1. Pastured Poultry A Few Housing and Fencing Options to Manage Birds

2. These pens are very strong, but not easy to move, and the feed was not completely protected from the rain.

3. Free ranging birds are easy to care for, but more vulnerable to predation.

8. 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.

9. The water bucket on top of this “chicken tractor” supplies the nipple waterers on the pvc pipe inside the pen.

12. 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.

14. 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. LlamasDogsDonkeys  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.)

15. Donkeys can be a very effective predator deterant.

17. 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.