Those are some good looking hens. I’ve had good luck with Wyandottes and white Leghorns being good free rangers with few losses. All other common hatchery layers have been hit or miss. Sometimes only 2 out of 20 learn what they need to in order to make it. But once they do learn it, they’re bulletproof.Isn't it so amazing how chickens blend in!
Everything you mention about the location of food and known safety making a huge difference is what I've observed too. My flock is much different than yours, but instinct is instinct. I love watching them and I need to start making notes of what I learn...but I'm lazy
Chickens using cover in different areas of the property:
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Brand new chickies taking shelter under a strawberry plant in their outdoor brooder.
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The above pictures are from when they were confined to a run/the garden for the first couple months of their lives.
Then, after we started letting them have free roam of the property for at least a few hours a day:
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Most of their time out was spent at the edge of the woods or up by the house, in/near their run.
As they got a little older and a little bigger, they got a bit more unsupervised roaming time. Dad and I made this shelter for them out of scrap wood:
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Putting one of their waterers in there and tossing some treats in ensured that they knew it was for them and they got comfortable with it really quickly.
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(I love this one)
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Sometime in November we stopped letting them out, because the hawks were very actively hunting them and there were just too many close calls (in all of those close calls, my girls were saved by hiding spots like bushes, brush piles, under the car, etc). They were still far from full grown and not very coordinated flock-wise yet, so an easy target for Cooper's and red-shouldered hawks, and my anxiety was thru the roof.
So except for short excursions out during thaws, they spent all winter in their (winterized) run.
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They all started laying during this time, too, starting with Lady Sybil on November 28th!
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The winterized run. So tiny
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The ground disappeared!
Some excursions:
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Overall we had a mild winter and spring came quickly, so they were out and about again for a few hours at a time before they knew it.
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Hello!
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Even though we started letting them out again, dad and I modified/expanded their run.
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Now they're ranging the property from morning to evening (or at least mid-late afternoon) most days! If I don't shut them in the run before sundown, they make their way back to the coop themselves, the good girls.
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They all forage pretty well but all food and water is up in/near the run, and they know the run is their safe place, so that's where they return to periodically throughout the day and in the evening.
I culled all my hatchery birds when Marek’s broke out in my farmyard. I didn’t want to risk any of them being vaccinated and therefore be lifelong vectors. Had I not done culled those birds, I’d probably have some old laying hens running around.
