Keeping Chickens Free Range

[JessicaThistle]

This morning two more of my girls decided to lay their first egg. One of them was a good girl and went straight to the nest box. I probably wouldn't have found her if it wasn't for the one I found looking all around the racing trailer and jumping up on the tool box!! AAAHHH! I was not going to have two pick that spot! Sheesh! What is with these girls??

I had a gut feeling that she was ready to lay an egg as this was different behavior for her. So I grabbed her up, opened the side door to the hen house and stuck her in to find the other hen in the nesting box already. We locked the two in the coop until they both laid their eggs in the nesting box!

The most wonderful thing about it was it was my two Easter Eggers. It was like Easter finding those beautiful little blue green eggs in the nesting box! Man can those girls sing an egg song! I think anyone within a 5 miles radius heard it.

I think that I will try bobbi-j's idea to keep them all locked in until the eggs are laid and see if that breaks my stray-tool box layer. Plus now that a couple of others are laying in the nesting box, maybe she will accept that is the IN spot to do it.

 

[ilovehorses]

I keep my chickens in a large fenced in area because I am afraid of animals and not being able to find them of their eggs. How do you know where they lay their eggs and how do your chickens know to come back in the coop at night?????

 

[RoosterLew]

Quote:

I keep my chickens in a large fenced in area because I am afraid of animals and not being able to find them of their eggs. How do you know where they lay their eggs and how do your chickens know to come back in the coop at night?????

When we were free ranging, the hens came back to the coop to lay.
You cant just buy chickens, throw them out in your yard and hope they find their way to the coop. You start them in the coop, when you begin letting them out, they will most likely stay close. Over time they will learn the lay of the land so to speak and how to get back in every night.
Sometimes they or some of them may find a place they think would be better for the night and try to camp out on you. I have found that if you just go get them and put them in the coop a few times they will give up.

As for animals...that's kind of a judgement. In my opinion, people that free range have to accept the fact that more than likely they will lose a bird from time to time, or depending on the predator load, quite frequently. We free ranged for over a year..lost 3 birds in one year with a flock of 30. Then , the reason why we have stopped letting them out, we lost a dozen birds one morning. Almost all of our layers. We went from 4 or 5 dozen eggs a week to barely over 1 dozen.
If you have predators, I personally would say don't "free range"...but then you also have to ask what IS free range? And I'm sure we will get loads of different opinions there. LOL

If you train your birds to the coop, and train them to the nest boxes, those 2 things most likely won't be an issue.

 

[JessicaThistle]

My chickens all go back to the coop right before dark. I have never had them have a problem with that. I am still training them to the nest boxes though as they have just started laying.

 

[Sheysd1]

My six girls get two hours of supervised free-range time as I have red tailed hawks and coopers hawks galore where I am. I have a pop door built into the side of their run and I just leave that open for them. They have a 1/4 acre to run on and find bugs. They will usually go back to their run after about two hours on their own, which is really amazing to me as they seem to have a "clock" in their heads telling them it's time to go back in the run. They put themselves to bed every evening at 8:30 sharp in their coop. I keep sand on the floor of their run so after they all go into the coop at night, I just scoop their poop from the day and empty their water and I'm done. I let them back out into the run in the morning at 7:00 am.

 

[katatonic123]

Mine go to bed at 8:30, too.

 

[ilovehorses]

Ok thanks!

 

[JaceAgain]

Ooh my 4 chickens free range!! I let them out in the AM and lock em in after they go in around 7-8. I have about 3/4 acre fenced that they roam they just started laying eggs in the coop, and I only feed them about a cup of layer feed every couple of days, they get scraps and we have plenty of bugs. They roam the yard together, except when one leaves to go lay an egg The only time I lock them in is if we are having a tropical storm or hurricane.
They share the yard with my dogs when they are out there, my easter egger even cuddles with my beagle lol.
We have predators, the biggest one being hawks and eagles, but the girls stay sheltered and together, and there are several hideaways in my yard for them.

 

[JaceAgain]

Hanging out under the trampoline

 

[JaceAgain]

Hi everyone I am wondering who all lets there birds free range in there garden!!!

I do, but I should've locked it up once my plants started bearing. They did incredible pest control, I didn't have a single bug issue my neighbors had, but the girls paid themselves handsomely for the job with my tomatoes (even still green!!).