Tag: chicken run

Protect your Flock – Be Sneakier than the Fox

I have to say, the past two weeks have been exhausting. Between COVID and all the protests, I am feeling drained, overwhelmed, angry, sad, frustrated, disillusioned, and altogether raw. It’s a lot. We’re all going through a lot. I have to remind myself to breathe. The more I let my mind wander, the more it drifts into a place that feels unsolvable and paralyzing. And nobody’s got time to be living in a world without hope.

So I hopped on over to my chicken coop last Friday afternoon to spend some time in my happy place. As I’m approaching the fenced in run I only see two chickens.

That immediately set off the alarm in my head.

I quickly scanned to the coop door, which was locked, and then my eyes darted back to the door that opens to the run, also locked. Where are my chickens?

I paused for a second waiting for the other five to pop out of the coop. I wait another second as my mind starts replaying the day before.

When was the last time I let them out to free range? Wednesday. Who else came out to the coop? I don’t know.

I walked to the coop door and unlocked it. There is nothing and no one inside.

I walk to the corner of the chicken yard and see white feathers.

All the pieces click into place… and then they don’t.

For the last two weeks, Cactus has told me he’s seen a fox in the backyard. I thought he must have been staking out our chickens and have been extra careful with them. Only letting them free range for an hour, in the middle of the day, and setting an alarm on my phone. But clearly I messed up and my mistake cost five chickens their lives. I’m so upset and bewildered. So I started doing a lot of research to better understand my enemy.

  1. Late spring and early summer is prime fox time.  They’ve had their cubs and need to find food. And with reduced activity due to COVID-19, wildlife is out a lot more brazenly. Be extra vigilant.
  2. Secure your perimeter. This will mean many things depending on how your coop and run are set up. Being sure that your fence goes at least 2 feet deep into the ground is essential. It should also be as high as you can make it, preferably 5 feet minimum.
  3. Have a dog that is all or part shepherd.  These breeds will have a visible presence on your land and serve as a deterrent to predators who think they have an easy target.
  4. Create a system so that you can’t forget when your flock is out of the coop.  Set an alarm, do things in the same order, have some sort of signal so that everyone you live with knows the chickens are out. Everyone should be accountable for their safety, but whoever lets them out should be the person to confirm they are safely back in the coop.
  5. Don’t tempt fate. Stay outside and nearby while your chickens are out of the coop if possible. There is a reason for all the adjectives that relate to foxes – sneaky as a fox, sly as a fox, cunning as a fox.  I still can’t figure out how 5 of the chickens were out of the coop and 2 were safely in.  I never separate the flock – they are either all in or all out for free ranging.
  6. Be sure you have your closest neighbor’s phone number and they have yours. Let them know to call you if they notice anything unusual related to your flock or coop.
Three white chickens standing in front of two brown and two black chickens
My three white leghorns, two Isa Browns, and two Gold Leaf Wyandottes. Only one Isa Brown and one Wyandotte remain.

I hope this never happens to you and I am going to do whatever I can to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

3 Ways to Keep Your Chickens Safe

It is with a very heavy heart that I tell you we had a tragedy on the farm.  I won’t go into a lot of detail. I wasn’t even home when it happened so only know second hand what took place.  

Essentially, Cactus had let the chickens out of their run to a little yard area so they could scratch and peck around.  This area is right next to the coop and completely fenced except for the gate that one enters or exits through to get to the coop and run.  

Farm Charm Chicken Yard, Coop and Run
The chicken coop is on the left, the run is in the back and the free range yard area is right in front.

When we are going in and out, we use a big rock to hold the gate shut rather than fasten and unfasten the lock (mistake #1: lazy humans). Cactus was doing some weed wacking in the little area and at one point he stopped to take a business call and walked through the gate without properly locking it behind him (mistake #2: having to walk and talk).

While on the phone, he said he heard a scuffle and ran to the little yard area to find our schnauzer, Shume, next to a fatally injured white chicken.

Farm Charm Felon #1

He immediately got the chickens into the coop for safety but only counted six when there should have been seven (we had a total of eight to begin with). He searched the little yard and everywhere nearby but could not find the seventh chicken.  Eventually he noticed that our second dog Ozzy, a shih-tzu, was nowhere to be found. He started calling Ozzy and finally found him laying in the grass by the front of the house with a lifeless brown chicken next to him.

Farm Charm Felon #2

There are so many lessons to be learned from this event and I now know that dogs are the number one predator of backyard chickens.  I never would have thought our useless little twenty pound dogs who only bark and eat and sleep were capable of anything like this.

Here are a few points to remember to save other chickens from a similar fate.

  1. Your dogs may be loving companions and family members, but there are still thousands of years of instinctual learnings that may make them do things you never thought possible.
  2. Chickens have pretty much no way of defending themselves from a dog, unless they can quickly get to a high enough perch.  
  3. As a human with a cerebrum, it is your job to think, plan, and perceive the dangers in a situation and protect any animal in your care.

Now, if we are visiting the chickens, which we do at least every evening after work to say hi and give them treats, we make sure the dogs are inside the house.

Cactus also rebuilt the gate entirely so it is much easier to lock and unlock. He did a really great job and was very upset that this happened at all.  Trust me, I was not shy about pointing out that this was his fault.

Farm Charm Gate to the Chicken Coop and Chicken Yard
This is the gate to the chicken coop and yard that Cactus re-built so it now goes completely to the ground and is easier to lock.
Farm Charm Chicken Yard Gate Lock
The new and improved gate lock leading to the chicken yard

I share this to save anyone else from the same tragedy.  I feel like we failed these little creatures and hope they didn’t suffer too much.

Farm Charm Chicken Flock of Six