Free Range or Not? What Does Everyone Prefer?

[Beekissed]

Hey do yall mind if i join in this thread. I have been trying to find one about free ranging. I have 5 chickens and a rooster who love grass, but i am too scared to let them out. We have a lab, and our neighbors have a lab pitbull cross. Also i don't know if they would come back. my chickens lay and roost in the coop so they would know that it is their home. If i let them out near sunset will they come in at dark. I am kinda new to chicken keeping, but i would be so cool for them to roam around the yard.

Here's a page on it..it may interest you.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/bees-key-points-to-successful-and-safe-free-ranging

 

[emilmc7]

thank you

 

[aggiemae]

Well what i would do is let them out for an hour or 2 and just keep an eye on the that is what i do because our neighbors have a pitbull

Um...do "Pitbulls" actually chase chickens?

http://www.care2.com/causes/heres-what-pit-bulls-are-really-bred-to-do.html.

 

[Beekissed]

Um...do "Pitbulls" actually chase chickens?

http://www.care2.com/causes/heres-what-pit-bulls-are-really-bred-to-do.html.

Any breed will chase a chicken...pitbulls are no different.

 

[Den in Penn]

And watch your dog as well. They may act nonchalant when there is a barrier between them and be something else without one.

 

[HRHDi]

I really want to free range my flock once it's started in the spring. We're moving to a new area where I'm not familiar with the local predators but the previous homeowner has said that he's see raccoons, foxes, possum and coyotes. He said nothing about hawks but there are several raptor species in the region. I understand that there's risk to free ranging but there's also risk to a confined flock.

I plan to spend the entire winter and early spring reseaching and watching predators in the area as well as join local groups to get more info. We have an older yellow lab who's a quintesential Gen-X slacker dog and doesn't really like to go out side. However, we also have 3 parrots and he sees them as part of his pack so I'm hoping he'll adopt the chickens and keep an eye out for this. He'll be tied up or in the house until I'm convinced he can be trusted around the flock. The other issue with him is that he's very much a beta dog. He's most comfortable if someone else is in charge. I think he'll step up and protect his pack if threatened, but he's never been faced with that.

Anyway, here's my main question - are there any trees, shrubs or plants that I need to look out for that would be harmful to my chickens? Our property has several kids of maple and evergreen trees as well as berry bushes, but I'm not sure of what else. I'd like to clear out anything harmful if I can, I just don't knwo what that would be.

 

[MamaDoodle]

I wish I could free range them, but unless I can sit in the yard with them during the day, they stay in the run. :/ Too many risks to them in the woods..

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
My dog is a beta dog too and a lab mix...you'll be surprised how attached a lab can get to the flock if they are a beta. Much more attachment than if they are an alpha because a beta wants to please the alpha(YOU) more so even than a more assertive dog. My dog has grown more and more mushy over the chickens as the years go by and now he can't stand to even be in the vicinity when I process them, paces and whines if I am handling them and they squawk, will try to put a dead chick back in the coop all day long if I don't dispose of it where he cannot get it.

Don't worry about plants they will eat...they will know what they can eat and not eat and will consume accordingly.

I'll tell you of a great investment in my free range...wireless invisible fencing for the dog. He can be out with the flock 24/7 and patrol the area around the coop and a lot of their foraging area and that seems to keep predators of all kinds from dipping into our meadow and woods around this place. We are completely surrounded by woods and all the typical preds that live in them, as we live out in the boonies and are bordered on thousands of acres of public hunting area. No predators losses at all at this place, though they come to clean up animal parts and carcasses from deer and chicken processing, they do not bother my flock.

It also gives the dog a job to do and he takes it very seriously...he will jump up into the air at any low flying birds like buzzards and any hawks that go over the place. He patrols all night and sleeps next to the coop, so I get to keep my pop door open 24/7 and my coop is anything but predator proof...all because of my beta lab mix pooch. He's been on the job for 7 years now and one loss to a predator at the place we used to live..and to be fair, that was out of his range and the chicken was roosting up on the barn loft, leaving herself open to being snatched by an owl. If he could have reached that area, it would not have happened.

 

[bj taylor]

I have the luxury of a couple of acres fenced so goats can't get out. the openings are too small for chickens to pass through. I had the chickens in the back yard for a long time, but as the flock grew, so did the mess. I was so thrilled to be able to move them out into the woods. I never checked for plants toxic to them - I just figured they would know. they have the best of all worlds right now. things change - but so far so good. the fence keeps dogs/coyotes out & there's plenty of trees & cover from any flying predator. the downside is I don't get all the eggs, because they like to hide them.

I absolutely cannot leave my dogs w/the goats - but they leave the chickens alone.

 

[HRHDi]

Beekissed - Thanks for the info. We'll definitely look into a wireless fence. Our property has no fence at all and I really don't want to put one up for several reasons, expense is only one of them.