Almost Free Range

[TheFirstLadiesChickens]

Best way to tell about the fence is to watch them. If there's lot's to do for the chickens in the garden I don't think they'd be looking to get out. A photo would be fun to see. And what @aart said about the hawks. I'm lucky to have a pair of nesting ravens nearby and they bomb-dive any hawk that I've ever seen soaring overhead. Mine free range from sunup to sundown, with access to 7 acres but they only use less than 2. We have a 4 foot fence which discourages predators, but anything that was determined could get over or under it. The chickens have so much space they don't try.

Ok. I will try to get a picture. So you haven't lost any chickens "wild chick"? Just wondering. That's interesting that ravens are so protective.

 

[wild chick]

Before we fenced in our acreage, we had one lost to neighbor dogs. Since the fence went up we had one other loss, probably a fox or bobcat. It was between feeding the barnyard at 5 pm and dusk when we go back out to lock them in the coop. That chicken was a loner and always ventured far off from the flock. The coop is not near the perimeter fence and we found the feathers there, on the inside of the fence, a snatch & carry, so not an owl or hawk (they can't carry a large chicken). Those are my only predator losses in the 3 years here, and we are surrounded by national forest. Every predator you can imagine. They are locked up tight at night, but daytime is all free range. Ravens are protecting their own nesting area, even when they aren't nesting. Their young ones come around every year, but they don't mess with the chickens. Also I have a good rooster.

 

[TheFirstLadiesChickens]

Before we fenced in our acreage, we had one lost to neighbor dogs. Since the fence went up we had one other loss, probably a fox or bobcat. It was between feeding the barnyard at 5 pm and dusk when we go back out to lock them in the coop. That chicken was a loner and always ventured far off from the flock. The coop is not near the perimeter fence and we found the feathers there, on the inside of the fence, a snatch & carry, so not an owl or hawk (they can't carry a large chicken). Those are my only predator losses in the 3 years here, and we are surrounded by national forest. Every predator you can imagine. They are locked up tight at night, but daytime is all free range. Ravens are protecting their own nesting area, even when they aren't nesting. Their young ones come around every year, but they don't mess with the chickens. Also I have a good rooster.

Ok. Thanks. Sorry for your losses.

 

[dalasgalas]

Mine free range in my fenced in back yard. We have hawks in the neighborhood, so it's always good to keep an eye on the sky.

 

[TheFirstLadiesChickens]

Ok thanks

 

[wild chick]

Ok. Thanks. Sorry for your losses.

Thank you, but really I thought being out here in the forest I would be dealing with losses constantly. I'm grateful that it's only been two in 3 years. (of course there have been others, but not due to predators). Do let your chickens scratch the garden, you'll explode with happiness when you see them having a "new place". Free range chickens are the happiest things I've ever seen. Here's a picture of 2 of mine in the snow, the 4 foot fence in the background: