range chickens (was RE: free range eggs)
Edna M Weigel (eweigel@juno.com)
Fri, 29 Oct 1999 08:41:59 -0700
Mike asked about wildlife and dogs and cats as danger to chickens:
One of my books says chicks are of interest to cats only after
they fledge until they are a few months old. My hunting cat (who can
take a cotton tail nearly her size) is leery of the chickens (but she is
timid of anything she doesn't understand.) On the other hand, our three
dogs got into the chicken yard and eliminated 6 or the 12 birds in the
few minutes it took me to feed our neighbor's cats (5 of the 6 survivors
managed to get through or over the fence into garden, drive, or wild
area). I have the chicken yard fenced in a dog/coyote proof fence (the
gate the dogs got through is now securely bolted). When we moved here,
my neighbor insisted hawks and owls and coyotes would get our cats within
a few weeks. Same for any chickens. So far this hasn't been a problem
except for our own dogs.
However, unless you have secure sleeping quarters for the
chickens and close them up over night, you might have a lot more
problems. Depending on the wildlife in your area, your defenses might
have to be adjusted; back on the farm in Kansas, our defenses were
constantly challenged by opossums, raccoons, weasels (they can get
through a very small opening), skunks, and probably a few other things
I've forgotten. Here in southeast AZ, I have a friend who lost lots of
chickens to a bob cat.
We have a small pen attached to the chicken house with a
chicken-sized door into it for times when we won't be around at dark to
close them up. The chickens hate the confinement and I try to avoid
having to use it, but it also worked as a nursery for young chicks this
spring.
About hawks, my chickens crouch under trees when they spot a hawk
(their color camouflages them nicely), but once a hot air balloon drifted
over. The dogs were going berserk barking at it but the chickens ignored
it until its shadow passed over them. There was an enormous commotion of
panicky skwaks, cackles, flapping of wings, etc as they ran for cover.