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RE: Free Range Chickens: Some Ups and Downs.
I raised chicken for most of the 20 years that I lived in the country. In that time, I shot several skunks, one of which was in the chicken coop when I shot it. That was rather stinky for several weeks. I trapped a mangy coyote that was killing chickens, shot 1 dog that got into the coop, and lost a fair amount of free range chickens to the local coyotes before I figured out what was going on. I lost a couple to owls because the chickens were dumb enough to roost on the roof of the chicken coop.
Raising chickens is an adventure!
It is indeed an adventure. Lee is teaching me just how to behave.
Owls! We do have owls in the woods surrounding the open part we use for the gardens and orchards. I did not know they were predators. This is a small owl, at least the one we have seen.
I have expanded her run with a little door cut out in the fence to include one part of the garden so she is a little more content. If we get more (when we get more) we are considering a solar powered fence so she has more room. It is way too hilly for a chicken tractor up here.
How did a dog get into the coop?
My chicken coop was basically half of a shed that I built so that I would have room for 25 chickens at a time. I would leave the door open during the day so the chickens could roam around the barnyard. They liked digging around in the horse poop, looking for bugs. It was the middle of the day, the dog just went in through the open door. I heard the chickens squalking and grabbed the shotgun on the way out to investigate.