Supervised Free Range Chickens

After talking to some knowledgeable friends, I have decided to try letting the girls out on supervised free range expeditions. I hope this cuts down on my feed bill. Even if it doesn't, I bet the chickens will be happier and healthier.

Let me tell you, they love it! At first they just milled about the coop entrance, but as soon as the first adventurous hen decided to to try out her wings, they were all over the yard in minutes. When it was time to go up for the night 14 of 16 went straight to the coop and put themselves up. We only had to corral 2 of them. They probably would have figured it out eventually.

I am a little worried about the dog chasing them and some of them flying over the 4 foot fence. I had the puppy on the tie out for this trial run. They came right up to him and he just looked at them. But, when they run from him, his instincts to herd take over and he chases. It may be a while before I trust him around them off the tie out.

Our whole back yard is fenced with two large oaks and a few evergreens to give them shade and hiding spots. My other concern is hawks. I will only let them out when I can be in the back yard to watch over them. Supposedly the peahen is a good guardian. If she see hawks she will fluff up her feathers and dance around to ward them away. I have not witnessed this behavior yet, lets hope it is true.

 

We Have Been Adopted!

Normally when Dara says something like: "OMG, there is a giant spider in the tub!", I go into the bathroom to find a normal sized spider, minding its business. So when Dara told me there was a peacock in the driveway, naturally I thought, wild turkey, goose or maybe an obese pheasant. She had a picture, and what do you know; it really looked like a female peahen. But I still had my doubts.

Then I walked outside to take the dog out and what do I see? A large female peahen! This lady is very friendly and seemed to take an interest in our property. So we gave it a little chicken feed and checked it out for a while, then we went on with our day. The next day she was still hanging around, this time on our back deck.  

So what does Dara do? She names it Fergi of course and claims it as part of the homestead. Peafowl are the largest member of the pheasant family. They are closely related to chickens, quail, junglefowl and pheasants. They belong to the family Phasianidae. This particular species is the Indian Peafowl or Pavo cristatus. They are native to South Asia but have been introduced all over the world. People keep them as flock guardians, they are known to chase away hawks and other livestock pests. 

Here she is on top of the house. I think she has been roosting up there at night to avoid predators. Some people who keep peafowl have their wings clipped so they cannot fly. This one can definitely fly, she came down off the roof to greet me this morning. We need to ask around if any of our neighbors keep peafowl. But for now, she is welcome as long as she wants to stay.