That’s definitely an important thing to consider, and I agree, loosing a flock would suck. There is so much I could have included here, but thought I’d keep it light. There are many scenarios where predators are not the main concern. Free range chickens work well for many people. Keeping chickens safe could be it’s own post because there’s so many different situations and variables.
In our case, having dogs in the yard, and keeping our pigs with the chickens is enough. We don’t even lock our chickens up at night anymore (although I wouldn’t advise it for others). 🙃
It’s a case-by-case thing I guess.