Can I leave the chickens outside alone during the day?

[NewHen]

I live in Los Angeles. Once my chicks are hens, is it okay to leave them out during the day when we're not home? We do have hawks and cats in the area. My yard is completely fenced. Are most of the deaths at night from nocturnal predators?

 

[RuffledFeathers]

How high is your fence? Depending on the breed, some chickens can fly much higher than you would expect- especially when younger and sprightly! 6 feet is no sweat for some of them. A cat with half a brain will not go after a full size chicken (standard) but will probably stress them out a bit. Hawks can be a threat if you dont have a lot of shrubbery or cover that they can dash under. I lose chickens to hawks much less than to dogs. Your yard would need to be pretty secure so that nothing pops in unexpectedly. And my friends with more urban chickens find that raccoons that come in under the cover of darkness are really the worst predator in the city.

 

[tammyd57]

Raccoons don't just come out at night and eat your chickens. I've seen a lot of them during the daytime pilfering trash and wandering yards in Whittier (not far from L.A.) I caught one climbing in my open car window at noon, parked on a very busy street.

 

[gallusdomesticus]

I agree with ruffled feathers. Dogs are the number one predator of chickens in an urban environment and probably elsewhere also. I lost four birds to a stray dog that tunneled under a six foot high cedar fence. I would be hesitant to leave the birds unattended in the back yard for most of the day, hawks, dogs, and racoons are all threats.

 

[Keri78]

I lost one of my buff orp. hens when she was a few months old to a hawk in the middle of the afternoon! But that being said, I was keeping them in my fenced in backyard so they had no trees for protection. I've had my flock freeranging our side yard/woods/ and the rest of our 5acres(no fence) for over a yr. now with no issues at all. I do have a rooster with them who alerts them to take cover when I hawk flies over(and we do have lots of hawks) and a feisty cockapoo who loves to ted to the flock and pretend she's a "farmdog" but her yappy barking does deter the hawks and whatever else may think of having a "chicken dinner" But I've just come to it that our chickens REALLY do enjoy freeranging and I REALLY enjoy watching them roam our property ...it just reminds me of a slower pace of life and seems to take me back to a time when life was simple...so I've come to terms with the fact that I may over the course of time loose one here or there to a hawk or other predator but it's a trade off for their quality of life while their here. I do lock them up at night and let them out first thing in the morning. Now my silkies/frizzles/ and sizzles I don't chance at all!!! They really seem to be content in their pens and are just too tiny & vulnerable for me to allow to freerange. PLUS I have WAAAY too much $ invested and would be heartbroken if one of my "babies" got eaten! Not to say that I don't LOVE my "Big Girls" too and I would be upset if/when something happens but I know that standard size egg laying chickens have been allowed to roam farms for ages and if something happens I would accept it as part of life. I know double standard and completely "girl logic" here but that's my 2cents!(LOL)

 

[beckymom3]

Simply put, NO! Yes, dogs are a huge risk at all hours of day and night, but raccoons will venture out during daylight esp when they know there is a free and vulnerable meal waiting for them.

Free range your birds only while you are there, otherwise keep them locked up. Take if from someone who has lost an entire flock because I thought my birds were fine during the day. I came home to total massacre one day BEFORE DARK from a raid of raccoons. They realized that if they came too late they'd miss out on dinner, so they came early.

Sorry, I know it's hard to keep them locked up, esp when they are asking to be set loose, but keeping them safe is better than coming home to heartache!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I wouldn't leave them ouside if you aren't going to be there to watch them. I only let my chickens out if I'm here. Have you considered building a run for them?

 

[Olive Hill]

Once my chicks are hens, is it okay to leave them out during the day when we're not home?

Sure it is. The choice is yours and no one can tell you it's not okay (provided you're not doing something illegal, of course.) Are there risks in doing so? Absolutely. If you're okay with those risks, go for it. If not, keep them penned.

Are most of the deaths at night from nocturnal predators?

Depends on the area. If you're asking if there are predators that will threaten your chickens during the day, yes, there are.​

 

[CityChook]

Quote:
Sure it is. The choice is yours and no one can tell you it's not okay (provided you're not doing something illegal, of course.) Are there risks in doing so? Absolutely. If you're okay with those risks, go for it. If not, keep them penned.

Are most of the deaths at night from nocturnal predators?

Depends on the area. If you're asking if there are predators that will threaten your chickens during the day, yes, there are.​

This is good advice.

 

[nursemeh]

I agree with a lot of what Keri78 said, so I won't repeat all her discussion on quality of life for them, except to say ditto!

We only have 4 hens and we would be hit hard if something happened to one of them, but we see them free-ranging and foraging while we are home and they do so well. They aren't as "stupid" as some ppl think. They react to noise and threats and act accordingly. I will leave them inside my fenced back yard for sometime while gone during the day- I would probably not leave them for 8 hours everyday. I only let them out of our inner fenced yard to roam about the country side when I am home, this is because of the threat of stray dogs.

The strays out where I live are definitely scared of being shot- you can tell the way they act theat they've been shot at- so I scare the crap out of every stray I see and don't see them again!

I think the OP should assess the risk in your area and decide for yourself about them roaming. Do you have shrubs, low grasses, trees for them to hide under?

I think you might discover the the worst threat of them free-roaming is the chicken poop!!