Make me feel better about penning my former free-rangers :(

[gandalf_of_chickens]

Last year we moved out of city limits onto 2 acres and got 8 hens in December with quaint dreams of the chickens free ranging around the property while we were out working "alongside them." The coop that I built was from a design I found online and only had a small-ish (8' x 4') run.

After a couple months of free-ranging it became a headache being worried all the time about where the hens were. Moving from the suburbs, 2 acres felt gigantic. I thought chickens would be too "chicken" to venture far from their coop/home but we have neighbors on 3 sides and the hens kept wandering off into their yards and getting chased by their dogs. I also got really worried they were going to go into my one neighbor's garage while he had it open and poop everywhere (like they did in our garage - which was making me have to remember to keep the garage closed at all times, which also meant I wouldn't be able to work comfortably in the garage in the summer when it will get hot). I found myself constantly glancing out the windows to try to account for the chickens and getting worried (about them having gotten snatched or just wandering too far into a neighbor's property) if I couldn't spot all of them. We also had to wall off the deck so they couldn't get up on it and poop everywhere, and I have had to spray off the front porch every day or two. We didn't want them free-ranging when we were all gone from the house, so going anywhere with the family required a new chore of rounding up the chickens back into the run, which I felt bad about on days when we were gone all day bc the run seemed small for them.

Long story short, just yesterday I finished building a new run that attaches to the old run. I felt so bad about penning them up and hopefully made it large enough (16' x 20') that it will be comfortable. So now they have the old 8' x 4' run and the new 20' x 16' run as well as the space directly under the coop which is screened in (5' x 6'). Today is their first day not free-ranging and I would love some encouragement that I'm not ruining their lives.Hopefully in the future we can get a fence around our backyard and let them free range again "part time." Is there anything I can do to encourage more bugs in the run??

 

[Aunt Angus]

Last year we moved out of city limits onto 2 acres and got 8 hens in December with quaint dreams of the chickens free ranging around the property while we were out working "alongside them." The coop that I built was from a design I found online and only had a small-ish (8' x 4') run.

After a couple months of free-ranging it became a headache being worried all the time about where the hens were. Moving from the suburbs, 2 acres felt gigantic. but we have neighbors on 3 sides and the hens kept wandering off into their yards and getting chased by their dogs. I also got really worried they were going to go into my one neighbor's garage while he had it open and poop everywhere (like they did in our garage - which was making me have to remember to keep the garage closed at all times, which also meant I wouldn't be able to work comfortably in the garage in the summer when it will get hot). I found myself constantly glancing out the windows to try to account for the chickens and getting worried (about them having gotten snatched or just wandering too far into a neighbor's property) if I couldn't spot all of them. We also had to wall off the deck so they couldn't get up on it and poop everywhere, and I have had to spray off the front porch every day or two. We didn't want them free-ranging when we were all gone from the house, so going anywhere with the family required a new chore of rounding up the chickens back into the run, which I felt bad about on days when we were gone all day bc the run seemed small for them.

Long story short, just yesterday I finished building a new run that attaches to the old run. I felt so bad about penning them up and hopefully made it large enough (16' x 20') that it will be comfortable. So now they have the old 8' x 4' run and the new 20' x 16' run as well as the space directly under the coop which is screened in (5' x 6'). Today is their first day not free-ranging and I would love some encouragement that I'm not ruining their lives.Is there anything I can do to encourage more bugs in the run??

It's fine. You don't want to be *that* neighbor, and those dogs will do more than chase them, given the chance. You can always let them out for supervised free range time. Or get movable fencing. Plus that run is a great size for 8 chickens! I think they're lucky!

I had to pen mine when we moved to 3 acres. Too many predators! I take them for walks when I can. I also put a bunch of stuff in their run for them to perch on, etc. And I have grazing boxes to give them access to greens year round (except when the boxes are buried under snow like they are currently).

They'll be happy and healthy! And you'll feel better because you won't have to worry.

 

[akf93]

I had to pen mine last year too after a very similar story. We slowly went from nearly 40 birds to 22 birds (various reasons but mostly predators). We did that months ago and I’m still so sad about it!! If I’m going to be out much of the evening, I will let them out a couple hours before bedtime. But it’s actually peace of mind if I’m not home in the evening, I don’t let them out and I don’t have to worry about rushing back to lock them up or doing a head count. It’s actually been nice. They have ample space in the run and I throw hay bales and treats and leaves and such in there to keep them busy. I also will be sending my kids to the garden every day to collect bugs to give them.

ETA: my biggest reassurance is every time I see a hawk in our trees, I breathe a big sigh of relief!! Penned birds (with ample space and proper care) are happier than dead birds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Reality has hit romance. You have not seen all of the potential downsides of free ranging, predators, destroyed gardens and landscaping, being hit by a passing car to mention a few, but you've seen some. Some people can make it work but free ranging is not for everyone.

I would love some encouragement that I'm not ruining their lives.

What are your other options? Eat them? Give them away or sell them? Your chickens are going to have a much better life than a lot of other people's chickens on this forum.

Is there anything I can do to encourage more bugs in the run??

On that kind of acreage you should have a compost pile. Put one in their run.

 

[FunClucks]

Last year we moved out of city limits onto 2 acres and got 8 hens in December with quaint dreams of the chickens free ranging around the property while we were out working "alongside them." The coop that I built was from a design I found online and only had a small-ish (8' x 4') run.

After a couple months of free-ranging it became a headache being worried all the time about where the hens were. Moving from the suburbs, 2 acres felt gigantic. I thought chickens would be too "chicken" to venture far from their coop/home but we have neighbors on 3 sides and the hens kept wandering off into their yards and getting chased by their dogs. I also got really worried they were going to go into my one neighbor's garage while he had it open and poop everywhere (like they did in our garage - which was making me have to remember to keep the garage closed at all times, which also meant I wouldn't be able to work comfortably in the garage in the summer when it will get hot). I found myself constantly glancing out the windows to try to account for the chickens and getting worried (about them having gotten snatched or just wandering too far into a neighbor's property) if I couldn't spot all of them. We also had to wall off the deck so they couldn't get up on it and poop everywhere, and I have had to spray off the front porch every day or two. We didn't want them free-ranging when we were all gone from the house, so going anywhere with the family required a new chore of rounding up the chickens back into the run, which I felt bad about on days when we were gone all day bc the run seemed small for them.

Long story short, just yesterday I finished building a new run that attaches to the old run. I felt so bad about penning them up and hopefully made it large enough (16' x 20') that it will be comfortable. So now they have the old 8' x 4' run and the new 20' x 16' run as well as the space directly under the coop which is screened in (5' x 6'). Today is their first day not free-ranging and I would love some encouragement that I'm not ruining their lives.Hopefully in the future we can get a fence around our backyard and let them free range again "part time." Is there anything I can do to encourage more bugs in the run??

All those reasons you've listed plus a lot of predators are why mine don't free range.

That size of a run for 8 hens sounds awesome!!! They will love it!

One thing mine like are Flock Blocks, chicken skewers that hang from the top of the run with really anything stuck on it, and food dispensing balls that they bat around with their beaks and feet. And scratch is always a big favorite. Weeds, garden leftovers, food scraps, anything food related is fun.

Do a search here on "cluttered run" and you will get some great ideas of appropriate run clutter to help fight boredom and give interest to all that lovely space they now have.

Try not to feel guilty. They may be confined, but they will be alive and enjoying their lives, and your life will be so much less stressful also.

 

[gandalf_of_chickens]

Thank you all for the replies! The day went pretty well. We visited the hens a lot and gave them some extra scratch grain. The feelings of relief I got when I would have that regular "where are the chickens??" jarring thought and remembered I knew exactly where they were was really nice.

Interestingly we got 7 eggs which is the most we've ever gotten. Makes me wonder if one or two of them have been laying eggs around the yard somewhere that we haven't found...

What are your other options? Eat them? Give them away or sell them? Your chickens are going to have a much better life than a lot of other people's chickens on this forum.


On that kind of acreage you should have a compost pile. Put one in their run.

That's a helpful reality check. And thanks for the idea of putting a compost pile in the run. We've been wanting to start one but haven't gotten around to sitting down and figuring out where to start.

All those reasons you've listed plus a lot of predators are why mine don't free range.

That size of a run for 8 hens sounds awesome!!! They will love it!

One thing mine like are Flock Blocks, chicken skewers that hang from the top of the run with really anything stuck on it, and food dispensing balls that they bat around with their beaks and feet. And scratch is always a big favorite. Weeds, garden leftovers, food scraps, anything food related is fun.

Do a search here on "cluttered run" and you will get some great ideas of appropriate run clutter to help fight boredom and give interest to all that lovely space they now have.

Try not to feel guilty. They may be confined, but they will be alive and enjoying their lives, and your life will be so much less stressful also.

Thanks for all the ideas. Combined with the compost-pile-in-run idea above, doing some of these things will make me feel a lot better about having them in there.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I felt VERY GUILTY when I decided to keep mine "penned" ... Hubby built me a 8x12x7 CH/Chicken House; I only keep 4 hens although my thinking 6 is max. Anyways I used let my girls "grub" around until one decided to hope over the hence into the neighbor's yard full of dogs that thought it fun chasing them.

Safety and all mentioned above I confided them ... At first it was harder on both of us but they adjusted better than I did, got them alot of treats. I'd sit with them and spent alot of time in there with them. It's been 7yrs and since the originals have been replaced over the years, the "new ones" know nothing but the CH.

It's been 7rs, I don't feel guilty anymore; not having to run out to do a head count, nor worry about the hawks flying over. We're happier

 

[suzrwin]

We have movable fence so we can rotate a small free range area on the back of our 1.12 acres. Many diff types out there, including electric options if predators are a nuisance. Around us, aerial predators are the issue so electric hasn't been necessary. I rotate every week or two so each area doesn't get overly trashed and recovers quickly. The hens (six of them) also have a 9x9 covered run to escape to in case of bad weather (with tarps on the prevailing wind side. A couple of the ladies have flown over, but then they look in at their flock and the flock looks out at them, and the confusion is hilarious and quickly remedied by local hooman.

That said, no need to feel guilt over doing what you gotta do. Just know there are options if you ever want to explore controlled free ranging.

 

[aart]

Interestingly we got 7 eggs which is the most we've ever gotten. Makes me wonder if one or two of them have been laying eggs around the yard somewhere that we haven't found...

No doubt, another pro to using a run vs free range.

Composting in the run can be problematic, they'll have fun but you may not get any compost....and it can draw preds if you're composting kitchen scraps.
Using foods to 'entertain' the birds is not a great idea either.
Put up some things for roosting on and under, good bedding (coarse wood chippings from tree trimmer) will give them plenty to dig around in and 'compost' the poops.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[laboroflove]

Feel good about it knowing you are doing what is right by them! (And your neighbors) We have always free ranged until predators kept picking off our birds. Now our whole entire (previous) flock of chickens are gone but one rooster. Thankfully I was able to find some chicks the end of last summer. They have known nothing but confinement for 95% of their lives. I do let them out in the evenings sometimes and some days when I know we will be able to keep close eyes on them. What’s left of our previous duck flock that has always been freeranged will now also know the life of confinement. I’m also working on two duck pens, and a goose pen for our coming babies.

I feel like it’s like parenting. A child may want to play in the road but we know it’s not safe so we keep them in the yard.