Listening to the radio I just heard a KFC commercial while posting this.

Apparently Bald Eagles prefer organic free-range chickens when given the choice.

Georgia rancher wins legal battle after bald eagle attacks kill 160,000 chickens

Sept 07, 2018
By George Mathis, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

BLUFFTON, GA. —
A Georgia rancher’s battle against bald eagle attacks on his pasture-raised chickens continues, but he’s won a skirmish against the federal government.

Bluffton rancher Will Harris, who’s led a crusade for a more ethical treatment of livestock from his fifth-generation farm in southwest Georgia, said he now expects to receive compensation for some of the 160,000 chickens he’s lost in recent years to America’s flying, and hungry, symbol of freedom.

The 63-year-old rancher said he’s lost more than $2 million in poultry to the eagles, who now live year-round on his 3,200-acre property, White Oak Pastures, the largest USDA certified-organic property in Georgia.

Reached by phone, Harris said he will likely receive the maximum compensation allowed, $125,000, for each year he proves he suffered losses, and may also recover an estimated $100,000 in legal fees.

Harris said the compensation won’t “make or break” his $20-plus million-a-year in revenue operation, but the ruling may prove critical for smaller farms.

“The ruling is a win not just for us – but for all small farms everywhere. At White Oak Pastures, we are committed to animal welfare, regenerative farming and empowering and supporting our local economy,” said Harris. “To survive at a time when conventional producers dominate the market, independent ranchers rely on equitable treatment by laws often written for big agricultural operations.”

Harris started letting his chickens roam freely in 2010 and by 2012 had a flock of 100,000 birds, mostly chickens but also smaller numbers of turkeys, guinea hens and ducks. It didn’t take long for the eagle-eyed eagles to notice. Soon, the federally-protected raptors were destroying up to 30 percent of his flock.

After numerous, unsuccessful efforts to divert the birds of prey from preying on poultry -- noise machines, tarps and other measures were tried -- White Oak Pastures applied for Livestock Indemnity Program benefits from the

Farm Service Administration of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Years of disputes” followed, said Harris, and, in 2017, the FSA denied White Oak Pasture’s claims, saying the losses were not proven.

White Oak Pastures appealed the decision. Following an extended period of appeals from both FSA and White Oak Pastures, a ruling issued in August said the FSA acted improperly when it denied White Oak Pasture’s request for compensation.

Harris said his resolve to “jump through hoop and hoop” and win the case was hardened when he went to court and saw the judge, courtroom workers, USDA officials with their assistants and his employees all in one room.

“I looked around and realized I was paying the salary of everyone there,” said Harris. “After we were denied it became very personal. I felt very disrespected to be denied a rightful claim.”

Harris said he wanted to teach his two daughters and young farm hands something about “gumption.”

“I was not going to let them see me set a precedent of not fighting for what is right and what is absolutely owed to us,” he said.

White Oak Pastures said 20 or so eagles live at the ranch year around, but about 80 live there in the winter. At one point, eagles were killing 500 birds a day. The ranch has fewer chickens now, about 30,000, because it’s proven difficult to compete against “industrialized” producers who’ve made poultry “incredibly cheap,” Harris said.

Harris has tried many tactics to scare off the eagles, including “those air-filled squiggly men you see at car dealerships” but that didn’t work. He uses about 15 dogs to scare off non-flying varmints such as coyotes, but they are not effective against swift eagle strikes.

“You can’t help but admire them, they are beautiful,” Harris said of America’s national symbol. “But they are the most combative creature I’ve ever seen.”

They are also wasteful. Harris said they sometimes seem to kill chickens for sport, not hunger. “It’s a bit like watching a cat play with a mouse,” he said.

White Oak Pastures is the largest private employer in Clay County with 155 employees, said Harris, who created a video detailing his effort to rebuild his community. Its products are available at Atlanta-area restaurants and grocery stores including Whole Foods, Publix and Kroger.

I'm not getting it about this story.

"Bluffton rancher Will Harris, who’s led a crusade for a more ethical treatment of livestock from his fifth-generation farm in southwest Georgia"

This guy decides that pen raised is more cruel than "free range" or pasture raised chickens, the predators start doing what they always do and somehow WE are supposed to pay for it??

AYFKM? Put them in a cage and the predators can't eat them! Problem solved.
Your feel good idea wasn't so good.
They're all going to end up butchered anyway so why not just cut the losses and WE don't have to pay for anything except the chicken we buy.

when i was a kid it used to really fry my dad when the coyotes would raid the sheep and either killing or causing fatal injuries to a couple of dozen head and then not eat anything. Dad said he didnt begrudge anyone a meal but that was just plain bad manners.

All there is to know about raising chickens...

You feed 'em too much, they die.
You don't feed 'em enough, they die.
It gets too cold, they die.
It gets too hot, they die.
Give 'em too much water, they die.
Don't give 'em enough water, they die.
You overcrowd 'em, they die.

Now, if you let 'em out of the cage, they die.


CW

Chicken is on the menu of everything.

Raccoons, foxes, coyotes and stray dogs will decimate them before a few eagles ever could.

I don't think there are enough eagles in Georgia to do that kind of damage to a single flock.

Yeah, I'm not sure about this one. If he can't provide proof of these kills, how does anyone know what or who killed these chickens?

From the article, he is failing to compete with larger operations and is now blaming anything and everything to get government money.

He needs to fail.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
Chicken is on the menu of everything.

Raccoons, foxes, coyotes and stray dogs will decimate them before a few eagles ever could.

I don't think there are enough eagles in Georgia to do that kind of damage to a single flock.

I am thinking along those lines as well.

He's got 100,000 birds running around 3,200 acres.
How does he know what is killing them?
How many die of disease or starvation?
How many just run off the property?

Don't tell me you can keep all the coyotes off 3,200 acres with 15 dogs. But hey, don't let a few facts get in the way of a good boondoggle.

Hell, the dogs could be doing it too

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
From the article, he is failing to compete with larger operations and is now blaming anything and everything to get government money.

He needs to fail.

BINGO!!!...he is looking to the government to subsidise his lower profit endeavor with...what...taxpayer money. And he bitched and "fought" for this because he saw his tax dollars funding the judicial system

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
Yeah, I'm not sure about this one. If he can't provide proof of these kills, how does anyone know what or who killed these chickens?

Or even if they were killed!!!!!

Don't know if this is some kind of green weenie nonsense, or the guy is just looking for a big payoff from uncle sugar.

In any event, seems to me that HE is responsible for his own damned chickens. We raised flocks (100) each year and slaughtered them for the freezer. Only "predators" we had was the mice that got into the feed barrels. Ever see a chicken eat a live mouse?

quote:

Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
Hell, the dogs could be doing it too

A pair of German Shepherds killed my wife's pet rooster a couple of months ago(he used to follow her everywhere) I came out of the house and chased them off but not in time to save the bird.

Don't give this guy a wooden nickel...nothing. He took his chances, didn't watch his flock, he lost.

Such nonsense. It's animals eating other animals, outside. File it under: No Shit, Sherlock.

There's no way you and I ought to be paying for that.

He needs to chalk that shit up as the cost of doing business, or find another business.

quote:

There's no way you and I ought to be paying for that.

I agree. The hard working American taxpayer is always on the hook... for everything.

However...

quote:

Soon, the federally-protected raptors were destroying up to 30 percent of his flock...

White Oak Pastures said 20 or so eagles live at the ranch year around, but about 80 live there in the winter. At one point, eagles were killing 500 birds a day.

The Federal government is also the cause of the problem. At some point perhaps the eagles no longer need the protection of the Federal government. Man is the apex predator, and he is not allowed (by the Federal government) to touch these birds. Perhaps some limited hunting ought to be allowed to protect his property.

If eagles are killing that many birds a day, it seems some well placed video cameras should capture sufficient evidence.

The numbers don't make sense to me. AT the peak of 80 eagles noted, losing 500 birds a day means each eagle is killing 6+ birds a day. How BIG are these eagles? Have they opened a buffet for other local animals?

The heaviest eagles normally get is around 14 lbs. I outweigh a large eagle by over 14x and I'm pretty sure I couldn't eat 6 chickens a day. Well, and not outweigh an eagle by 20-30x

Hmm.

I'm no lover of excessive or otherwise superfluous rules, but it's a bald eagle, the closest thing we have to a living, breathing, American Flag. They've long been protected, plus killing other critters is their business (and business is good). Did he not anticipate this possibility? And how, I wonder, does one discern whether a given chicken died from an eagle or a hawk or a yote or the like without a careful examination of each dead chicken? And even using statistics to make an educated guess, did he even do that I wonder. I'd need to see the data and examine the methodology but it sure seems fishy/chicken-y.

Perhaps he ought to have raised cows or goats or pigs instead.

A hunting season on eagles? I don't think that would fly.

This would not be a problem if Benjamin Franklin's preference had been chosen. Supposedly it's a myth he fought for it, but he did express his opinions about it in a letter to his daughter.

you guys are brutal, how would you propose he deal with his federally protected bird nuisance?