How to start free ranging

[Kas160]

I would love to let my chickens free range in my yard, but I'm afraid to let them out! How do I know they will come back in?? Or not go too far away???my yard is not fenced....

 

[azygous]

I am wondering the same thing. I live in Montana. The temp right now really varies. I've had my chicks for about 2 months. They are feathered, but I don't have my run up so I've been keeping them in the coop. I'm out in the middle of the sticks and have no neighbors within a mile of our place. I've been too nervous to let them out in case they don't come back! Do you think they'll return to the coop if I let them roam a bit. If so, is dusk the perfect time to start?

Before you let your chickens out, it would be wise to teach them to come to you when you want them. This is surprisingly easy. When you offer scratch grain, use the same container every time, shake it so they associate the noise with their favorite treat and come to recognize the container. Also, for good measure, use a verbal cue when you do this.

Spend a few days on this training, and it will give you the peace of mind and assurance that you can get your chickens to come back to you whenever you need them back.

I live in a very wild setting with lots of predators. I am able to get my chickens back in short order with just hollering at them to come on in. Like training a dog, they always get rewarded with treats for following my verbal cue. This is called reinforcement. Chickens are easy to train and they remember.

 

[ShanandGem]

I just let my chickens out one day, left their coop door open and discovered they really don't go far from their home base. I live on 11 acres, with 150 acres adjacent of forest and they don't stray more than 200 feet from their coop door. To put them away, I round them up with 4' long bamboo garden stakes in each hand. It sort of gives me a 12 foot wingspan to direct traffic and get them moving back to the coop.

 

[flyin-lowe]

I have a 5 acre lot but it is narrow and long. I left mine in the coop for about three weeks then the first time I let them out it was about 1/2 hour before dark. I did that a few nights then I just started letting them out whenever I was home. They never wander more then 100 yards or so from the coop. If I am not out there before dark to put them up they will go in by themselves. They have a good internal clock, even if they are all spread out to different parts of my property at a certain time they all start walking back to the coop, line up and go in. I was worried the first couple of nights but after I saw how close they stay I quit worrying.

 

[wamtazlady]

I am wondering the same thing. I live in Montana. The temp right now really varies. I've had my chicks for about 2 months. They are feathered, but I don't have my run up so I've been keeping them in the coop. I'm out in the middle of the sticks and have no neighbors within a mile of our place. I've been too nervous to let them out in case they don't come back! Do you think they'll return to the coop if I let them roam a bit. If so, is dusk the perfect time to start?

Your birds might not wish to free range until they can see the ground again. Mine do not enjoy walking on snow when it's as deep as it is now. They don't mind a little snow.

However, when I started to free range mine I did it in the evening about a half hour before roosting time. After a few days I let them out a couple hours before roosting time. A few days of that should prove that they will return to the coop to roost at night.

As mentioned, it's a good idea to teach them to come when they are called. I started that when they were little chicks. Every time I fed them or gave them food I'd say "Here, chicky, chicky." When they got older they'd come when I called them. Until this winter we were snowbirds and my neighbors would take my chickens for the winter. The first spring when we came home after being gone for 6 months I cleaned the coop and run and got it ready. Then I noticed that the neighbor had let all the chickens, his and mine out for the day. I yelled "Here, chicky, chicky" and all my girls came running across the field to come home.

The dangerous part of free ranging is predators. We regularly have issues with foxes during certain times of the year. I often keep my birds in a large area surrounded by electric poultry netting. Have never lost a bird to 4 footed predators when they are inside the netting.

 

[AAA Breeders]

The best thing to do is put up small fences since controlling their wander off will be too difficult. @Kas160

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I would love to let my chickens free range in my yard, but I'm afraid to let them out! How do I know they will come back in?? Or not go too far away???my yard is not fenced....

Are you in a suburban setting where you have neighbors very close to your unfenced area or are you on a large piece of land with no nearby neighbors? How long have you had your flock? If you have had them in their current coop/run for at least a few weeks they have become "homed" to their coop/run - they know that is where their food, water and sleeping area is...which means they will be drawn to return to it.
Are your birds conditioned to respond to you calling them? This is something you can do that will make the process easier for all involved as being able to call them back will give you peace of mind and enable you to have a little more control over when they return to the coop since their idea of time to go in and yours may not always be exactly the same. I have a water bottle with a handful of grit in it that I shake and then call to them - they will appear out of nowhere at mach 9 to get back into the run when they hear it because I have conditioned them that when the bottle shakes there is a tasty treat (handful of scratch, that days kitchen scraps, etc) waiting for them INSIDE the run. I use the bottle as it is loud enough to be a real attention getter and so that anyone in our family can get their attention even if they may not give the verbal call quite to the flock's liking.
The recall can also help in doing boundary training with them. If/when they start to wander a bit outside of the area you want them to range in, just issue a recall give a SMALL reward when they respond and carry on.

 

[Kas160]

We have about an acre, but do live in a neighborhood, I've had them for about two months now,but they have been in the brooder or now their run the whole time, I have not clipped their wings, is this a must do first??? I could then get an outside pen... They LOVE their mealworms, I guess I could start shaking the bag before I feed them???

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

We have about an acre, but do live in a neighborhood, I've had them for about two months now,but they have been in the brooder or now their run the whole time, I have not clipped their wings, is this a must do first??? I could then get an outside pen... They LOVE their mealworms, I guess I could start shaking the bag before I feed them???

Wing clipping is mostly about keeping them from flying over a fence (which you do not have) or keeping them out of trees - not about keeping them from ranging any particular distance.
While about an acre seems large, an unfenced yard of that size in a neighborhood will be difficult to keep your birds on/in, imo, without the use of a fence. In addition to your responsibility to keep your animals from being a nuisance to others by making sure they stay on your property, there is the issue of the animals of others who will view your birds as dinner -- a fence can address both these issues.

 

[Kas160]

Oh how true! I guess I need a fence!