Advice from people who live in the woods please! How big to make an extended run? Balancing space vs safety near the woods

[silentnanny]

Hello!
I’m not able to let my chickens free range unless I’m nearby close to them. Almost every time they’ve been alone for a brief time, one goes missing . Our current coop-run is 5’x12’ and have 5 hens. We can’t decide between making a much bigger fenced area that would protect against land animals but have more free range options vs a smaller fence that would have covering over the top to protect against air predators too (but likely have fewer bugs/free ranging options). Any tips from people who live in high predator zones? The coop backs onto several acres of woods. We’ve lost chickens to both foxes and hawks/owls. Obviously losing just 1 chicken is a big deal since we only have a small flock. What do you all do to try to balance the space vs safety to still let them free range some ?

 

[FrostRanger]

If your area has a high predator load, I'd go for as large of a run you can secure like fort knox. 5x12 is large enough for the amount of birds you have, but no bird has ever complained about more room. An option for a bigger uncovered run is hawk netting, you'll just need to be mindful of climbing ground predators as hawk netting won't stop them

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Netting is a great option. If your coop is secure you could even use chain link for the run without too much worry. That's what my family in Montana has done. They also have dogs, which I would highly recommend if you don't have one.

 

[CHlCKEN]

My greatest day time threat has always been arial predators. Hawk netting needs to be totally secure if you're going to use it because they aren't dumb birds. They find a way through it. I honestly recommend just building a larger run because the truth is that no netting or fencing will ever keep your birds perfectly safe.

 

[TwoCrows]

I live in mountains on the edge of the woods, lots of Bobcats, Coyotes, Cougars, Fox, Bears not to mention Hawks. I just don't free range unless I supervise or at least am milling around outside. These predators are always lurking. I have found that first thing in the morning and early afternoon seem to be the most quiet for predators but times may differ in your area. Much of the day my birds stay in a large run. Give them things to do all day.... levels, mirrors, swings, branches to roost on, ladders, hanging cabbages, flake of alfalfa hay, etc...

 

[Sally PB]

My chicken run is roofed. I seriously thought about extending their space into the woods, with just fencing around that area, and letting the trees provide aerial protection.

The next morning, I saw three small raccoons trying to dig into the run and being foiled by the apron. That was the end of the idea of letting them into the woods.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I live in mountains on the edge of the woods, lots of Bobcats, Coyotes, Cougars, Fox, Bears not to mention Hawks. I just don't free range unless I supervise or at least am milling around outside. These predators are always lurking. I have found that first thing in the morning and early afternoon seem to be the most quiet for predators but times may differ in your area. Much of the day my birds stay in a large run. Give them things to do all day.... levels, mirrors, swings, branches to roost on, ladders, hanging cabbages, flake of alfalfa hay, etc...

x2 all this (minus foxes). Although I don't live in deep woods my set up is near a creek which attracts a great variety of animals passing through.

I only free range briefly in the afternoon to give the birds something to do, but they otherwise spend most of their time in the run.

For your set up I might go somewhere in the middle - keep the existing run as-is if you need to lock up tighter due to predator presence, but add on a larger space that's maybe not as secure but still fairly solid, with either roofed or with a quality netting or wire to ward off aerial predators. You can build it off what you already have so the existing run can form one "wall" of the new expanded area, for example.

You can also add enrichment in the form of clutter and piles of dried leaves or grass, so the birds can stay busy even in a smaller amount of space.

 

[SmiYa0126]

I let mine out after lunch every day, it has kept predators at bay. When I had let them free range all day I had more attacks. Now I feel like the predators are disoriented perhaps.

 

[Backroadlogic]

I'm deep in the woods. We have fox, coyote, bear, bobcat, raccoons, all the flying things, etc. I have 4 dogs to keep things under control. Without them I wouldn't be able free range like I do. I have something like 30 chickens living free range and sleeping in the trees around my house, the goat pen, and the pig house.

 

[kathy32]

When we started keeping chickens we had a huge area that was fenced in but open on top. We were lucky for a few years, but then started to lose hens to hawks on a regular basis. We ended up shrinking the run down considerably. It still isn't covered on top, but we ran strips of bird netting over in places and that seems to deter hawks from trying to come down into it. The hens did scratch down so the run is completely dirt and there isn't as much for them to forage, but we haven't had a hawk attack since we did that. It was definitely a tradeoff but I'm happy with the smaller secure area.