What Age Can Chickens Free Range?

[Steve Townsend]

You have to take the chance. I let
Mine free range at 5 weeks.

 

[konachicks]

I'm on a little less then an acre and have let my 2 older girls out since I got them at 6 weeks. They stay right around the coop or the house and even though we DONT have a fenced yard, they've NEVER tried to "run away". My only problem is when it's bed time they don't go back to the coop, they come to my front door to be carried back

That's them waiting at the front door

I also have seven 4 week chicks I take out every day for at least and hour, and they also just stick by the house and are easily grabbed and put back in their travel box

 

[Belinda7]

As soon as they are old enough to free-range, when I want them to get back in the coop, I yell "come on chickens!" while clapping my hands . I have many predators around (dogs, cats, coyotes, cougar,etc.) so I want them to come running when they hear me clap my hands.

Initially they always get treats when they all hop back in the coop having responded to the hand clapping. Over time, you will just be able to clap your hands and they will come running....they're not very bright, but they sure aren't stupid!. It also comes in handy when they are headed for areas that I don't want them in... for instance my vegetable garden! I do let them free range in my garden while I'm turning it over, but not once the little seedlings are coming up because they damage/eat the plants.

 

[kansas francis]

so I have 4 older hens and 7 4 week old hens and I want to let them out are they to small

 

[Beekissed]

Nope!

 

[sue4rescue]

I have 6 six-week old chicks I just started to let "free range" in our 1 acre fenced property with our Llama, Alpaca and Nigerian Goats a week ago. I lost one Friday, I thought it was a coyote but today my husband caught a Red Tailed Hawk down on the ground chasing the chicks, luckily he scared it away! I feel like my dream of free ranging chickens is about to come to an end, will they ever be safe from the hawks???

 

[centrarchid]

I have 6 six-week old chicks I just started to let "free range" in our 1 acre fenced property with our Llama, Alpaca and Nigerian Goats a week ago.  I lost one Friday, I thought it was a coyote but today my husband caught a Red Tailed Hawk down on the ground chasing the chicks, luckily he scared it away!  I feel like my dream of free ranging chickens is about to come to an end, will they ever be safe from the hawks???

They will not be completely safe although odds will improve as they go. Some hawks specialize on smaller chickens or prefer to target hens. Adult standard sized roosters can make the hawks job more dicey, especially if the chickens have access to cover that hawk must walk on ground to get through. Cover patches unfortunately are not always what you find associated with pastures, especially with larger grazers and browsers like you have.

First, I would confine your juvenile chickens for a few days to see if hawk moves on. You will always need to have this capacity. As chickens grow they will grow out of the easy pickings size bracket. Secondly, start looking into how you can provide cover or make so birds spend more time closer to existing cover by providing feeding stations near the cover. Thirdly, if not already included in the mix, then consider acquiring a single standard size breed rooster. If you are going to be hens-only, then consider option of continuous confinement or even a chicken tractor.

You pasture will be tight for that many animals and will take on the characteristics of a feed lot. You might consider setting aside or two edges that are managed for chickens that the larger animals cannot access. The larger animals will not provide protection from many predators so you will have to find ways to compensate. Electrified poultry netting coupled with a large patch of cover can help against many predators including hawks. Provide a picture of your pasture and its immediate surroundings so we can see what might prove to be easy approaches.

 

[sue4rescue]

Thanks for your feedback cantrarchid! I have been keeping them in a coop since I got them at a few days old, only recently started letting them loose after reading another post about letting them free range at 6 weeks of age. We have plenty of trees on the property (see attached picture) for cover and they do not stray far from their coop which is attached to the back side of the barn. Are there any sort of decoys that will keep hawks away?

 

[centrarchid]

Your trees will not provide cover as I know it. Hawks of greatest concern will be well positioned to target chickens on the ground beneath trees and be able to do every thing on the wing in an attack.

Your ruminants will also be killing some of those trees relatively soon. I have not seen any decoys that work consistently for any length of time as the resident hawks eventually figure them out.

The forage value of that pasture will be degraded quickly even for chickens causing birds to move beyond your fence.

 

[Yvette 11]

Hi

My chicks are 3 weeks old and i have a coop and a run…the coop is off the ground and the chicks love the roosting poles inside and outside. At dusk they seem really scared and huddle together peeping their lungs out….but won't go up inside the coop. I know they can get up their because they climb all over the place…is it because its dark in the coop…should I put a light on?

, my chicks try to do the same but we just push them up and close coop. They are now starting to run up on their own at bedtime and are learning fast.