Categories
Poultry

8 Tips For Hosting Guests Who Don’t Like Chickens

guests don't like chickens
MB SS08-42/Adobe Stock

Hosting guests who don’t keep chickens and look down on chicken keeping or who are repulsed or frightened by the birds can be stressful.

On a personal note, my mother is a Wall Street executive who lives in one of those New Jersey-based bedroom communities located steps away from the bus line. Her development is gated, with manicured lawns, fussily maintained landscaping, and a strong-armed homeowners’ association.

It’s a vast contrast to where I live, in rural Michigan, with plenty of backyard and natural grassland backing to state forests. Here, the closest neighbor is acres away. We mow maybe once per month, our driveway is gravel and dirt, our house can really use a thorough power wash to rid of years of insect residue. And, most importantly, our chickens roam free.

The last time my mother visited, she was so horrified by our comfy country home that she spent the entirety of her visit sweeping, vacuuming, dusting and scrubbing and now she is planning to come out to join us for the holidays.

Despite having been born and raised on a farm, my mother shook off her humble origin story long ago. One belief she has held for years is that animals do not belong in the home and that raising chickens is something only the destitute do.

Should you find yourself hosting guests who don’t prefer your chickens, here are a few tips that may reduce the stress for everyone involved: guest, host and anyone within a 100-yard radius of your house.

Hosting Guests: Clear the Air

Install plug-in air fresheners throughout the house, especially in the living room, dining room and guest room. These don’t have to be overpowering, especially if you have family members with breathing problems.

A clean scent, like cotton, ocean or rainstorm is enough to add a slight, fragrance to your home’s interior. Do not opt for rustic scents like apple, meadow or pumpkin. These will only compound the issue that your guests are staying at Old McDonald’s farm within spitting distance of chickens.

Keep Up with the Joneses

Now is not the time to allow your yard to revert to prairie. Mow your front, back and side yards a week before your guests arrive, then again a few days later. Be sure your chicken run is weed whacked, with the areas immediately around your coops neatly maintained.

If you’re hosting guests in autumn, rake up as much dead grass as possible and dispose of your piles of leaves. If this is a winter visit, have your driveway and walkway neatly plowed or shoveled and de-iced … and create a pathway between your house and your coops. The last thing you want is guests blabbing to everyone that you have to risk your life each day in the frigid winter just to feed and water your chickens. 

Handle with Care

Even if your girls are the most affectionate, friendly chickens on earth, avoid handling them for two weeks before the arrival time for your guests. It takes just one impatient hen, one suddenly startled bird, one unforeseen instant to decorate your arms and face (and bare legs, if you have them) with scratches.

Believe me, a scratched-up arm or even one slight mark on your face is enough to launch your guests into a tirade about infection, gangrene, health risks, filthy chickens and so on. It’s best to simply steer clear of this area by avoiding cuddles for a little while. 

Eggcentuate the Positive

Ply your guests with the most sumptuous Sunday brunch omelets, the creamiest custards, utterly delicious deviled eggs and the heartiest of breakfast sandwiches. Invite them to help you make homemade pasta, and have them crack and whisk the eggs.

Never let on that the eggs they just handled come from your own chickens and not a sterile supermarket. Never let on that the only reason you are making pasta is to let them get up close and personal with farm-fresh eggs. Most importantly, let them deduce for themselves that the pasta, the omelets, the custards and breakfast sandwiches have one common denominator: your flock’s eggs.

Should your guests notice the food tastes richer—or even better, that the yolks of your eggs are much more golden orange in color—don’t use that as an opening for a three-hour lecture on the merits of keeping chickens. A friendly “yes, it’s because our birds have access to nutritious feed/fresh forage, so their eggs are packed with nutrients” will suffice.

Do not mention that your chickens also have access to an unlimited amount of outdoor bugs. That will open up a whole other can of worms. 

Hosting Guests: Tasteful Chicken Decor

Add a few subtle accents to the public areas of your home. Absolutely do not go overboard and get chicken wallpaper borders, chicken kitchen towels, chicken cookie jars, chicken tea kettles, chicken throw pillows, chicken … you name it. This will be taken like a slap in the face.

Believe me, my first married home had a whimsical chicken wallpaper border, a chicken wall clock and a chicken cookie jar. My mother was not amused. Subtlety is the name of the game here.

Have a hen-shaped egg timer on the kitchen counter. Place a framed photo of your smiling child hugging a hen on a living room side table. Integrate one or two small rooster garden sculptures into your front landscaping. Add just enough decor so that, if any of it catches your guest’s eye, they’ll register these artistic touches as just part of your personality rather than your family’s inescapable conversion into the cast of Hee Haw.

Hosting Guests: Provide Distraction

If your guests include an older relative whose favorite pastime is finding something to complain about, provide them with that necessary distraction.

Leave a basket of unfolded laundry somewhere easily visible. Let one or two living-room picture frames hang askew. Neglect to put away a bag of shelf-stable groceries. Your guests will be so focused on this irritant that they won’t even remember you have a coop of chickens nearby. 

Show Some Tender Loving Care

A display of concern for the creatures of this big blue marble is always in order. It shows that we are not self-centered humans who could care less about our environment. This philosophy is not so different from “I keep chickens, I love them, and they are absolutely wonderful,” which can come across as defensive.

It’s all a matter of application. Hold off on shows of affection for your chickens until a day or two before guests are due to depart. While they keep you company in the kitchen, prepare a bag or container of kitchen scraps (but don’t make a huge show of this). When your guest’s curiosity gets the better of them and they ask what you are doing, just respond, “Oh! I’m taking out these kitchen scraps/leftovers to our flock. It’s a special treat for them and it reduces the amount of biomass in our garbage can and in our landfill.”

That’s it. Don’t invite them to come out with you to feed the chickens, but accept if your guests ask to watch you feed them. If it’s the dead of winter, substitute a container of hot mash for the kitchen scraps and, if asked, inform guests it’s an easy and effective way to keep chickens warm and well-fed during the cold months.

Guests tend to love new tidbits of information, and you will also demonstrate your compassion for your chickens and the environment.

A Gentle Introduction

Should your guests ask if they can see your chickens, tread lightly. They are not asking to hold your favorite hen, nor are they asking to collect eggs or help you clean out your coop. They’ve simply mustered up the courage to look at these animals from a closer vantage point than from the safety of your home.

Should this happen, lead them out to your coop, making sure you don’t spend the entire walk talking about poultry. When you reach your coop, give your guest free rein. Let them just stand there, watching your birds interact. Allow them to walk around the run and pursue their own level of interactivity.

While your guests get accustomed to their viewing spot, get a little handful of scratch grains out. If your guests seem comfortable, ask if they’d like to feed the chickens. Demonstrate how to toss in a little of the scratch, then hand them the grains. Don’t correct them if they do it wrong.

The fact that they are doing it at all is momentous. Be ready to return their smile with one of your own. 

I have used these methods with friends visiting from the city who have never seen a live chicken before, always with success. Come Thanksgiving, I’ll try the same with my mom. The rooster cookie jar is already out on the kitchen counter, and the framed photos of favorite chickens stand in our foyer. With luck, my mom will forget the chickens outside and will instead focus on the turkey roasting in the oven.

This article about hosting guests who are not chicken enthusiasts or have never met live chickens was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Poultry

Thanksgiving Leftovers: What Chickens Can & Can’t Have

chickens leftovers leftover Thanksgiving
Zosia Korcz/Unsplash

Got Thanksgiving leftovers and thinking about sharing them with your chickens? Your chickens will be happy to take those leftovers off your hands.

But, before you turn out your food storage containers in your chicken run review these 12 traditional Thanksgiving foods to see if your Thanksgiving leftover feast is fit for your flock.

Can Chickens Eat Turkey?

It may seem a little twisted to offer your chickens leftover turkey. After all, they’re practically related! Chickens, however, are omnivores and food opportunists and will eat practically any of the leftovers you offer to them.

Leftover turkey is definitely something they’d happily devour.

Serve your leftover turkey by the slice and shred any meat that is on the bone. Avoid giving your flock the leftover turkey carcass or meat on the bone, such as wings and drumsticks. Turkey bones may splinter, potentially harming any bird that ingests the fragments.

Can Chickens Eat Stuffing?

Some family stuffing recipes include ingredients such as chestnuts, bacon and chopped nuts. But most stuffings consist of bread, onion, celery, seasonings and salt.

While chickens adore bread, you’ll want to avoid feeding them your stuffing leftovers.

Stuffing is typically highly salted, and chickens are particularly susceptible to salt poisoning. Even if your stuffing is low in sodium, it may still contain onions and seasonings, strong flavors that hens can pass along to the eggs they lay.

Can Chickens Eat Corn?

Corn is a huge favorite of chickens any time of the year. So of course, corn Thanksgiving leftovers will be a huge hit.

Leave corn on the cob as is. Your birds will love plucking out the juicy kernels. And it’s always fun watching the chickens run off with the cob, trying to keep it for themselves.

If your Thanksgiving leftovers consist of kernel corn, rinse the kernels with cold water to remove sodium before serving it up to your flock. Creamed corn can also be given to your chickens. But, as this is high in sodium, only offer these leftovers to chickens in small amounts.

Can Chickens Eat Potatoes?

Potatoes are a mainstay of many Thanksgiving meals. As much as Americans love potatoes, potatoes don’t necessarily love our poultry. A member of the nightshade family, potatoes contain solanine, a glycoalkaloid that can be toxic to poultry—and to humans, too.

Most of a potato’s solanine is found in the peel, so make sure raw potato peels are never fed to your flock. Green potatoes should also be avoided, as these can be high in solanine.

The vast majority of potatoes prepared for Thanksgiving are thoroughly cooked through. So as long as they are not highly salted (which can cause salt poisoning), you can feed your chickens small amounts of your potato Thanksgiving leftovers.

Can Chickens Eat Cranberries?

Chickens adore cranberries. Fresh cranberries, dried cranberries—it doesn’t matter. They greedily gobble them down.

As long as your cranberry relish or sauce does not include rhubarb—which contains anthraquinones and oxalic acid, two chemical compounds that are dangerous to chickens—feel free to share your leftover cranberry side dish with your birds.

Read more: Supplement your flock’s food with fresh garden grub grown especially for them!

Can Chickens Eat Sweet Potatoes?

Sweet potatoes are one of the safest tubers to feed your flock. Unlike potatoes, which are part of the nightshade family, sweet potatoes are part of the morning glory family. All parts of the plant can be safely ingested by your chickens.

While the sweet potatoes themselves are very nutritious and high in vitamins, the marshmallows that top sweet potato casseroles have no nutritional value at all.

Filling up on marshmallows prevents your birds from eating the nutrient-rich foods they need. Their sticky nature also makes marshmallows a choking hazard.

Because of this, remove the marshmallow topping from your sweet potato casserole leftovers before offering it to your chickens.

Can Chickens Eat Green Beans?

Raw and dried beans are one of the most toxic foods our chickens can ingest. Beans in this uncooked state are high in a type of protein called phytohaemagglutinin, which can disrupt red blood cells and cause severe gastrointestinal distress.

Thoroughly cooked green beans, however, can be safely ingested by chickens. But what about green bean casserole when the beans are coated with salty cream of mushroom soup?

If you plan on feeding your flock your leftover green bean casserole, consider rinsing the soup off the beans. You’ll also want to remove the traditional onion topping, which can cause your hens’s eggs to have a strong, unpleasant flavor.

Can Chickens Eat Carrots?

Like sweet potatoes, carrots are highly nutritious and can be fed to chickens either raw or cooked. Like other foods, make certain that the carrots are not highly salted or seasoned with such strong aromatics as garlic and onion.

Can Chickens Eat Avocado & Salad?

Salad greens are always a treat for chickens, who absolutely adore eating fresh greens. Not all salad ingredients are safe for our birds, however.

Avocado is frequently added to salads for texture and flavor, but it should never be offered to chickens or any avian species. All parts of the avocado—the fruit, the skin, and the pit—contain persin, which is highly toxic to birds.

The heart muscle can be damaged within 24 to 48 hours of eating avocado. Listlessness, difficulty breathing and death are all associated with ingesting the fruit.

Beans, onions, and croutons should also be removed from your salad prior to offering it to your flock.

Can Chickens Eat Brussels Sprouts?

Brussels sprouts are packed with nutrients, making them a very healthy snack for your chickens. As long as they are not swimming in sauce or overly salted or seasoned, Brussels sprout leftovers can be fed to your chickens.

However, since Brussels sprouts are strong in flavor, your hens’ ingesting them might result in strongly flavored eggs.

Can Chickens Eat Spinach?

Chickens are very fond of fresh spinach and will happily gobble up this dark leafy green. While spinach is highly nutritious, it also contains a chemical called oxalic acid. This can lead to soft eggshells when eaten regularly and in large amounts by hens.

A little spinach, however, is perfectly safe. Cooked spinach can also be offered, as long as it is not overly seasoned or salty.

Read more: Can chickens eat pumpkin? Yes! But be careful how you offer it.

Can Chickens Eat Pumpkin Pie?

Pumpkins have long been a flock favorite. Leave a wedge of pumpkin—or a Halloween jack-o’-lantern—in the run and, by nightfall, your birds will have gobbled up every last bit of pumpkin flesh.

Fresh pumpkin, however, is quite different from pumpkin pie, which contains eggs, milk, spices and sweetener as well as a crust. Since pumpkin pie is not overly sweet (compared to other traditional Thanksgiving pies such as pecan and custard), your chickens can enjoy a little holiday dessert in moderation … just like the rest of us!

This article about feeding Thanksgiving leftovers to chickens was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Homesteading

How to Stock & Organize a Kitchen Pantry

well stocked kitchen pantry
Neatly organized and labeled baking ingredients in BPA-free plastic storage containers

A kitchen pantry can serve as the heart of a hobby farm kitchen with a dash of thoughtful planning. More than just cabinets stuffed with random dry goods, a well-thought-out pantry can save two of your most precious resources: time and money.

Think of the kitchen pantry as your farm’s on-site convenience store, efficiently stocked with the basics to keep your daily meals and food duties humming along, from ample sugar for putting up strawberry jam to ingredients for a quick dessert for the neighbors’ impromptu visits.

A well-stocked and organized pantry also helps trim your grocery budget, not to mention the time and fuel costs of unplanned trips. By always having basic staples on hand, you can readily make homemade—and healthier—versions of pricey, processed foods like hot cocoa or even sweetened condensed milk.

Despite all these glories, the kitchen pantry sometimes gets relegated to a low rank among kitchen priorities, often randomly stuffed with food until you can barely close the cabinet doors and don’t know what you have anymore.

Here are some easy tips to quickly and strategically organize and elevate your kitchen pantry to the master hub of your home.

Identify Your Kitchen Pantry’s Purpose

Name the key items you make all the time and structure your pantry around these core ingredients.

Pantry purposes may change seasonally, particularly during the summer peak when you’re constantly processing the abundant garden harvest.

For example, if you’re freezing loads of spinach and Swiss chard, this adds up to a need for a lot of olive oil for the blanching process.

Buy in Bulk

Bulk items typically are pantry staples that can be purchased in larger-volume bags. Buying core items in bulk helps both your pocketbook and the planet. Not only do you save money over individual units, you use a lot less packaging and contribute less to the landfill. By purchasing bulk organic ingredients, the price is reduced significantly.

Bulk-buying store chains provide plentiful locations and easy access with a membership fee.

Local buying clubs and food co-ops tap into the buying power of a group pooling their resources to purchase bulk foods at close to wholesale prices.

A buying club usually starts at about five or six people to meet minimum order requirements and works through a local natural foods distributor to place a group order. (Look for a listing of food cooperatives near you.)

Another option is to ask your local grocery store to special order a bulk item or case for you, on which they may also be willing to give you a discount.

Use Up Your Kitchen Pantry Contents

Sometimes along with squirreling instincts to pack away food, we need gentle reminders to use up what we stockpile.

This sounds like an obvious concept, but we’ve all accidentally bought something in duplicate or were forced to throw out expired food.

Despite today’s rising food costs, the average American still unfortunately throws out approximately 15 percent of food purchased annually. This adds up to over $500 in wasted food.

A suggestion is to make a family “game” to “eat through” the pantry each winter. After the December holidays, try to go cold turkey on buying food, focusing on eating the preserved garden bounty in combination with everything in the pantry.

On a personal note, one winter my family realized we had accumulated a big, plastic bag filled with red-and-white peppermint candies acquired from restaurants and leftover holiday candy canes, which resulted in one of our now-favorite cookie recipes: peppermint biscotti.

Peppermint Biscotti Recipe

  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp. peppermint extract
  • 3 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 1⁄2 cups crushed peppermint candy, divided
  • White chocolate bark for frosting

Preparation
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract.

Separately, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in 1 cup peppermint candy.

Gradually add flour/candy mixture to creamed mixture, beating until blended (dough will be stiff).

Divide dough in half. On an ungreased baking sheet, roll each portion into a 12- by 2 1⁄2-inch rectangle. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Carefully remove and place on wire rack. Cool for 15 minutes. On the cutting board, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch slices.

Place cut side down on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until firm.

For frosting, melt chocolate. Dip one end in chocolate and roll in the remaining candy. Cool on wax paper.

Yield: Approximately 3 dozen biscotti.

Always keep in mind how much you actually use of something and buy accordingly. If a bulk bag is a great deal, but you know you won’t use 50 pounds of rice in a year, consider splitting it with a friend.

Dried herb and spice purchases may be one place where bulk buying is not helpful since they lose their flavor over time. It may be better to buy only what you can use in one year and replace it with fresh stock.

Invest in Proper Kitchen Pantry Storage

The challenge of purchasing in bulk is having a place to conveniently store the item once it comes out of the bulk bag.

Going back to identifying your pantry’s purpose, invest in accessible, quality storage containers for the bulk items you use most often. Look for containers made from high-grade, durable materials with tight-fitting lids.

While some of these containers may seem pricey, investing in something that makes your kitchen routines easier will quickly prove its worth.

Recycled glass containers work well as easy, frugal storage containers. Wide-mouth canning jars make it easy to access the ingredients and enable you to quickly identify what’s inside.

Glass and metal containers deter mice as they’re impossible to chew through.

Pack in the Nutrients

Think nutrition when stocking your kitchen pantry: How can you get the biggest healthy bang for your buck—and allocated space? Dried beans, for example, deliver high protein, vitamins and minerals at a significant cost savings from canned or processed bean foods.

“Dried fruits rank high as an economical and convenient source of flavor, nutrients and fiber, especially if you grow or buy fresh fruit in season and dehydrate it at home,” recommends Angie Tagtow, an environmental nutritionist based in Iowa and a leading advocate championing public access to fresh, affordable, sustainably raised food.

“Drying your own fruit in season eliminates the added sweeteners and preservatives often added to commercially dried fruit, so all you taste is the pure food flavor.”

Dried fruits such as blueberries and cranberries also offer lots of antioxidants and can be used as a snack, added to baked items or sprinkled on top of yogurt or oatmeal.

MacGyver Your Kitchen Pantry

Remember MacGyver, the lead character from the 1980s television show of the same name, who could make just about anything from whatever parts he had on hand? Apply the same principle to your kitchen pantry (minus MacGyver’s ever-present duct tape) and think outside the box when a recipe calls for a specific ingredient that you don’t have.

This substitution approach works particularly well for ingredients you wouldn’t commonly have on hand, like fresh buttermilk.

Easy Pantry Substitutions
  • 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate = 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa plus 1 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil
  • 1 cup cake flour = 1 cup all-purpose flour, remove 2 tablespoons of the flour and add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
  • 1 cup buttermilk = A wee bit less than 1 cup fresh milk with 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Let sit for 5 minutes (will curdle).

Stuck in the middle of a recipe when you realize you don’t have a can of sweetened condensed milk? Here’s an easy substitute for sweetened condensed milk that’s much less processed than the commercial variety. This can be used in recipes that call for one can of sweetened condensed milk:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dry milk powder
  • 1/3 cup hot water
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 T. butter (melted)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender, layering wet and dry ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Add a Dash of Exotic Flavor

For minimal space and cost, you can sprinkle some seasonings into your meals that bring a range of global flavors to your homestead.

    • Tamarind paste: Tart spice used in Latin American and Asian dishes such as Pad Thai.
    • Sesame oil: Vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds and used in Indian and Asian cooking.
    • Hoisin sauce: Chinese dipping sauce made with garlic, vinegar and chili peppers—an interesting alternative to soy sauce.
    • Fish sauce: Southeast Asian condiment used to flavor various dishes.

Keep Your Kitchen Pantry Organized

The key to kitchen pantry management is restocking before you run out of something.

A sticky note inside a kitchen cabinet can be a handy place to jot shopping list items.

Organization also applies to how you keep your items stored on the shelves. Grouping like items together aids in quickly finding things, such as canned goods, baking supplies, spices and rice.

Think of your kitchen pantry as the garden’s dance partner, working together with your harvest bounty to bring flavorful, healthy meals to your family’s table.

This article about how to stock and organize a kitchen pantry was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Poultry

Do Hawks Eat Chickens? Learn How to Protect Your Flock

coopers hawk on a branch
Adobe Stock/Ramon Cliff

Do hawks eat chickens? Learn how to recognize the Cooper’s Hawk and how you can protect your flock from one of the most common chicken hawks found in North America.

Chicken Hawks

Do hawks eat chickens? Yes. North America is home to two species of hawks commonly referred to as chicken hawks. The Red-Tailed Hawk and the Cooper’s Hawk. The Red Tail Hawk is larger than the Cooper’s Hawk, but don’t let the smaller stature fool you. Cooper’s Hawks are strong hunters and prey on bantam and standard-sized chickens.

Appearance

With their short wing span (wingspan averaging about two and a half feet) and long, rounded tail, the Cooper’s hawk is usually easy to recognize. Cooper’s Hawks are generally smaller than Red-Tailed Hawks, averaging fourteen to twenty inches tall. Their upright position makes this bird of prey easy to spot when sitting in a tree or on an electric pole.

Cooper’s Hawks sport a rust-colored chest and dark wing tips (visible only in flight). The back feathers are a solid slate gray. The long tail feathers are light in color and have several black bands (visible in flight). The beaks are slate gray with a bright yellow point.

Habitat

The Cooper’s Hawk is often thought of as a woodland hawk, but they are also commonly spotted on farms and residential areas. These graceful birds of prey are acrobatic and fast fliers, often flying through thickly wooded areas, twisting and turning to steer clear of undergrowth. Cooper’s hawks are extremely adaptable and stop at nothing to seize a hunting opportunity.

Hunting Behaviors

The Cooper’s Hawk’s excellent flying ability puts them at an advantage over backyard flocks.  Many times the hawk will fly low out of sight before rising up and over an obstacle such as a coop or small tree to ambush their prey by surprise.

Recognizing a Cooper’s Hawk in Flight

The Cooper’s Hawk is relatively easy to recognize even in flight. If you think a Cooper’s Hawk may be checking out your flock, here are some things to look for:

Size: Cooper’s Hawks are generally about the size of a Mallard or Crow.

Shape: Look for short, rounded wings and a long, rounded tail.

Flight Pattern: The Cooper’s Hawk’s flight pattern generally consists of a flap-flap-glide style.

Head Size: Large head in proportion to the body.

Cooper’s Hawk Visits

Do hawks eat chickens? Yes. Hawks are the most common bird of prey to kill and eat chickens. So, if you notice a Cooper’s Hawk or other birds of prey visiting your backyard, it’s time to take preventive measures.

The best way to prevent a hawk attack is by confining your flock to a covered chicken tractor or run, versus free-ranging. Chicken tractors are a great option if hawks are the biggest predatorial threat in your neighborhood, as they allow chickens the benefit of free-ranging, i.e., fresh grass and bugs, while still offering your flock protection from hawks.

Chicken tractors and runs should be covered with a heavy-duty, weather-proof tarp or half-inch, 16 gauge hardware cloth. Choosing sturdy hardware cloth is vital to protecting your chickens, as hawks are intelligent birds, with many having figured out if they bounce on flimsy wire (such as chicken wire), the wire will break or bend, allowing access to the hens below.

Hawk Attack Calling Cards

Do hawks eat chickens without leaving behind any calling cards? Hawks may kill a chicken without leaving any trace of the attack behind, but if the hawk decides to eat its prey on the spot, they often leave scattered feathers on the ground. If you suspect your flock has been attacked by a hawk, here are a few telltale signs:

  • Free-ranging hens disappearing without any trace of an attack
  • Disappearing chickens with only scattered feathers
  • Surviving victims with deep puncture marks from talons
  • Piles of feathers lying under a tree, bush, or fence post where the hawk consumed its prey.

All hawks, including the Cooper’s, usually only attack one chicken at a time but will come back to strike the flock again in the future if an opportunity arises.

Deterring Hawks From Visiting Your Backyard

Deterring hawks from visiting your backyard can be tricky, but here are a few pointers that many chicken keepers find to help reduce hawk attacks.

Keep a Rooster

If you can legally keep a rooster in your neighborhood, adding one to your flock may prevent hawks from wanting to visit your flock. Upon spotting a hawk, roosters sound an alarm cry, letting your flock and all the neighborhood birds know to seek cover. With nothing to hunt, most hawks will eventually take the hint and fly off somewhere else.

Note: Roosters should only be used to warn the flock of possible danger and should not be expected to protect the flock against predators.

Avoid Free-Ranging

Avoiding free-ranging is the best way to prevent Cooper’s hawks and other hawk attacks. Only allow chickens to free-range if you are outside right with the flock to deter hawk attacks.

Shiny Objects

Hanging shiny objects such as old CDs and DVDs may help to prevent hawks from visiting your coop and run.

Take Your Dog for a Walk

Yes, you read that right. Taking your dog for a walk around the yard several times a day discourages both land and aerial predators from wanting to visit your backyard. For best results, switch up the routine so predators never know when to expect you and your canine companion.

Do hawks eat chickens? Yes, hawks do eat chickens, but they don’t have to prey on your flock. Knowing how to protect your flock will help keep them safe from a hawk attack.

This article about do hawks eat chickens was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe. 

Categories
Poultry

How to Make a Chicken Coop Predator-Proof

rooster walking down ramp out of the chicken coop
Adobe Stock/Nektarstock

How to make a chicken coop predator-proof may sound a little tricky, but it doesn’t have to be. With the proper tools and supplies, predator-proofing your hens’ coop, barn, or shed has never been easier. 

Why Predator-Proof?

Many chicken keepers never research how to make a chicken coop predator-proof until their flock has been attacked by a predator who gained access to the coop via digging, climbing, squeezing, or even ripping through a window screen.

If going out to find your beloved flock’s remains scattered through the coop and run is not on your bucket list, then predator-proofing the coop is a must. Predator-proofing the coop has saved many chickenkeepers’ hearts from being broken by preventing their flock from being destroyed in a nighttime predator attack.

While predator-proofing does require more time and effort on your part, having the peace of mind knowing your flock is safe is worth the effort.

How to Make a Chicken Coop Safe for Your Flock

To make sure your flock is safe from predators starts with having a safe coop, shed, or barn to house them in. There are many steps to ensuring a predator-proof coop, including roofs, windows, doors, and more, so let’s get started!

Coop Floors

How to make a chicken coop predator-proof should start with the floor. Coops usually have three flooring options: dirt, wood, or cement/concrete.

Concrete floors are the safest and best flooring option for chickens. While they may be more expensive than other flooring options, they are long-lasting and nearly indestructible. Another upside to cement is you don’t have to worry about rats or mice chewing through them.

Wood floors are safer than dirt floors, but they do not offer as much protection against predators as concrete. They may also rot and need to be replaced every couple of years. However, many poultry owners have solved both of these problems by setting the coop or shed on top of a cement pad to prevent predators from digging and floors from rotting.

Dirt floors offer no protection against predators and should be avoided.

Coop Walls

The coop walls are often overlooked when predator-proofing, but if your coop walls are rotting away or have missing boards or other holes, predators can gain access to your coop and flock. Covering the outside of the coop walls with metal siding is an excellent way to cover holes and gaps. Another plus to metal siding is that it is usually easy to install.

A more temporary, budget-friendly fix is to cover holes with 16-gauge, half-inch hardware cloth to keep predators out. Be sure to cover the wire with any spare lumber to protect your flock from the elements.

The Roof

How to make a chicken coop roof safe may be one of the trickiest parts of predator-proofing. While lining the roof with wood and shingles or metal roofing may be easy, ensuring there are no gaps between the walls and the roof can be challenging.

To protect against clever rats and raccoons and opportunist owls from sneaking in through the roof rafters to dine on your flock, cover gaps larger than one inch with 16-gauge, half-inch hardware c

Don’t Forget the Windows!

Did you know that birds of prey, foxes, and raccoons can rip through window screens and chicken wire and gain access to your flock while they are roosting?

Attaching half-inch hardware cloth to the window frame will prevent predators from being able to access the coop via a window.

Even though bugs are not considered a chicken predator, continuing to use window screens as well as hardware cloth will also help keep out mosquitoes and flies.

Coop Doors

Completely predator-proofing the human-size door may be one of the most difficult parts of ensuring a safe coop. The trick is to have a snug-fitting door with no gaps larger than a half-inch. However, if you are not handy with tools and building things, hiring a professional to install the coop door may be the best option to ensure the door fits snugly.

If you are lucky enough to have purchased a coop with a snug-fitting door, there is no need to worry, but if your door has gaps, consider adding wire to cover up the gaps or reframing the coop door.

Pop Holes and Nesting Boxes

Pop holes and nesting boxes are two often overlooked ways predators gain access to the coop. Snakes are especially notorious for sneaking into the coop through the pop hole, while clever raccoons have been known to open nesting boxes and steal chickens sitting on eggs.

Lock It Up

It may sound strange, but one of the best ways to keep your flock safe is by locking up the coop every night with a padlock on all doors, including nesting box doors, popholes and human doors.

Curious raccoons, strong wind gusts, or even accidentally leaving the coop door ajar can lead to an accidental predator attack.

Predator Skirts

Attaching predator skirts to the outside perimeter of the coop and run to prevent digging predators from gaining access is another great way to help keep your flock safe.

Predator skirts should be made of 16-gauge, half-inch wire buried twelve to eighteen inches vertically underground and another piece of wire eighteen to twenty-four inches horizontally laid out six inches below ground.

A Word on Barn Safety

When housing chickens in a barn, it is important to ensure that the entire barn is completely predator-proof, not just the section where the chickens live. This may sound extreme, but if a predator enters the barn, they are more likely to figure out a way into the chicken pen than if the predator is outside.

How to make a chicken coop predator-proof may seem difficult, but the peace of mind knowing your flock is safe from predators is well worth all of your hard work and effort.

This article about how to make a chicken coop predator-proof was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Equipment

4 Ways to Move Hay Rounds on the Farm

tractor moving hay rounds
Farmer putting away round hay bales with skidsteer. Keeler Johnson

What’s the best way to move hay rounds on your farm? Several pieces of specialty equipment can do the job. And you’ll definitely need at least one.

Why Farmers Prefer Hay Rounds

If you prefer your hay round instead of small and square, you’re not alone. When measured in pounds, hay rounds tend to be cheaper than an equivalent number of small squares. Round bales are also easier to produce than small squares and they’re more moisture resistant, so there’s less concern about a round bale getting a bit of rain in the field than a small square.

But, these benefits come with a downside familiar to any farmer who feeds hay: round bales are heavy. Very heavy. A small square bale weighing 40-50 pounds can be carried by a single person. But hay rounds, depending on a variety of factors, can tip the scales at over 1,000 pounds.

Fortunately, there are implements designed specifically for moving round hay bales that can be attached to a skid steer and/or tractor to make the job safe and easy. Here are four ways to move hay rounds:

#1 Bale Spear

Provided you have a tractor with enough strength to lift round hay bales, a bale spear is a straightforward solution.

While exact designs can vary, a bale spear attaches to the front-end loader or three-point hitch and features three or so prongs that pierce the flat side of the round bale and allow the tractor to lift it. The tractor can then drive the round bale wherever it needs to go, whether it’s from field to barn, from barn to livestock pasture, from field to transport trailer, etc.

#2 Bale Unroller

A bale unroller is a machine designed primarily for unrolling round bales for feeding. Many mount on the three-point hitch of your tractor. A spike is inserted into each flat side of the round bale, and by lowering the bale so it contacts the ground, friction causes the bale to rotate and unroll.

Of course, you can also lift the bale so it doesn’t contact the ground, and then you can drive the bay wherever it needs to be unrolled. Thus, a bale unroller is an effective way of transporting round bales.

#3 Bale Squeeze

As an alternative to a bale spear, you can also use a different front-end loader device—like a bale squeeze—to move hay rounds. A bale squeeze uses hydraulic arms to squeeze bales from the sides, tightly enough so they can be picked up.

#4 Bale Grapple

A bale grapple is similar to a bale squeeze but typically features a bucket with a large hydraulic claw on top. The claw opens wide enough so the bucket can slide underneath the round bale while the claw bites down from the top, providing a firm grip.

Safety First When Moving Hay Rounds!

Regardless of which method you choose for moving round hay bales, appropriate safety measures should be followed.

For example, you’ll need to properly counterbalance the bales you lift to maintain the stability and traction of your skid steer or tractor; a ballast box or liquid ballast box can do the trick if you’re lifting bales with a front-end loader. While it can be tempting to lift bales high with the front-end loader to improve driving visibility, it’s better to keep them low, which lowers your tractor’s center of gravity and reduces the risk of tipping over. Along the same lines, you should be careful negotiating uneven or sloping ground when transporting round bales.

As long as you take appropriate precautions, any of the four implements described above will allow you to easily move hay rounds your farm.

This article about how to move hay rounds on a farm was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe. 

Categories
Farm & Garden

Homemade Cleaners: How to Get Your Home Sparkling

woman making homemade cleaners with lemons, baking soda and vinegar
Adobe Stock/ gpointstudio

Homemade cleaners swap out those harsh cleaning products for safe cleaning alternatives with options you may already have on hand at home. Skip those heavily scented and chemical-laden cleaning products and give these more natural options a whirl instead.

Cleaner Ingredients

White Distilled Vinegar

You’ll be surprised at all the ways that plain ole vinegar can be used. Because of the acidic nature of vinegar, it is a safe choice for killing all sorts of germs and mold.

Vinegar can be used on non-porous countertops and other surfaces that need disinfecting. Add a splash to your washing machine to rid odors from your clothing and to remove built up soap residue from fabric as well.

A dish of vinegar in a smelly room will reduce the odor. A dish of vinegar is also a great trap for fruit flies during harvest season.

For those food preservationists that can, adding a splash of vinegar to your water bath will keep the jars and canning pot from building up the white powder from hard water deposits.

Lemon and Baking Soda

Lemons not only smell fresh, but they also help clean well because, like vinegar, they are very acidic. Lemon juice cuts through soap scum on bathroom tile, shower doors and hardware as well as any commercial product does. Combine lemon and baking soda and you’ll have a cleaning powerhouse. Cut a lemon in half, dip it in baking soda and scrub away. Wash the surface off with warm water and you’ll be amazed at how powerful this simple duo is.

Baking Soda

I used to use a commercial bleach powder to clean my tub, sink and stains from the kitchen counter, but my mother introduced me to the magic of baking soda once I bought my own home. Wipe down the area with water, scrub with baking soda and you’ll be amazed at what this one ingredient can do – it even removes red wine stains from the counter.

Baking soda is also great at eating odors. We keep a small dish of baking soda in the back of our refrigerator and also sprinkle some in the bottom of our trash cans.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide is my go-to for stains in fabric, especially blood. Peroxide is great because it not only breaks down stains, but it also kills bacteria. To clean blood or other stains from fabric, pour hydrogen peroxide directly onto the stain – the sooner the better. Rinse the stain with cold water and apply more peroxide as needed until the stain is clean.

To use hydrogen peroxide as a cleaner, mix equal parts peroxide and water in a spray bottle to clean surfaces of germs and bacteria.

Hydrogen peroxide can even clean mildew. To treat, pour or sponge peroxide directly onto the mildew and allow it to penetrate for ten minutes before wiping away.

Citrus Peel & Herb Surface Cleaner

One of my favorite homemade cleaners to have on hand is citrus peel surface cleaner. All it requires is some of your favorite citrus peels – this could be oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruit or a mixture of all. Consider adding some fresh herbs to tailor the scent to your liking, rosemary is my preferred herb to add.

Fill a quart-sized mason jar with the citrus peels (and herbs, if you desire) and pour distilled white vinegar over the peels until they are completely submerged and the jar is filled. Add the canning jar lid and tightly fasten on the ring. Keep this mixture out of direct sunlight and allow the oils in the citrus peels and vinegar to infuse for a couple of weeks.

Once infused, strain out the solids and pour the infused vinegar into a clean spray bottle or smaller jar. Use as you would to disinfect with plain white vinegar – this infusion just makes it smell a lot more pleasant.

Note: It is not recommended to use vinegar products on marble or granite surfaces.

This article about homemade cleaners was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Large Animals

A Sheep Breeding Season Checklist: 10 Steps for Success

ewe and her lambs in the field from a successful sheep breeding season
Adobe Stock/Moorland Roamer

Sheep breeding season happens during the fall and winter months as ewes enter their estrous cycle. This is a 17-day period where the ewe cycles into ovulation. Within this period there is only about a 24 to 36-hour window when she can get bred.

Sheep breeders all over are saying their prayers and setting the best conditions to ensure their ewes are getting bred this month. They only have a few opportunities in these months before their bodies go back into anestrus, which means they aren’t cycling through that time of fertility.

In November, shepherds are pulling out all their tricks to make the most of these few months of short fertility windows to ensure their ewes will produce a lamb this Spring.

Here is a checklist of known methods to try to capitalize on this bang season:

#1. Make Sure the Ewes You Are Preparing Are Fit for Delivery

Sheep breeds vary, but most ewes need to be at least one year old (better if two) to carry a lamb full-term and deliver while staying healthy. Make lists of ages and health conditions and decide which ewes will be ready for the taxing pregnancy season.

#2. Check Body Condition

Animals too thin or too fat may not cycle through esterous. And if they do, they won’t likely remain healthy. Ewes ready for breeding need to be rated a Body Condition Score (BCS) of 5 or 6.

#3. Separate Rams & Ewes

To achieve a stimulating strategy referred to as “The Ram Effect,” rams and ewes must be separated for six weeks before breeding season. The Ram Effect works when non-cycling (anestrus) ewes are stimulated to ovulate by the sudden introduction of a fertile ram or “teaser” ram. Rams produce a chemical substance called a pheromone, the smell of which stimulates the onset of estrus. When ewes and rams are in constant contact (sight or smell), the pheromones are much less effective at inducing estrus. Ewes that are not cycling when a ram (or teaser) is introduced will ovulate in 3 to 4 days

#4. Introduce Rams & Ewes

Whether or not you are following protocol for the Ram Effect, you will need to make sure they are together during breeding season. Once they are around each other, continue to look for signs including the rams sniffing the air, females urinating in front of them, ewes following rams around, nudging, pushing, pawing and mounting.

#5. Use a Breeding Harness

To observe what rams have been with which ewes use a breeding harness/chalk marker and keep dates.

#6. Flush Feeding

Sheep breeders can improve chances for fertility and multiples by increasing quality feed (known as flush feeding) strategically before breeding time. Before flush feeding, make sure and deworm the sheep to ensure the most success.

#7. Update Vaccines

Many producers vaccinate twice per year, with breeding season on their list. CD&T will protect against overeating disease and tetanus, but your local vet can consult you on what is the best breeding vaccine for your area.

#8. Hoof Check

Now is a great time, while the sheep are wrangled to trim their hooves and inspect for any diseases. Many issues such as foot rot, abscesses, scald and foot-and-mouth disease enter through hooves.

#9. Do Your Math

Sheep carry their babies 144-151 days, with 147 being the average. If the weather in your area is typically severe and your facilities don’t accommodate heat, make sure you calculate a healthy month for delivery. If you plan to be out of town (i.e. spring break) time accordingly or prepare now to have someone watching your farm.

#10. Keep a Calendar

Log in your notes when you see the ewes standing for the ram. You will then have a good idea of when to start checking for signs of pregnancy. If you don’t catch a glimpse of the action, remember a chalk marker is good to refer to so you can write down the dates of any markings you see. There will be a feeding schedule to keep in the last part of pregnancy and you will want to keep this in your notes as well. It is also helpful to know when you will need to pen your ewes and expect delivery.

Nature needs a nudge. Breeding is what sheep are put on this earth to do, however, optimizing these aspects of the process has proven extremely helpful. Caring for sheep year-round without any lambs produced is a very real possibility and extremely disheartening when it happens. Take the time this month to give your sheep the best chance of success.

This article about sheep breeding was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Poultry

Chicken Fence: What Keeps Chickens In & Predators Out

chicken fencing
Victor U/Flickr

A good chicken fence is the best defense when it comes to protecting chickens—or protecting something from chickens. What kind of chicken fence you need will depend on how you have arranged your birds’ housing and what kind of coop you use, as well as other factors, such as geographical location and what type of predators lurk in your neck of the woods.

Let’s look at fencing from both sides of the fence—pardon the pun.

Keeping Out Predators

If you’re purchasing chicken fence with the intention of keeping out predators, it doesn’t have to be beautiful. But it does have to be made of solid material and securely installed, which usually means you’ll have to spend a little money and either do a little work or hire someone to do it for you.

Chicken fence pricing varies … a lot. To get a feel for how much it can cost, check out “Estimated Costs for Livestock Fencing” by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. For our purposes, we’ll use generalities in discussing cost, such as inexpensive and expensive, and focus on durability and effectiveness of the various fencing types.

Hardware Cloth

Without a doubt, hardware cloth is the Lamborghini of poultry fencing, and its price tag reflects as much. Because it is a costly material, hardware cloth is best applied in and around the coop, and any coop windows should have a layer of 1/2-inch hardware cloth mesh lining the pane. Use hardware cloth to secure gaps bigger than 1 inch in diameter throughout the coop. At night, your chickens should sleep behind hardware cloth no matter where they roam throughout the day.

In truth, hardware cloth is not actually a chicken fence. Some chicken keepers—including yours truly—prefer to use hardware cloth as the mesh on outdoor runs, creating a predator-proof outdoor space. The entire run is as secure as a locked coop, and the chickens don’t require locking up each night. But when the birds get free-range time to pasture outside of the run, one of the following forms of fencing is recommended.

Electric Net Fencing

Electric fencing comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes—and budgets. The best kind of fencing in this category for poultry is electric net fencing, a portable, electrifiable prefabricated fence. It’s rather affordable and easy to setup, move and store.

This type of fencing is ideal to keep out predators, such as foxes and coyotes, though it will not deter diurnal mustelids, aka weasels, which are small enough to fit through the fence gaps.

Electric net fencing has a few shortcomings: It’s not entirely low-maintenance. To keep the electricity from shorting out, it’s necessary to weed around the perimeter of the fencing on both sides. The net also needs to be properly secured to keep from forming gaps or sagging parts of the fence which larger predators could easily jump over. This fencing is ideal for homesteaders or urban farmers who want to rotate free-range areas or fertilize new garden plots.

Of course, any electric fencing relies on electricity, so it’s susceptible to power outages and other related snafus. It’s best to investigate solar-powered fencing options to keep electric bills down and have a reliable source of power. Electric fencing may not be as aesthetically pleasing as some other options, but it’s very effective.

Chain-Link Fencing

While not necessarily made for chickens, a properly erected chain-link fence can serve your flock well. Especially in suburban areas or close neighborhoods, a chain-link fence between your flock and the rest of the world will protect your birds from marauding neighborhood dogs and cats while also keeping your neighbor’s prized flower beds and immaculately mulched gardens safe from your bird’s ever-scratching feet. Because chain-link is also costly, it’s best used in a dual-purpose way, so to speak, doubling as both your yard’s barrier and your chicken’s.

Wood

Wood is a great natural source of fencing and may look very beautiful in a garden. However, the type of wood fencing will determine its usefulness. Tall privacy fencing will provide protection from dogs, raccoons, foxes and many other predators, provided there are no gaps in the boards or holes large enough to squeeze through. One drawback to wood fencing is that it often requires professional installation, increasing the cost significantly. Because it’s at least partially decorative, it requires maintenance, including staining and pressure washing over time, and once installed, it’s not easy to move.

Lower wood fencing, such as picket fences, may be too low to even keep chickens contained. With flat tops, wood fences invite birds to fly up to perch on the top and certainly gain access to what is on the other side. While a variety of wood fencing would work nicely to keep chickens in and predators out, it’s likely best put to use if it is already part of your backyard landscape.

Chicken Fence – Keeping In Chickens

Keeping chickens corralled is a lot simpler—and less expensive!—than keeping out predators. You’ll likely purchase and install fencing under this category if your birds already have a securely built coop and are locked up each evening.

You’ll notice that a lot of the fencing listed in this section is rather flimsy and may become brittle, wear down, rust or rot over time and with use. The price tag for most of these options reflects the material’s longevity. Some of these materials are also low and create a very small barrier between chickens and outside world. Unless startled or chased, most chickens will respect even the most modest boundary created by hog fencing, cheap garden fencing, or chicken wire.

Chicken Wire

Although the mesh is too thin for all-purpose predator protection, chicken-wire fencing is one of the best options for keeping your chickens out of unwanted areas. It’s inexpensive, easy to find and easy to install. It also serves multiple purposes around the homestead from making hoops over garden beds to keep out critters, to creating a barrier over brooders full of chicks.

The farm-supply stores that sell chicken wire will also sell metal posts for bracing wire that don’t require hardware or the use of tools: You simply hang the mesh onto the small hooks of the metal post and hammer it into the soil with a rubber mallet.

Chicken wire is available in a variety of lengths and widths, but I’d recommend a minimum of 4 feet in width to keep chickens in. It’s also easy to move using the metal post system and looks clean and rustic in a yard or garden.

Hog Fencing

Another attractive, simple and inexpensive fencing option is hog fencing. With its large, square openings about 4 inches in diameter, small predators—such as weasels, snakes, mice and rats—as well as tiny chicks and very young birds may walk through freely, but it’s suitable for keeping adult chickens confined to an area, especially during the day while pasturing.

Hog-fencing panels are more expensive than either plastic or chicken wire and not very easy to move once installed, but they work great and make great garden fencing for semipermanent areas. It’s easy to use the metal posts mentioned above to secure hog fencing, but it also looks nice using natural wood posts.

Garden Fencing

Decorative landscape fencing is usually available at home and garden stores and is manufactured in a dizzying array of styles, colors, height, designs and patterns. It’s commonly made from new or recycled plastic, metal, and sometimes plywood or composite.

While inexpensive and pretty—that’s what it’s made for, after all!—decorative garden fencing is usually rather ineffective. Many styles are too low, and chickens will simply hop over them. Others are tall but have wide openings through which a chicken can easily squeeze. Decorative fencing may work to deter new chickens for a little while, but they’ll eventually become curious and determined to investigate what lies on the other side.

Decorative fencing is best used in conjunction with another type of fencing. When it comes to keeping chickens safe, form over function is the name of the game. With that said, a decorative chicken fence can enhance the aesthetics of an urban or suburban coop nicely, and indeed, a visually appealing coop is often a requirement for those keeping chickens within city limits.

This article about chicken fence was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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Farm & Garden Sponsored

Protect Your Land and Livestock: Tactacam’s Defend Camera Offers 24/7 Surveillance for Farms & Homesteads

Defend cellular security cameras bring simplicity to monitoring nearly any location, even when you aren’t there. Using a cellular connection instead of Wi-Fi, Defend cameras are made for large properties, remote locations, construction sites, boat and RV sites, or anywhere an extra set of eyes is needed. Battery powered operation means no outlets or wall-power are needed, making the Defend camera truly versatile.

Durability & Adaptability

Durable, built to handle extreme weather and outfitted with a powerful antenna, Defend uses a cellular signal to deliver images and video right to the Defend mobile and web apps, allowing you to see what’s happening, even in remote locations. With customizable app settings, you can dial-in multiple features to fit your security needs and help you monitor your property, day and night.

Product features include:

  • Auto Carrier Selection
  • Low-Glow IR
  • 100ft Detection
  • Sub 1/2s Trigger Speed
  • Long Battery Life
  • IP66 Waterproof Certified

Predator Protection

Got poultry? Keep livestock? The Defend camera is a great tool for predator protection. It can be mounted indoors and outdoors whether it’s your equipment shed, your pole barn or even your chicken coop.

Defend’s technology keeps an eye on expansive farmlands, ensuring 24/7 surveillance of crops, livestock and equipment. Whether it’s monitoring pastures, feedlots or water troughs, Defend provides high-resolution imagery and video to keep you informed and ensure peace of mind.

When mounted outside, Defend can also serve as a visible deterrent for unwanted visitors allowing for peace of mind when you are away.

No Interruptions

With the solar panel and rechargeable battery add-ons, users can enjoy uninterrupted surveillance without the need to constantly replace or recharge batteries.

Affordability

Defend retails for $149.99 and subscription plans start at just $5 per month with no activation fees and discounts for multiple cameras. Your Defend camera does not have to be added to your phone’s cell plan. It delivers high-quality imagery and real-time updates directly to a mobile device.

Why Defend vs. Reveal?

If you have Tactacam’s Reveal camera, you may wonder what makes the Defend different. The Reveal cameras and app are optimized for hunting while the Defend is optimized for security and monitoring. This means the detection zone patterns, aiming adjustability and the app design differ between the two.

The cameras are available through the Tactacam website, Amazon and at Bass Pro Shops. The camera and its accessories can make a great gift for the holiday season for any loved ones or friends with farmland.