Free ranging in snow?

[PAchickengirl]

Found out the other day the ground rips up terribly when chickens scratch on it when it's frozen solid! The chickens found the places the ground was exposed from the previous day's snowman making. It wasn't long until they were down to the dirt and there was a big mess! Tried to cover it with snow so the husband didn't notice, lol. He loves his lawn.

 

[flyinhigh]

What is it about these guys and their LAWNS??? Grass is free , chickens are precious and have personalities !! I really don't get what the BIG deal is about a perfect lawn! Maybe there is a guy reading this who LOVES his lawn and can tell me WHY!!! I would sure appreciate it, maybe I could find some empathy for him and his lawn.

 

[bruceha2000]

Pretty birds, what breed are they?

My girls came out quite a bit today, as like you, we have melting snow and there is green grass to be found where the snow had been shoveled before the melt. I think it is the first day in the last couple of weeks they have gone farther out than it takes to eat a little snow.

Bruce

 

[CountryGeorge]

What is it about these guys and their LAWNS??? Grass is free , chickens are precious and have personalities !! I really don't get what the BIG deal is about a perfect lawn! Maybe there is a guy reading this who LOVES his lawn and can tell me WHY!!! I would sure appreciate it, maybe I could find some empathy for him and his lawn.

LOL, My daughter-in-law bought me a brandy new riding mower last summer and I got to use it maybe three times due to the feathery ones taking care of about every living green thing in the area for me. Saves me gas, time and effort. Now if I can just get them to rake the mulch back into the gardens....

 

[Boichik86]

LOL, My daughter-in-law bought me a brandy new riding mower last summer and I got to use it maybe three times due to the feathery ones taking care of about every living green thing in the area for me. Saves me gas, time and effort. Now if I can just get them to rake the mulch back into the gardens....

They'll rake your gardens too! Just fence a few in where you want them to scratch and throw in some scratch grain(its called that for a reason!), i'd say 2-3 standard size chooks or 4-6 bantams per 4 square feet. They'll tear it up! Should get the job done in a few days, a week most if your are using fewer chooks. Has to be chickens though; turkeys, ducks, guineas etc don't scratch enough to make it worth your while. Make sure you keep water in the enclosure and shelter if they are to stay there over night.

 

[bruceha2000]

This is what my girls did today NOT "Free ranging in snow" during our annual January thaw.

Andromeda in the front, she is an EE but the EEs and Faverolles lost their beards/muffs to feather picking. I really hope they come back after the moult next fall!



If you like fluffy butts, here you go! This is Persephone, an EE



Don't know where the other 6 were when I took this picture. Here we have the 2 Faverolles, 2 Cubalayas, 1 EE and 1 Black Australorp.



They were in front of the barn, they were behind the barn, they were between the barns, they were behind the house. They had a GREAT day!

Bruce

 

[annie parker]

I have 13 egglayers and a rooster - free range and live in a very cold area. I have let them out of the coop a few times but a couple of them have wandered off in the snow and I have to go get them as they are too cold to move and return to the coop. So in this extreme cold I just leave them at home.

 

[redblack10]

This morning it was 9 degrees here in Iowa. My girls always greet me at their door and are ready to run outside - on their hay path! I scatter hay around the door and on a path through their paddock to the gate. Morning and night I throw dried mealworms and scratch, and they get their fix of dancing outside. If we have several frigid nights in a row, I coat their combs with Corona ointment - they enjoy the massage. Once they have eaten the hay bits they like best, I scatter some more - they love it when I bring a flake that has lots of leaves in it. I have a net-covered paddock (previous jenny/foal pasture), and an enclosed coop with a raised, enclosed roost, so they have lots of choices both day and night. If I can open up the gate for some free-ranging in the late afternoon, they all head out, even over the snow. Trust your chickens to let you know what they will tolerate.

 

[redblack10]

This morning it was 9 degrees here in Iowa. My girls always greet me at their door and are ready to run outside - on their hay path! I scatter hay around the door and on a path through their paddock to the gate. Morning and night I throw dried mealworms and scratch, and they get their fix of dancing outside. If we have several frigid nights in a row, I coat their combs with Corona ointment - they enjoy the massage. Once they have eaten the hay bits they like best, I scatter some more - they love it when I bring a flake that has lots of leaves in it. I have a net-covered paddock (previous jenny/foal pasture), and an enclosed coop with a raised, enclosed roost, so they have lots of choices both day and night. If I can open up the gate for some free-ranging in the late afternoon, they all head out, even over the snow. Trust your chickens to let you know what they will tolerate.

 

[Jennine746]

My chickens mostly don't want to come out in the snow. If they do come out, they fly as far as they can, and then look at me accusingly when they land in the snow. I try throwing down scratch in the path I walk through their run in, and sometimes they will come out to eat it. I wouldn't let mine out to free range (assuming I could coax them into walking through the snow) because there are still predators around: I've seen fox tracks in the snow. Before you consider letting them free range, maybe check around to make sure you have no predator tracks around.