed a place to recover. I believe she will. If she chooses to stay and adopt me and my various family members, I'll build her a house. It would take 100 deer 100 years to clear my land.

Ah, I am so Happy I finally found a place to talk about things I love(critters) without my friends and family giving me the squint eye! Thanks for being here and listening!

Chicks Rule!

alright, Cats too,(my cats made me say that)

 

[crittermom]

Update....Mom deer is up and functional in a big way! She is all around the woods with her fawn, they come by to see me every so often. I am happy to report no harm to the chicks for this experience, they seem to be happy for the new friends. Everyone is getting on well, which I am more than grateful for. Peace to all chicken (and deer) people everywhere!

 

[jjthink]

Quote:
Love how you think. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto!
JJ

 

[redoak]

We have 3 deer that graze in our backyard at dusk and sometimes late afternoon. Usually one of the does trots over to the hen run and watches the hens through the fence, and all the hens run over and thinking the doe has treats for them.

 

[xke4]

I feed about 75 deer at my place and have never encountered a problem with my chickens, ducks or dogs. My theory in the beginning was that if they were here anyway ( I too live in the woods) maybe I could entice them with food to keep them away from my shrubs. Good in theory but not in practice. They eat what they want and nothing I could do would stop them. So I put up with giant holes in my garden and pretend that that's the way I intended it to look. Things that I have found they love are cedars. Do not waste any of your hard earned cash on cedars if you have deer. It is candy to them.