The Predators Are Still Winning

I am still not successful in providing a safe place to live for my flock.  They are in an area with a lot of cover but I am still seeing losses, mainly around the edges.  There are at least 3 owls and a hawk in the area.  I am loosing at a much lower rate, I don’t know if the birds are getting smarter, & faster or the cover I’m proving is the solution or just the dumb slow ones have been culled.

I have put up some overhead netting in the open area and am in the processing of moving the fence in as close as I can to the brushy cover.  Creating a semi-permanent run area is not part of my plan for keeping chickens but it looks like I don’t have much of a choice.  I’ve probably lost close to 50 birds in the last 6 months, selling eggs isn’t going to show a profit this year.

I suspect I’m going to have to create several permanent runs with something overhead to protect the flock.  Then I could rotate them through these runs.  Not as good as the movable electro-net fencing I had such success with last year.  Oh well, live and learn.

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