Managing and Protecting Hen Flock Theory

[MagaronJ]

Lost one of our 8 hens today to a hawk. Dogs scared it off, but after one of our girls sustained terrible throat injury. I put her down soon after. This was the first time I’ve had to kill one of our animals and I didn’t enjoy it, to say the least.

We have a well protected hen house that I built. It’s wood and well sealed. It’s probably 4’x6’.

We also have 8 ducks in a metal pen, protected with chicken wire and covered with a tarp to visually hide them.

Beyond that these animas are free range. My wife lets them out in the morning. We put them back up in the evening.

The ducks have a 3 acre pond they spend the day at and the chickens roam about a 2 acre circle around our house foraging.

I can’t think of any “good” solutions to losing animals here and there to predators. I could build a 10’x10’ covered run and give them access to that, but I think they enjoy their freedom and I don’t really want to go that route.

We don’t have any roosters. We have two 100lb+ dogs. They scared away the hawk after the attack, but they don’t spend the entire day outside guarding by any means.

We’re out in the country and I carry a firearm and can at least make noise to scare off a predator if I see it but, obviously that isn’t every time.

Wondering if anyone has any ideas that maybe I haven’t thought of, or could comment on whether a rooster might help. It’s possible I could relocate a fenced area beneath some trees for cover above, but I’m not sure that wouldn’t introduce just as many problems as it would solve. I can’t imagine a scarecrow would work for more than 24hrs or so.

Again, just wondering if I’m missing something and looking for what others use as strategy. I know that this happens sometimes, but it sucks and I’d like it to happen less often.

 

[nuthatched]

A rooster won't do anything besides sound the alarm -after a predator strike- just like the hens.
Sorry you lost your bird.

 

[aart]

Free ranging has it's risks, only you can decide which is best.
The occasional dead bird(or more) or 'unhappy' confined birds.

 

[MagaronJ]

Thank you.

Just a hard day. Looking for something that doesn’t exist.

 

[HowIsItDone]

Thank you.

Just a hard day. Looking for something that doesn’t exist.

Yeah. I'd love to let mine out, but I'm keeping mine cooped/runned up.
My friend has lost 2 in the last 3 weeks.
She has a rooster, but no dog.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Mrs. K]

A lot of people disclaim any protection from a rooster, but I have had roosters make a difference in day time predation. Not at night, but in the daytime.

The thing is, you have to have a good rooster and not all roosters are a good rooster. They need to be close to a year old or older, before that they are not much good. They should be the first to see you when you approach. When they are free ranging, he should keep his girls together, and he should be up looking around, when the girls are mostly scratching.

Personally, if you can get one raised in a multi generational flock, that were free ranged in similar circumstances as to you, that is your best bet.

However, I have found in the decades of raising chickens, even with a good rooster it is not 100% safety. Nothing is except adequate fencing.

So I compromise. I have a fenced coop and run that they can go into lock down and be fine. When you get hit by a predator they will be back. When I get hit, I go into lock down for several days so the predator moves on.

I don’t free range them on a routine basis, sometimes I let them out all day, sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes not at all. I don’t let them out on real cloudy days or windy days, gives too much advantage to the predators.

I currently have a young rooster, he is looking more promising, but is young yet.

Good luck, Mrs K

 

[SamLockwood]

Lost one of our 8 hens today to a hawk. Dogs scared it off, but after one of our girls sustained terrible throat injury. I put her down soon after. This was the first time I’ve had to kill one of our animals and I didn’t enjoy it, to say the least.

We have a well protected hen house that I built. It’s wood and well sealed. It’s probably 4’x6’.

We also have 8 ducks in a metal pen, protected with chicken wire and covered with a tarp to visually hide them.

Beyond that these animas are free range. My wife lets them out in the morning. We put them back up in the evening.

The ducks have a 3 acre pond they spend the day at and the chickens roam about a 2 acre circle around our house foraging.

I can’t think of any “good” solutions to losing animals here and there to predators. I could build a 10’x10’ covered run and give them access to that, but I think they enjoy their freedom and I don’t really want to go that route.

We don’t have any roosters. We have two 100lb+ dogs. They scared away the hawk after the attack, but they don’t spend the entire day outside guarding by any means.

We’re out in the country and I carry a firearm and can at least make noise to scare off a predator if I see it but, obviously that isn’t every time.

Wondering if anyone has any ideas that maybe I haven’t thought of, or could comment on whether a rooster might help. It’s possible I could relocate a fenced area beneath some trees for cover above, but I’m not sure that wouldn’t introduce just as many problems as it would solve. I can’t imagine a scarecrow would work for more than 24hrs or so.

Again, just wondering if I’m missing something and looking for what others use as strategy. I know that this happens sometimes, but it sucks and I’d like it to happen less often.

Keeping chickens isn't for the faint of heart, period. Literally everything wants to kill them and even if you never free range something can always slip into the most secure of coops and kill your birds.

Free ranging has a variety of benefits but also has higher risks. I've got both guinea fowl and roosters and they routinely drive off hawks: I still lose birds from hawk attacks sometimes.

Fall and late winter are the worst times of the year for hawk attacks. If your birds don't have adequate places to hide (evergreen shrubs or even a deck they can hide under) it's best to limit free ranging during this time of year.

The local birds of prey don't bother my flock that much any more, they have literally gotten beaten up too many times either by my flock or the crows that come in when my birds raise a fuss. But late fall through early spring the migrating hawks arel a problem because they're hungrier and don't know what they're messing with.