Trade offs

 As with everything in life, there are trade-offs. With every decision there are consequences, both good and bad. The trick is to try to balance between the two. Mostly, it is making an informed decision and hoping that it evens out. Raising chickens is no different. By just having chickens, you must understand that there will be losses. Because we choose to free range (pasture) our chickens, we have (sometimes significant) losses, due to predation, mostly. Everything loves to eat chicken! Why do we choose to do it anyway? Because I feel that the gain that we, and the chickens, get from free ranging far outweighs the losses. They get to spend their lives being chickens. Scratching around in the grass, playing in the sun, always having fresh ground to explore, being able to stretch their wings and run and fly! We get the benefit of better quality eggs and meat, birds that are sick much less often than if they were caged up, and less work cleaning out the coop (seeing as they aren't in there nearly as much). They also squabble less frequently. I have made the informed decision to allow my chickens to free range, and I believe that it has evened out. The losses are still difficult, however. We lost Miss Idgie a couple of days ago. She was the only remaining hen from our first ever batch of chickens. She had survived them all.

I made a post a couple of months ago, about her being twitchy. Now, while I believe that she did, indeed, have bug issues from having not dust bathed in a month, I think there were other issues. I think Idgie may have suffered from heat stroke while she was sitting on eggs. The heat shot up very quickly, and I was unprepared for it to occur while I was out of town. She had a neurological tick which acted up when she got upset. She was a wonderful mom and fiercely protected her young. Unfortunately, we lost most of them too. We have 3 left out of the original 11, I think mostly due to the hawk (federally protected hawk...) and partially to our puppy, Randy, who has been dealt with and will NOT touch my chickens again. The three remaining babies are almost as big as their momma, and she slowly started letting them go off on their own.  She started quickly losing weight at that point. I really wonder if she had not held on long enough to raise her babies before she gave in to being tired and sick. She had been slowing down and getting skinnier all week, despite my trying to hand feed her treats. Finally, a couple of days ago she didn't return to the coop. It breaks my heart to lose her, and all of the chickens that I have lost.

Our chickens are functional animals at the homestead, but they are still pets and we love them. They sit on our laps and let us pet them, and follow us around the yard. They get treats and attention, just like our dogs do (as do our turkeys). Even the chickens that are meant for our freezer are treated kindly are well cared for, their entire lives. Our hens are our babies, though, and we have had them since they were day old babies. Losing one makes me seriously rethink my decision to free range them. To re-evaluate the trade-offs associated with it, every time this occurs. Predators (not federally protected ones anyway...) are dealt with immediately when they are found, the girls are counted and closed up securely every night to keep them safe while they sleep, and we keep a close eye on them, and the area where they are allowed to range, in order to catch issues as (or before if possible) they arise. If we so much as sleep in, they go crazy because they want out of the coop in the morning. Our automatic door opener is on the blink so they have been relying on us. They are NOT happy with the arrangement. I can't imagine keeping them contained all of the time, even with a run. At least when they are free, if a predator comes close they have the chance to get away, rather than being confined. Predators get into runs and coops fairly easily, even the best made ones. In the end, again I feel that they are better off free ranging and taking the chance that their happier life may be cut short, rather than keeping them safe but at the price of their happiness and health. That is my personal decision, and know that there are many ways to raise chickens, and that even confined chickens, given enough space and attention, can be every bit as happy as free range. I am not making judgement on anyone else. In fact, I know that in some areas, it is not plausible to free range because there are so many predators. I know there will be losses, and with every one I will re-evaluate my choice to determine if I am still making the right decision with the circumstances at that point in time, as I should, because the world is ever changing. At this time I think I am. I still mourn for the losses. Especially my sweet Idgie. She will be missed. So long Miss Idgie. Until we meet again.