Can I just let them forage?

[Olive Hill]

So, for someone in the midwest, is it possible, with the exception of winter for 3-4 chickens to find enough food to survive on (and produce eggs) 1/2 an acre for the majority of the year? We have a weedy lawn, there's violets, and dandelions, and clover, and grass, and bugs galore.

Anything is possible, but that's highly improbable. 1/2 an acre is nothing especially all lawn. There is no varied terrain in lawn, no tall browse, rocks, fallen logs, etc. They may survive but they would not thrive.​

 

[sunflowerenvy]

Quote:
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u are on a small arce u would need a least 2 acres per bird if they have live off land. and due to the snow cover u need to feed them pellets or crumbles. u can let them freerange but there are predator out there

iam sorry but i dont understand why u have chicken when u are on asmall piece of land and u dont give them chicken food i have 12 chicken n pen in and they eat greens, chicken food, and hot oatmeal and scratch n BOSS i n winter. i go thur a50 lb bag of pellets a month.

 

[ranchhand]

That's a tough question to answer, given your circumstances. Overall, the answer is no, since I have read your previous posts.

You're in the middle of a city, in the middle of the US and you have half an acre with a lot of nature within walking distance. You're planning on getting chickens next year.

First, a half acre isn't going to support many chickens for long if it is their only source of feed. And the nature areas may become a problem - whoever manages the property probably won't want chickens roaming and you will definitely need to keep your birds home to protect them from predators.

Is your half acre fenced well? If it is, I'd say let them free range only when you can be with them, otherwise have a run and feed them supplemental feed all the time.

Free ranging will cut their feed consumption a bit. But I still feel you will need to have feed available at all times.

Good luck, let us know what you get and welcome!

 

[Herbwifemama]

Quote:
I don't have ANY chickens yet, and I know next to nothing about keeping them. That's why I'm here.

Gathering information.

Unfortunately, we're on a busy road and have no fencing. Fencing will happen before chickens though. I was thinking of a chicken tractor and moving the tractor daily, not just letting them free range(I'm trying to decide if I want them IN my garden to eat bugs, or OUT of my garden and away from the tomatoes). But you're saying that if I move the tractor daily, they're still going to need feed, because they need more land than that to survive on?

Here's my yard last summer if it helps...

http://herbwifemama.wordpress.com/2010/08/12/simple-thursdays-garden-tour/

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
I don't have ANY chickens yet, and I know next to nothing about keeping them. That's why I'm here.

Gathering information.

Unfortunately, we're on a busy road and have no fencing. Fencing will happen before chickens though. I was thinking of a chicken tractor and moving the tractor daily, not just letting them free range(I'm trying to decide if I want them IN my garden to eat bugs, or OUT of my garden and away from the tomatoes). But you're saying that if I move the tractor daily, they're still going to need feed, because they need more land than that to survive on?

Yep. To feed forage only takes a huge area.

But, they won't eat quite as much commercial feed. They do love gardens - mine love it a little too much, they decimate it in about 30 minutes. Bugs are a bonus, but they go for the plants first.

You should have seen the first year I let them in the garden. Everything gone.

Depending upon how many you decide to get.... for me a 10' x 10' x 6' dog run with a coop works great. It's not moveable, so I let them range when I can be there. It doesn't stop the hawks at all, but it does run off most predators. And I do mean right there, not in the house. I would only reccommend 5-6 hens for a run that size if they are large fowl.

 

[Judy]

Yup, you'll find you have to fence them OUT of the garden during gardening season. When the tomatoes or whatever are through, let them in and they will do a great job of cleaning up bugs and plants. Better yet, let them do some cleaning before you plant. They'll scratch the grubs out of the soil, probably eat any snails or slugs, etc.

 

[mkearsley]

I gave my birds free access to our garden year-long, they would go in there every now & again, but I only had problems when I locked them in the garden (I had to build a fence because the dog likes to run along the fence & right through the garden). Although, they really LOVED the tomatoes & would eat them before they even turned red! They also cleaned up all my raspberries & the blackberries they could reach

If I were you, I'd put up a good fence, make sure the neighbor's dogs can't get through, same with strays. Mine free range all day long, & decide when to go to bed. I haven't had any problems with predators (other than dogs - mine & the neighbors - thanks to my dog digging under the fence), but I'm also right in town with a regular-sized back yard that the birds are in. I've got 4 hens, and they always have access to crumbles. I'd also recommend talking to the City offices & making sure you can have birds, how many you can have & if you can have roosters. We can't have roosters - against the law because they're so noisy. I thought about doing the chicken tractor thing, even had my hubby make one. However, it was a bit too difficult for me to move, and within 1/2 a day they'd trimmed all the grass. So now the tractor sits against the fence as their home & coop. I just use it to provide them a good protected place during the winter, and a place for them to roost. This is definitely the place for help with your birds (when you get them! There's always a ton of great info & support.

 

[mulewagon]

When you're building your fence, bear in mind that young chickens, even of heavy breeds, can fly high. Mine could get over a six-foot fence, a couple even with their wings clipped. They're too big now, thank goodness...

People whose chickens live on forage usually have not only a lot of land, but other animals. The chickens eat the spilled grain, even if it's not bought for them. They also pick grain and fly larvae out of manure.

 

[abhaya]

mine free range have pellets in the coop. I have had a 50 pound bag of feed for 3 months. they eat it but just not very much. that is for 7 lg breed birds. I still have about 1/4 of the bag left.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'll agree with the majority that, in your circumstances, no, you cannot just let them forage. I grew up on a farm in the hills of east Tennessee and we did just let ours forage. The only time we supplemented their food was when the ground was covered with snow. They certainly did not use 2 acres per chicken but we did have draft horses and cows in the winter so they did supplement their feed with grain from hay that those animals ate plus whatever they got from the manure. But as long as the ground was not covered with snow, they could find quite a bit in the winter. And we had plenty of eggs, not on the winter but during laying season. Not the 5 or 6 a week from each hen that is pretty normal for a lot of us on this forum if we chose our breeds for that, but still quite a bit.

I don't think you can just let them forage because your half acre is not all that big. They will wander further than that looking for varied food and get themselves in trouble, either getting your neighbors mad or possibly encountering predators. That road is also a real risk. Just because they are chickens does not mean they will win a game of chicken with a passing car. So, yes, if you let them roam, you will need a good fence.

Another reason they might have trouble living on just foraging is that they probably don't know how. I've found that chickens that I raise from babies in a brooder are just not that good at foraging. They rely quite a bit on the feed that I make available. Chickens that have been raised by a broody are much more capable of finding their own food. They still come by the feeder and help themselves to some easy pickings, but they sure do not depend on that feed as much.

What do chickens eat? I'll not get into too much on the prepared chicken feed. There are a lotof options out there for that. But from a foraging viewpoint, they eat a lot of plant matter. That can be grass, weeds, bush or small tree leaves, about anything they can get. It does not have to be green and living. They can be quite happy with brown, dried up plant matter. They eat seeds. This can be grass seeds, weed seeds, many fruits and berries. Grain certainly falls in this category. Most things you grow in the garden is fair game, both the plants and the vegetables. They eat creepy crawlies. They will eat about any insect or spider they can catch. I've seen them picking off ants. They love grasshoppers and crickets. They will catch and eat wasps and bees. They love worms, grubs, and caterpillars. If you give them a wasp's nest, they will probably tear it apart to get the larva. You will often see them scratching, especially in anything you have mulched. Not only are they looking for the creepy crawlies, they are looking for decaying plant matter. If they see an interesting morsel, alive or dead, they will eat it. Often, I see mine when taking a dust bath just eat dirt. They are getting some small sand and rocks to use as grit, but they are also just eating dirt. I think they get certain minerals that way. They eat meat. If they can catch a mouse, they will peck it to bits and eat it all. Mine especially love to do that with frogs. Some people cut open road kill and let them eat that. So what do chickens eat when foraging? About anything.

The fencing discussion is worth a thread of its own. There are a whole lot of options. What kind of fence you build depends on what you want that fence to do, mainly either keep the chickens in or keep predators out, but there are other considerations. I'll not go into that here.

So welcome to the forum. You might look in the Learning Center up at the top of this page and ask away on anything you don't understand. One thing I will warn you about. We all have different goals, circumstances, and experiences. There is seldom one right answer for anything that fits all of us. When you read something, try to understand the circumstances involved with that comment and take what applies to your situation. We give a lot of conflicting advice, partly because of our different goals and circumstances and partly because a lot of different things work. Keeping chickens does not have to be complicated. As long as you give them food, water, basic shelter from the weather and protection from predators, they should thrive. But keeping any animal does tie you down since they depend on you. I hope you decide to join us in the adventure.