That’s really terrible. They must have been devastated....but yours are still safe right?... Are you changing anything to secure them more? Do the coyotes pose danger to your (little) dogs as well?
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applestar
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Re: Letting chickens roam
Yowza That’s really terrible. They must have been devastated.
...but yours are still safe right?... Are you changing anything to secure them more? Do the coyotes pose danger to your (little) dogs as well?
That’s really terrible. They must have been devastated....but yours are still safe right?... Are you changing anything to secure them more? Do the coyotes pose danger to your (little) dogs as well?
At another home, I lost 3 chickens to a coyote over about a 2 week period. The first time I saw him, I shot AT him. The second time, he was about 40 yards from the coop. The door was too small for him to get in but he had climbed the fence previously to kill 2 of the chickens. I shot him.
Something you should understand about free ranging. In Southeast Asia, the original home of wild and domestic chickens, it isn't unusual to see the village flock a half mile from the village. They range. There isn't sufficient food to their liking closer, apparently.
What does that mean for a homeowner with a 50' by 50' backyard? Well, it won't take many chickens very many days before they are not finding what they are looking for to eat. That backyard is not contributing a whole lot to their diet. If free ranging is compromising their safety, you have to weigh that in your decision to allow it.
Steve
Something you should understand about free ranging. In Southeast Asia, the original home of wild and domestic chickens, it isn't unusual to see the village flock a half mile from the village. They range. There isn't sufficient food to their liking closer, apparently.
What does that mean for a homeowner with a 50' by 50' backyard? Well, it won't take many chickens very many days before they are not finding what they are looking for to eat. That backyard is not contributing a whole lot to their diet. If free ranging is compromising their safety, you have to weigh that in your decision to allow it.
Steve
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rainbowgardener
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Ours are fine. They spend their nights from before dark to at least 9 AM closed up in their coop, which is quite secure and has two layers of fence around the area.
Our backyard is more like 100x100, but no I don't expect that it feeds them. They have high quality feed for laying hens (currently the higher protein version for molting hens), plus a variety of supplements, available to them at all times. Even when they are free ranging, the door to the coop is always open, so they can come back for food and water when ever they want.
I don't think they are in danger in the daylight with two barking dogs. Our dogs are not really little--one is about coyote size and one is about wolf size.
The free ranging is for exercise and allowing them to do the hunting and scratching that is instinctive, and adding a bit of variety to their diet. And they love it. By 9AM they are all lined up in front of their door, pacing and wanting out.
If I am wrong about their safety, then we will deal with it and increase security the next time, but so far what we are doing is working.
Our backyard is more like 100x100, but no I don't expect that it feeds them. They have high quality feed for laying hens (currently the higher protein version for molting hens), plus a variety of supplements, available to them at all times. Even when they are free ranging, the door to the coop is always open, so they can come back for food and water when ever they want.
I don't think they are in danger in the daylight with two barking dogs. Our dogs are not really little--one is about coyote size and one is about wolf size.
The free ranging is for exercise and allowing them to do the hunting and scratching that is instinctive, and adding a bit of variety to their diet. And they love it. By 9AM they are all lined up in front of their door, pacing and wanting out.
If I am wrong about their safety, then we will deal with it and increase security the next time, but so far what we are doing is working.
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Gary350
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City code has changed the rules for having farm animals in the city limits. We can not have 1 cow for milk or beef, 1 pig for bacon, sausage, ham, sheep, coat, and several chickens for eggs or fried chicken. I would love to have a Jersey milk cow because red color cows give class A milk it is much healthier than class B milk from a white color or black color cow, class B milk is what we all buy at the store. I would like to have a pig for bacon, pork chops, ham, sausage. Spring time farmer supply store and TSC both sell baby chickens 50¢ each at farm supply and $2 each at TSC. Wife raised 100 chickens once to put in the freezer. I would like to have 8 chickens for eggs. Wife said, no way we are retired, we will never get to take a vacation, no more camping, can't go to Michigan, Florida, out west or any where for vacation someone has to be here to feed animals 2 times every day. People in town with 6 ft yard fences trim chicken wing feathers so they can not fly over the fence. Chickens can usually fly up into a tree or on a fence to get away from a dog. When I was in grade school I don't remember chickens being a problem in my grand parents garden but I have been told chickens are a big problem in the garden. My father always had genies those birds will eat all bugs in the yard & garden, chiggers, nats, ticks, fleas, etc. but never bother garden plants or other plants and the fastest dog can never catch a genie.
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rainbowgardener
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We are pretty tied down here. With a cat, two dogs, and six chickens and a bunch of gardens it is difficult for us both to get away. I recently went to California to visit with my new twin granddaughters ( 
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We had hoped to go together, but getting a house sitter was prohibitively expensive. Mostly we don't leave home together for much more than four hours at a time. We have been away for as much as four days, by getting one neighbor to take care of the cat, a different one to take care of the chickens, taking the dogs with us, and leaving the gardens to fend for themselves. But even so getting away isn't easy.
Our fences are 6' tall and our chickens do not have their wings clipped. When they were younger and slimmer, they could fly up onto the fence, but they are now too big and heavy to do that.
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We had hoped to go together, but getting a house sitter was prohibitively expensive. Mostly we don't leave home together for much more than four hours at a time. We have been away for as much as four days, by getting one neighbor to take care of the cat, a different one to take care of the chickens, taking the dogs with us, and leaving the gardens to fend for themselves. But even so getting away isn't easy.
Our fences are 6' tall and our chickens do not have their wings clipped. When they were younger and slimmer, they could fly up onto the fence, but they are now too big and heavy to do that.
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Green_Gardener
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I like it how it's done on the picture of rainbowgardener. We have almost the same thing: a coop surrounded by a fence. You just should calculate if it's profitable for you. Will you use DIY feeders or buy one, etc. For example, we bought a new one recently. There's no need to let chickens roam somewhere but fenced area. What for?
Chickens can be a big problem in the garden if you let them in it before the plants are established. They'll scratch everything up out of the ground. Once it's established it's safer to let them into it. Doesn't mean they wont still scratch up a plant or two. but it takes a little more work.Gary350 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 09, 2018 9:47 amCity code has changed the rules for having farm animals in the city limits. We can not have 1 cow for milk or beef, 1 pig for bacon, sausage, ham, sheep, coat, and several chickens for eggs or fried chicken. I would love to have a Jersey milk cow because red color cows give class A milk it is much healthier than class B milk from a white color or black color cow, class B milk is what we all buy at the store. I would like to have a pig for bacon, pork chops, ham, sausage. Spring time farmer supply store and TSC both sell baby chickens 50¢ each at farm supply and $2 each at TSC. Wife raised 100 chickens once to put in the freezer. I would like to have 8 chickens for eggs. Wife said, no way we are retired, we will never get to take a vacation, no more camping, can't go to Michigan, Florida, out west or any where for vacation someone has to be here to feed animals 2 times every day. People in town with 6 ft yard fences trim chicken wing feathers so they can not fly over the fence. Chickens can usually fly up into a tree or on a fence to get away from a dog. When I was in grade school I don't remember chickens being a problem in my grand parents garden but I have been told chickens are a big problem in the garden. My father always had genies those birds will eat all bugs in the yard & garden, chiggers, nats, ticks, fleas, etc. but never bother garden plants or other plants and the fastest dog can never catch a genie.