We fight the owl. To protect one’s chickens from predators, articles on the internet advise keeping the flock under a covered run. Since our chicken pasture covers nearly an acre, this is not a doable option for us. A scarecrow of a person was also suggested. We tried that early on, and it does not work. Another suggestion was to purchase an inflatable owl and mount it on the chicken house. This, presumably, would frighten the wild owl because she would think another owl was guarding the territory, would fear attack, and would leave. Somehow, I do not think an owl who figured out how to walk into the pop-hole of the chicken house would fail to recognize the inflatable bird as a harmless fake. I imagine waking up to find the ersatz owl shredded to pieces.
We decided to do is to modify the covered area suggestion.
What we have done is to construct tall corridors throughout the chicken pasture by attaching long poles we cut from saplings and tree branches to 10-foot high t-posts. We then strung wires, deer netting, and webs of bailing twine in varying configurations around and across the top of this structure of tall poles. We also left the bottom two feet free of any barrier so the hens and their attendant roosters can flee in all directions and not end up bunched together on a fence line or juncture of the corridors. In a nutshell, we have tried to construct a confusing maze or netting and other obstacles in the airspace above the chicken pasture. The idea is that the somewhat random nature of the structure will prevent the Great Horned Owl from implementing a flight plan to grab a hen or two.
It has been up for several days now and appears to be working. When the workload diminishes later in the, we are planning on doing a daily count to make sure we are successful. We need to make rapid progress because the 75 now chicks will be ready to transition to the outdoors in a little over a month—at about 8 or 9 weeks of age.
Story of success or failure to follow.
