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To: ZOOKER

Any sensible person who raises chickens knows they must have a predator proof chicken coop.


9 posted on 03/03/2018 7:09:36 AM PST by RoosterRedux (Churchill: Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.)
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To: RoosterRedux

Not as necessary as one might think if you mix your poultry. Mine come and go as they please, no fences, no permanently shut coops. They wander the area around the farm as they choose. Geese, turkeys, chickens, ducks, and guineas.

When I moved to my farm there was a mysterious rash of velocity poisonings. From there on a few big dogs roaming about have taken care of things for the most part. At night, if the ducks start murmleing but the geese are quiet then a cat snuck past the toms, a woodchuck got up for a snack, or a skunk is picking lost eggs up in the yard. If the geese start alerting also then its a fox or coyotes and you let the dogs back out for a bit. If the sound of pursuing dogs doesnt immediately fade into the distance then you have a person size or larger threat and its time for you to respond.

Its pretty rare that Ive had any sustained or significant loss. Foxes come for the ducks in the spring if you dont keep the dogs out. Marking your territory and you marking its den is pretty effective if youre having trouble catching it. A coydog showed up and went on a killing spree one year, it showed up in the middle of the day. The next day Pa said that the last he saw it, it had lost part of its back end. A horned owl takes a duck or small turkey once a year or so but that seems small compensation for helping me with the skunks through the rest of the year.


19 posted on 03/03/2018 9:31:01 AM PST by gnarledmaw (Hive minded liberals worship leaders, sovereign conservatives elect servants.)
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To: RoosterRedux

We sit on our deck and watch our 5 hens peck and scratch in the fenced area. Its entertaining and a stress reliever. But unless we are out with them they have to stay inside the coop or they would be gone in a week. The eggs are so much better than store bought.


26 posted on 03/03/2018 12:08:52 PM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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