Free range or fenced in?

[schmism]

We free range exclusively.

-I have taken steps to try to mitigate losses from predators. Roosters will keep the flock safe from overhead threats. I lost quite a few small birds (not fully grown yet) to an owl one year, but that was a separate flock that had no roo with it.

-losses from predators allow me to refresh my egg laying hens. While it may be difficult to loose those back yard pets, the reality is they are chickens and only are productive for a few years and only live a few years after that. I know it can be tough to loose that fav hen, but they wont live forever anyway and your extremely unlikely to eat them either so......

-you can free range in the evening for just a few hrs before its dusk before they go in for the night. This works well because they arnt out all day, the downside is, this is usually when predators are mostly likely to hunt. Most of my free range losses have come at dusk. Again this can be mitigated by closer supervision by you or a guard animal.

-I really like the ablity for my girls to cover all sorts of areas of my property in search of bugs/ticks/ etc to eat. Shure it can be annoying to have bird poo on the sidewalk or have the girls digging around in the freshly mulched flower bed, but i wouldnt trade that for the benefits i think i get from them free ranging.

- our girls seem to only cover an area on the property we frequent. so if we dont spend a lot of time in the woods neither do they. We dont spend a lot of time standing in the street so neither do they. But they will cover the entire property we are normally on. from the front yard to the side yard, to the garden, to the barns, to the pasture... a good 2+ acers in our case (we have a total of 5)

- number of birds is something to consider. Ours grew from a backyard few untill today when we have 40. It is unfeasible to try to fence/cover an area that would be needed for this many chickens. Marketing my eggs as free range is a critical selling point.

 

[ccammarata1]

I free range on 3 acres. I accept the fact that I will have losses, even with a small flock. They are only out when someone is home to supervise. I dont have a rooster yet but I am thinking of getting one.

 

[Soapfreak]

Well so far that we know of, we have fox, coons and hawks. We have to control the coon population or we would be over run with them. I have a couple stupid questions. I have read in a couple places about raising chickens that having ones that are more, brown or black in color are less likely to be a target to predators, at least hawks. Because of them blending into the background. Is this true? Also, do you think having plastic hawks and owls posted around the property would help deter them or invite them? Just a thought....

 

[CSWolffe]

I have been told that the more speckled colors camouflage the best, Speckled Sussex, Mottled Java, Splash anything, etc. And if you look at those varieties that self-select, such as the Swedish Flower Hens, they tend to be mottled/speckled(SWH were pretty much left alone for well over a hundred years, naturally selecting those best suited to the environment, which was a few, isolated small villages: rural areas with lots of predators). I even remember a blog post from somewhere about the best chicken breed to survive the Zombie Apoloclypse, they selected the Wellsumer, and one of the traits they looked for was ability to blend in and hide.

 

[cinch920]

Ok, this is what I do. I keep my chickens in their coop ( house/run) locked down and predator proof while I am at work or away.When I get home I let them out to roam, usually in the evening. They put themselves up to roost and I shut the door. No worries this way!! I/we get the best of both worlds!!

Agreed. I keep my hens in a run while I am away, then when I am home I let them out to free range. When it gets darker, they all head back to the coop and I shut them up at night. That way they lay a majority of their eggs in the morning while they're in the run and I can find their eggs and safer from predators, then in the afternoon/evening they may go where ever they like. Except my yard and porch. That is off limits!

 

[Soapfreak]

Agreed. I keep my hens in a run while I am away, then when I am home I let them out to free range. When it gets darker, they all head back to the coop and I shut them up at night. That way they lay a majority of their eggs in the morning while they're in the run and I can find their eggs and safer from predators, then in the afternoon/evening they may go where ever they like. Except my yard and porch. That is off limits!

How do you keep them off the porch? All this information is so helpful, thanks everyone so, so much!

 

[FarmerJH]

It's still possible to free range in the city. I live on a tiny little lot, 0.15 acres, in a little suburb not far from down town Salt Lake, I have a small flock of 4 hens, a veggie garden, and even two beehives. You would not believe what you can squeeze into a small lot with a little planning.
I have a pen attached to the coop, but they don't like being confined. My yard is fenced, and there are very few predators around here. They have free access to the entire yard, even my vegetable garden. I've had to adapt my gardening to their habits, there are some things I just can't grow any more, and I've learned a few ways to keep them from scratching up my veggie seedlings. It's worth it, I think, to be able to watch them roaming around my yard.
So I think my entire back yard is pretty much like one big chicken run!

How do you keep them from scratching up your seedlings??

 

[CSWolffe]

In my flower beds I have pretty much had to accept that they will kill some flowers. What survives is fairly chicken proof. For my veggie garden, I have rows of raised beds that I cover with a wire mesh. I love this stuff, it's meant for reinforcing concrete, comes in sheets 3.5' x 7', has 6" x 6" holes, is thick enough it wont rust through for ears, and I use it for everything. I curl it into a cylinder for tomato cages, and lay it across my beds as a chicken deterrent. They don't scratch anything with a wire mesh, they don't like the feel on their feet. I've even heard of people laying down poultry fencing just under the surface of a mulch layer, chickens will sometimes scratch the surface, but quickly lose interest. The sides of my garden bed are a few inches above soil level, and my mesh rests on that, so it's elevated a bit. They don't even try to walk on it or under it or through it.

 

[Mattemma]

Fenced one acre plot here.Chickens are let out after 10am.They have to deal with hawk attacks.

I use bamboo,plastic fence,and zip ties to create temp borders.Right now they are fenced out of my garden.Later I will have to put a fence around my grape area.

 

[roostersandhens]

I free range. Roosters do help with the hawk problem. I did have one chicken get killed by a hawk (I miss that little guy). Then I got some roosters I havn't lost a chicken to a predator since then. So a flock with roosters is great for free ranging! The chickens love it too! There egg's yokes get all dark (almost orange) from all the weeds they eat. When they free - range they eat lots of stuff that's really good for them. Free range also helps with feeding. They eat less of their normal chicken food which meens less to buy! If you decide to free range you should still make a run. For if you ever went on a trip or something. I dont have runs on my coops (that was a mistake) now I don't know what to do. I'm going out of town for a week in 5 weeks. I may need to now make a run. I would always close the coop door at night if they free range.