Birds don't like to free range!

[poltroon]

I love Alton Brown, but he was just taken in by the industry line on this one.

Our chicks didn't want to go outside either. So we put the food outside. Now they run around all day, happy and adventurous. Even though there is an occasional hawk overhead. And ours are teeny, vulnerable bantams.

PS: I can't imagine a hawk going after a turkey.

 

[Weasleymum]

Quote:
Yeah, that would be some hawk, that could fly away with a full-grown turkey in its talons! Maybe a bald eagle or something *huge*, but a hawk?

 

[Guitartists]

Mine all run for the bushes or the coop if something big flies over... but it certainly does not stop them from going out

As soon as they hear me coming they are ready for a mad dash when that door opens... lol

 

[Dixiedoodle]

That show is right up 'there' , with the one I saw that said.. "White chickens lay white eggs and brown chickens lay brown eggs"..

These shows make my blood boil with the uneducated writers.. Let them actually do some 'investigating on the subject at hand..'

 

[scooter147]

Thanksgiving and Christmas the two broad breasted white turkeys I had
(had to give them to someone else for Thanksgiving and Christmas as my SO made pets of them). Where raised in a dog kennel with a large dog house as shelter. When they fully feathered I would open the kennel door to let them range and they would wander maybe 10-12 feet from the kennel but actually spent most of their time in the kennel even if the door was open. I had them for almost 6 months and this habit never changed.
I just attributed it to their size, they are so big that walking actually looks painful.

 

[Heather J]

I think the big reason they don't venture far into their run is because our standard cockerels free range all day and sometimes get into the bantam run, and it scares them. As soon as I get the pen secure I'll try putting the feed out there and draw them out--but not until the weather clears up again.

Silly birds.

 

[FractalFarmer]

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Yes, I think they get "institutionalized" after spending so long in captivity. Very sad, and such a charade for them to label those birds "free range" just because the door to the factory farm is left open, even though they never get out. Possibly there is nothing at all appealing beyond the door anyway. Poor birdies!

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