Pastured Poultry

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Pastured Poultry

• A Few Housing and Fencing Options to Manage Birds

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These pens are very strong, but not easy to move,
and the feed was not completely protected from
the rain.
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Free ranging birds are easy to care for, but more
vulnerable to predation.
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A very innovative farmer uses a bus for his free
range layers. There is a ramp into the bus, and
nest boxes and feeders inside too. Feed can be
loaded into a bulk feeder via a hole in the roof.
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The water bucket on top of this chicken tractor
supplies the nipple waterers on the pvc pipe
inside the pen.
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This hoop house works fairly well, a loop of rope
attached to the 4x4 skids at one end makes it
fairly easy to move. The plywood can be replaced
with netting. A tarp at one end protects the
birds and keeps the feed dry.
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Preventing Predation

• Predator tight buildings or fences.
• Electric Fence (Psychological barrier).
• Habitat Modification. Removing brush etc. from
  areas surrounding your pens.
  
• Lights, noise (i.e. radios) or other techniques
  to frighten predators. Predators may get used to
  these tactics and learn to ignore them.
  
• Management (i.e. housing birds at night).
• Guard Animals.
• Llamas
• Dogs
• Donkeys
• Trapping. If you have poultry it is a good idea
  to have a live trap too.
  
• (Raccoons are one of the main predators of
  poultry.)
  

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Donkeys can be a very effective predator deterant.
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Guard dogs such as this Great Pyrenees can be
very effective, however some guard dogs like to
wander and it may be difficult to keep them in
the pasture. Note the high tensile fence with
hot wires.
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