Farm Journal: Safety of Flock

Michael and I are both miserable with post-travel colds, but though the bleariness, we have given thought to how to keep our pastured poultry safe.

First off, we identified the bird that has been hunting our flock. It’s a massive, dark-feathered raptor, probably a juvenile bald eagle. It sits in the tall Douglas-fir across the road and watches our birds, occasionally swooping down and causing a panicked uproar. It killed another female duck this morning. We’re down to one female. I just put in an order for ten female Silver Appleyard ducklings to restart the flock.

Unlike coyotes, we can’t take offensive action against an eagle. How can we defend our birds from attack from both land and air while still allowing them to live on pasture? We need a system, and we need it soon.

Here’s what we’re thinking:

• Portable electric fence, 100ft long, set up in a square 25 feet on each side. We will move it every few days or once the birds have grazed the grass down enough. It will be powered by a solar fence charger.
• Woven nylon bird netting, 26x26ft, supported in the middle of the square by a tall stake with a tennis ball on top and stretched taut over short stakes around the perimeter (possibly the electric fence posts themselves). We will separate the netting from the electric fence to move the pen. We will affix the net to the central post and spray paint the corners of the netting to take the guesswork out of setup.
• A wheeled shelter covered in wire and a tarp to provide shade and a dry area for the birds and their supplemental feed. There will be nest boxes for laying or setting birds, and maybe a perch so we can use it for chickens, too.

Water for bathing and drinking will be awkward to move, so we will set it up in a corner of the square and rotate the square around that pivot point. The water will move every fifth time the fence is moved, when the whole setup shifts over to a brand-new patch of pasture.