anyone else NOT letting their chix free range ALL day?

[GardenerGal]

Quote:
As your right-coast counterpart in southern New England, I have to deal with winter short days and long nights too. My barn has electricity, so I leave the lights on all day until about 8pm. The poultry run is attached to the barn with a separate entrance , so the chickens can go in and out at will. When the sun starts setting, they naturally gravitate toward the light shining from inside the barn and go in on their own. When I get home, I just close the run entrance.

 

[speckledhen]

I have three separate groups so they range in shifts or one group one day and the other group the next, but rarely all day long anymore. I would do an all day free range if I had just one group.

 

[7L Farm]

I don't let mine free range until the end of the day. Usually 3 hours before dark. To many predators here so I supervise when their out. So far its been a success. About 30 minutes before it gets dark they go in the coop fuss for awhile to see who gets which spot & the day is done.

 

[Rocky Top Chick]

Mine stay in a large run during the weekdays and when someone comes home we let them pseudo free range. We took plastic fencing and made them a large area to play in the woods. This way they won't wander off and I don't worry about predators. It is connected to the run. But if we leave for any amount of time I throw cracked corn in the run and they all come back in. It works really well for us and they are very happy birds.

 

[Judy]

I used to free range and had chicken wire around the garden, to keep the chickens out, at least when I didn't want them in there. Kept the dogs out, too, because they didn't try very hard, I'm sure.

I've tried it all -- free range during the day and lock them at night, no free range at all but a rather small and later a large yard, and free range 24/7. I do the latter now and haven't lost one for a long time -- because the dogs are also free range. It really wasn't hard to train them to leave the chickens alone. Once they know a command like "no" or "leave it," I just supervised them while out and gave the command when they moved toward the chickens. Took a few weeks before I was comfortable not supervising them. Two mutts and two purebreds, a Jack Daniel and a black lab (all rescued.)

 

[PepsNick]

I get home everyday at about 4:20, so the chicks are let out from then to about six, when they go in by themselves. Some weekends they're in the coop, and some they're out allll day.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Ours get out for an hour or so in the evenings and weekends. With our thick woods, the chickens like to go in there and peck around but since we have bears, hawks, owls, foxes, coyotes, badgers--even wolves and mountain lions sighted in our county!--we don't risk 24/7

 

[mom2to]

Hello,

I don't let mine free range unless I am outside with them. I had problems with hawks so they stay in their house or coop.

good luck

 

[mommyofthreewithchicks]

Mine have been picked on when I have let them free range- so I am putting them on lock down.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Mine don't do any technical free ranging but they do get out and have the run of my goat barn and about an acre of pasture for a couple hours a day. The rest of the time they are quite content since they have a big coop and a very large run.