Addicted to free range!

[nursesoc]

My six hens have never been out of their run. I'm considering letting them free range for part of day when I have time to supervise them however I'm afraid they will run off and not come back? Is this a legitimate concern or will they stay somewhat close to the coop and run?

 

[mclanea]

Mine can't get out of the yard, we have 6 ft walls. Do you have a fence or anything?

 

[amynrichie]

My six hens have never been out of their run. I'm considering letting them free range for part of day when I have time to supervise them however I'm afraid they will run off and not come back? Is this a legitimate concern or will they stay somewhat close to the coop and run?

They will stay close. Try it about an hour before sunset. They will go right back in the coop to roost when it gets dark.

 

[Flock Master64]

My six hens have never been out of their run. I'm considering letting them free range for part of day when I have time to supervise them however I'm afraid they will run off and not come back? Is this a legitimate concern or will they stay somewhat close to the coop and run?

I have 7 chickens, 4 hens 2 pullets and 1 cockerel. I live on 11 acres and I let my hens and cockerel few range all day and every night they come back into the coop on their own. One thing I would recommend about free ranging is make sure they have water out in the yard that they can drink. Mine are lazy and won't go back to the coop/run unless their ready for bed or want to lay an egg so I have to bring water to them. Oh yeah, the reason I let my cockerel free range and not my pullets are, my cockerel is a very large breed and at 2 months he is larger then my full grown hens so I'm sure he can take care of himself, the pullets aren't so big, their harder to catch and my hens pick on them sometimes

 

[nursesoc]

no fence I'm on about 1.5 acres surrounded by corn fields I am off the road quite a ways but I think I'm gonna wait until they take the corn off because if they get in there I will never find them.

 

[bucky52]

Chickens are creatures of habit.I have always let mine out after I get home from work.6:30 every evening.And boy do they let me know.I call them my little zombies because they are crowding the door.I have 8 older hens..And I have 4 young hens that were a year old this past May.The younger hens will stay out all of 10 minutes .they go back in and wait for me to close their run door.My husband and I supervise my hens when they free range.Due to a large number of Hawks in the area.

 

[Flock Master64]

Chickens are creatures of habit.I have always let mine out after I get home from work.6:30 every evening.And boy do they let me know.I call them my little zombies because they are crowding the door.I have 8 older hens..And I have 4 young hens that were a year old this past May.The younger hens will stay out all of 10 minutes .they go back in and wait for me to close their run door.My husband and I supervise my hens when they free range.Due to a large number of Hawks in the area.

Mine are the same, I too have many predatory birds around here and when I do see them I scare them off with my drone

 

[mclanea]

Since they just started laying I'm trying to keep them in the coop a bit more I don't really like going on an easter egg hunt.

And boy do they let me know they aren't getting out as much this week as last. Every time they see me over (my office is like 30 feet from them!) they make a big old racket. Funny stuff.

 

[BruceAZ]

Mine can't get out of the yard, we have 6 ft walls. Do you have a fence or anything?

they can fly over that 6ft wall.. i saw them do it once or twice..

but if you keep the food and water in the middle of the yard.. they will stay in the yard instead of flying into the neighbors'

either that or trim their wings

 

[mechanic57]

My six hens have never been out of their run. I'm considering letting them free range for part of day when I have time to supervise them however I'm afraid they will run off and not come back? Is this a legitimate concern or will they stay somewhat close to the coop and run?

When you first let them out, they won't go far. The more you let them out, they will gradually get more familiar with the area and start wandering further from the run but they will come back as it gets dark. They know where home is. I've had my run door get blown shut, locking out the chickens while I wasn't home. I got home just after dark and went to shut and half were all huddled together on the ground outside the door and the rest were roosting in the tree just outside the door because that was as close as they could get to home. They can't see in the dark so they just bed down and sleep. It was easy to pick them up and put them in the coop.

I don't let them free range all day anymore. Seemed like the more time in the day they had, the further they wander. I've caught them coming off someone else's property pretty far away. I live in the woods and have acres for them to roam but I don't want them wandering further because some people have dogs. If I let them out for about 3 hours before dark, they stay on my land. If I let them out at first light every day, they would be a mile away by noon. Too much more of a chance for them to wander into contact with predators.