Deciding To Free Range Your Flock

Great article and very informative. Everything is pretty much on point here that you wrote about. We free range ours girls in the back yard for about 6-years now. To this point we had our Russian Orloff attached by a dog, but that was due to her jumping our fence by the walk path. We have since fixed the fence problem. She had to go to the vet for a few staples but came through that so we were lucky on that occasion. Wish everyone the best on what ever route they choose for their precious flocks.

Good article! We have a suburban backyard flock which stays in night in a secure coop and run, but during the day have the run of a 1/8 acre fenced in backyard. We do have two dogs that have protected them on numerous occasions from possums. In two years we have not lost any chickens to predators. They are good layers, but the chicken TV in the backyard is a joy to watch! They are also quite amiable, some of which love to be held a bit every day. They definitely love getting out of the run in the early morning, and have consistently headed into the run and the coop right around dusk without any prodding. We did do a bit of training in the first week or so of being in the coop, so I concur with the article's tips with our experience.

Very good written article with good tips. Only would change this a little : “For the first week (at least) keep the chickens in their coop.”
To : “For the first week keep the chickens in a large coop or a little coop with an enclosed/safe/covered run. Such a run is always great to have for a little more space and to go outside early mornings when everyone is still asleep“

Great info. Thx!
We let our 6 girls out to free range in our yard for an hour or 2 every day and we've probably experienced everything you talk about. We've never lost one to predators but have witnessed attacks by hawks, a dog and a coyote. Another issue we've had with an unfenced yard in a suburban neighborhood is them visiting next door neighbor's yards to dig in flowerbed mulch or finding treats beneath bird feeders.

thoughtful article about free ranging a flock

Really good info and thought provoking.

I am a former free-ranger. Mine are now kept confined to an electro-netted 1/3 acre pen. A compromise that works well. The only real threat is hawks. But I've provided a very large old style quince bush and large run with a solid roof. We had a hawk attack last week and had zero injuries due to the presence of a rooster and a cockerel sounding the alarm and everyone making it to the bush or run in time.
One other con to free ranging is the poop all over your deck and front porch. I do not miss that!!

Good helpful article. Formatting erratic and distracting.

Very informative and practical...thanks!

i wish I had known all this before I first free ranges my chickens cause I would have been more intuitive into their alarm noises sadly I have not been home and they have been attacked whilst freee ranging I now usually only let them out when I am home

View attachment 1589584 This is a wonderful and detailed description of what it means and how to begin a free ranging flock. After losing several free rangers to land and flying predators, I have used these methods successfully for a couple of years.

I had to learn most of this on my own. There were parts that really helped me now. Thank you

Full of common sense. Helpful information for those who want chickens but don’t have experience.

Great information in this article. I am going to need to see if I find an "egg cache" because mine have yet to use their box!

Very informative!

Also very good “best practices” in this article.

Again, thanks for a great article for a newby.... Mac