Already started. We have a coop about ready, my wife has experience, we're semi-rural, about set. Only thing, I want them free range and I'm not sure about the wildlife.

Haven't seen a fox in ages. The local coyotes don't come in here, yet, but a massive new development is pushing them out of their comfort zone. Plenty of raptors it seems. But hell, I can afford everything but a ton of fencing, of any kind.

What to do? Just run out with the 20-gauge and start blasting at 3AM when shit goes sideways?!

I need to post on the chicken comm.

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

My primary plan is to hatch extra and expect some losses. Wildlife needs to eat, too, and I can’t fault it for doing so, even if it’s inconvenient for me.

However I’ll also employ roosters, which are annoying but do great protecting the flock (even sacrificing themselves to save their ladies). If you can’t/won’t have roosters for whatever reason, a couple geese will help as well, or you can add them to the roostered flock for extra protection, I believe.

Personally, the only way I’d ever shoot something going after my flock would be if it’s a threat to the enclosed run/coop where they stay at night and in bad weather. Or if they were habitual about raiding my flock.

But chickens should be in a coop at night so as long as you have one critters can’t get into, you probably won’t have too many losses.

[–] Jake_Farm@sopuli.xyz 2 points 14 hours ago

Peacocks can chase off predators.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

FYI eggs from backyard chickens have a higher level of lead in them. On account of cities being polluted with leaded gasoline for decades. Fun times.

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 6 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

Unleaded gas became standard in the 70s. If you live in a dense city that was built 40+ years ago and eat eggs daily and are a small child, you may reach the non-recomended intake amount, barely.

Most people with a backyard big enough for chickens don't live in the urban areas that had such dense lead exposure anyways

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

A few thoughts on that. Unleaded started in 1975. I'd like to know when it reached 50% of the vehicles but googling doesn't give me that. Assuming 20 years for the entire fleet to turn over, that would give 1985 for 50%. I think you want 25% or less leaded cars until you don't have too much lead in the air, so that goes to about 1990. The pollution didn't end immediately at the city limits, so the burbs that would be built on the next mile or so would still be on polluted land. So I think that gets you to houses built 1995+ to even 2000+ to get to uncontaminated land (depending on how fast your city was growing).

I know around here the houses with decent backyards were built in the 70s to 80s. In the 90s the yards were getting small, and nowadays they are almost nonexistent. So the best suburbs for chickens are 80s and earlier. Which is also the contaminated land.

Last thought is that they keep saying that there is no safe level of lead exposure.

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

I was thinking Nixon banned it in 1970, but that was paint apparently, it appears the partial bans started in 85 on gas, and complete ban was done under Clinton in 96. I don't know anyone with chickens on a lot smaller than a acre, but maybe that's just a regional thing around me. I can't see how you could have free range chickens on a quarter acre lot, they'd just fly over privacy fences and piss off neighbors Id assume. But maybe three are more people doing that than I knew

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

And about nobody is raising chickens in an urban environment.

[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago

We are "uptown" for lack of a better description, not the more expensive part but quite close to downtown and do have a yard, our neighbors keep chickens and it's protected inside the city, you are allowed to raise them and the feral ones are also protected by law, you can't just take them and make Coq au Vin.

[–] Jake_Farm@sopuli.xyz 1 points 14 hours ago

Community chickens? Like community gardens.

[–] Lauchs@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

We have a lot of backyard chicken farms in Vancouver.

[–] Jake_Farm@sopuli.xyz 1 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Suburbs don't really count.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

If the suburbs were around in the 80s, they were exposed to the lead.

[–] Lauchs@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

I'm not talking about the suburbs. I live by Commercial drive, I have neighbours with backyard chickens.

Edit: For those who don't know Vancouver, Commercial drive is about a 15 minute bike ride from the heart of downtown.

[–] GrumpyDuckling@sh.itjust.works 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Bird flu is still an issue

[–] GluWu@lemm.ee 4 points 13 hours ago

Nobody is mentioning this when talking about raising fowl. I've had chickens and the primary reason I'm not doing that now is because I don't want primary contact with h5n1. I don't even know if testing is available and if it is imagine it isn't cheap. Even if I made a fully enclosed pen so wild birds can't get to the food or water I'd still worry. And I want my animals to free roam.