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Post by Maura on Jul 28, 2022 21:55:00 GMT
This spring I bought 20 chicks. I lost 16 to predators and one to getting caught in the electric netting.
I have killed 4 raccoons 3 foxes and 1 opossum. The neighbor's dog got out and chased the chickens (hence death by el netting) but I didn't kill him. I also didn't kill the horned owls.
Now, with two electric net fences, one tall enough to keep the fliers in, and prepared to poison any more predators, I have 17 Australorp rooster chicks. They just arrived and have settled in my office. I made a 5 x 5 hoop house that will completely enclose them when they first step outside. Everyone sleeps inside at night until I feel they won't get out of the netting, so 3 Orpington hens in my garage roosting on the dog crate.
Yesterday I found an elevator that sells field oats, BOSS, and wheat. I'll be feeding the chooks fermented feed as well as pasture.
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Post by countrymom22 on Jul 28, 2022 23:21:54 GMT
Sorry you are having such predator problems. My coop looks like Fort Knox.... 6 foot high chain link with kennel wire added around the bottom and buried a foot deep. The top is covered with chicken wire. The coop is on an old hay wagon so it's up off the ground so nobody digs into it. So far, it has kept everyone safe. Unless I let them out to free range in the yard, where I do have a lot of trees and bushes as well as a shed that they can get under, they are pretty protected.
I only let them out for a couple of hours at the end of the day. Our local hawks all make their rounds in the morning and are then gone for the day. But I did have a tough time getting rid of the vultures that would go into the coop and steal eggs while my girls were out grazing!
It's always something. Good luck with the new birds!
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Post by mogal on Jul 29, 2022 0:02:17 GMT
countrymom22, you have some doggone brazen vultures! What a deal.
Good luck to both of you with your flocks, Maura and countrymom22.
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Post by Maura on Aug 24, 2022 6:29:22 GMT
I was sitting at my computer four days ago. I face the road. Something swooped under the porch roof. I ran out, grabbing a mop on the way and yelled. Turned out to be a red tailed hawk. It dropped the chick and few off. Took the poor little thing inside but I couldn't save it.
Never had trouble with the red tailed hawks. They never bothered the chicks or ducklings we had before. I think because the chicks are black and they were in the tall flowers the hawk thought it was mouse or something like that, which is what they normally hunt here. No more losses, he hasn't been back. I still have the three Orpingtons who are now being fed fermented feed (corn, oats, wheat) along with their foraging. They love the fermented grain. The chicks are starting to get a taste for it, too. There is still half a bag of grower kibble, so the little roosters will have to be content with that for the time being.
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Post by mogal on Aug 24, 2022 12:05:06 GMT
Maura! Maybe since the hawk didn't get a meal out of the situation, I hope he'll go elsewhere in the future.
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Post by Maura on Aug 29, 2022 16:25:22 GMT
Lost another Australorp chick. Down to 16. What happened to it, I don't know, but it didn't happen at night because I had them in the garage.
So, having had enough of chickens in the house, I put the dog crate in the little hoop house I made, bribed the chicks inside with food. I put a piece of plastic on the roof of the crate because I knew the three Orpington hens would perch up there, and they did. Put the too short electric netting up, plugged it in. Put poison out for possible predator. Darkness falls. I went outside with flashlight to check on them - they were fine. Checked the poison. Gone! That was Friday. Saturday, put them outside again for the night. My bedroom faces the back of the house and I can see the hoop house from a window. 5:00 in the morning the back motion light comes on! I jumped out of bed, dashed down the stairs and opened the garage door that opens to the back yard. In the shadow I see a small furry looking thing lumbering away. Another raccoon! They have a three day schedule, so I'll be setting out a delicious egg with fly bait on Tuesday night.
Surprisingly, even thought I didn't let them out until 10 this morning, the Orpingtons had not flown out of the enclosure. I guess without the RIR roosters leading the way, they were content to wait for me.
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Post by dustawaits on Sept 6, 2022 0:44:30 GMT
I do not have chickens. But I did order geese this late winter. Said they would come May 31. I got word there would be no geese but they would send me ducks. I still have nothing. I may get a call in the morning.... I have a pup and a kitten that will need training to say the least!! My terrier I do not think will bother anything.
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Post by Maura on Sept 6, 2022 17:48:57 GMT
No, no, a terrier would never chase something, let alone kill it. I hope you have a leash for training. A good "leave it" command is vital.
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Post by countrymom22 on Sept 6, 2022 22:46:21 GMT
One of my pit mix dogs is trained to leave them alone. The other has a super high prey drive. I would never trust him, even on leash around the littler animals.
Our current rooster fights with him through the fence, and they both really get going. This rooster is only 6 months old but he's a mean son of a gun. He's gone after my son twice and me once. I'm going to give it some more time, but if he doesn't settle down, he'll be dying of lead poisoning. Life is too short to deal with an ornery rooster. We only bought one this year so if we can't get chicks in the spring we could hatch our own.
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Post by Maura on Sept 7, 2022 3:05:51 GMT
I stayed out with my border collie pup when we got chicks. He was already trained to "leave it" and it just took a few times for him to know he couldn't nip the chickens or herd them. But BC are pretty obedient. If you don't mind a mixed breed, there are chickens known for their docility. Brahma, Orpington, there are others.
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Post by dustawaits on Sept 8, 2022 17:48:24 GMT
At the farm in Arkansas 50+ years ago, one year the predators were like Maura's. I killed 45 possoms in one month. I did not know there were that many in the area. I killed three coons in one night. But then came the night that practically every chicken he had was killed. The chicken wire ripped off and the coop destroyed. Someone said it was a family of coons. I do not know. I did not replace the flock. I think it was 10 years before I got chickens again. Then it was rats and a black fox . I do hope Maura that you can save your flock. Try a hot wire. For good measure lay a slice of cheese or a Weiner on the wire so they won't realize it is hot.
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Post by Maura on Sept 9, 2022 15:56:23 GMT
Dustawaits, oooh, so sad.
I do have hot wire, electric netting. My problem was the chickens flying over the netting because they wanted to roost on the umbrella clothesline. I took down the clothesline, but they still got out. So, I put the remaining 3 hens and 17 chicks in the garage at night until I got darned tired of that. I put them out again 3 weeks ago and I guess the hens forgot they could get over the fence, so they are now staying in the enclosure at night until I let them out in the morning. The Australorp rooster chicks are put into a large dog crate in the little hoop house because they are still small enough to walk through the netting. But, raccoons and foxes do not get in. I've seen them near the enclosure. I also put out poison if I suspect someone is planning an attack. One egg plus fly bait. If the egg gets eaten, the problem has been solved. I hate to kill them, but one fox or raccoon will destroy my flock again.
On a cheerful note, one of the hens is laying. Four days in a row now.
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Post by countrymom22 on Sept 9, 2022 22:58:51 GMT
dustawaits, I had a similar experience with something ripping through out fencing and killing 3/4 of our flock a few years ago. This happened right about dusk, shortly before my son got home from work to lock them up. Hubby and a friend of his determined that it was a fisher cat. I've never seen one, but they are said to be extremely destructive. The fence that they got through wasn't chicken wire either, it was welded kennel wire, so it was obviously a stronger animal. Definitely not a fox or coon. I kept the remaining birds locked inside until we could put up some chain link fence panels and the varmint hasn't been back since. I still free range them during the day though.
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Post by dustawaits on Sept 9, 2022 23:13:37 GMT
Although that happened in 1977 I still.feel.thenpain of losing our flock. That was in Southern Arkansas so I don't know if fisher cats were around. All I remember was the wreckage. I never could believe it was coons.
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