- Thread starter
- #11
nlsf
In the Brooder
- Feb 19, 2017
- 46
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I have a fenced acre - for my chickens free range means they are let out into the yard in the morning (between 7:30am and 9am) and go back in the evening (4pm to 5pm). Is your property fenced? It shouldn't matter too much if their coop is a fair distance from the property border. Mine range over about 1/2 to 2/3 of the acre I have - there are some places they just don't seem too interested in going, but they have their regular haunts and times they visit them (ie the heat of the day they will be under the deck, they visit my lower garden in the late afternoon etc). Feral cats....this kind of depends on the cats and how hungry they are I think. If you have a rooster with your flock it provides some protection as he will face up to any threats and if it comes to it will sacrifice himself for the flock.
It is fenced but only to keep horses in so the chickens could go between the panels. The cats are fed by serveral of the neighbors so I don't think they are hungry by any means. Is there a specific breed of rooster that's better? Also will the chickens still lay their eggs in the coop or will it become an "Easter egg hunt"?