do chickens need to be free range

[anthonyjames]

I see you have 5 acres and confine them to 1/4 arcre. What did you do to confine them?

I got 10 babies right now thinking of picking up 3 chickens that are currently in their first season of laying.

I am on 1 acre and would like to let them roam but I worry about my neighbors and I also want to keep them close to the house and coop. So I wouldn't mine confining them to large portion of the yard just not visually seeing an easy way to do it.

Can you post some photos?

 

[Agape Builder]

Quote:
I have the same dilemma (subdivision - HOA), but am wondering if it might be okay for them to free-range for an hour or two in the evenings if I'm outside with them at the time.

Also, how hard are they to "catch" and put up after free ranging? Will I need to bribe them with something, such as their favorite - oatmeal?

Leave the door to the coop open and they will automatically go back in on their own at or shortly before dusk. Then, just go and shut the door behind them. (Leave their main feeder and waterer in the coop.) They have an incredible roosting instinct. If they have lived in the coop for a while, they will know it as "home."

On the other hand, if you try to lock them up in the middle of the day, it may depend on how well trained your chicks are. Mine will all come running when they see me or I call them, hoping to get a treat. So, if it is during the day, call the chicks and put fresh food and water out in their coop (and, let them see you do it!) so they will come whenever you call them after that.

 

[hamilton]

I am new to having chickens.. this is my first year... I have 7 (3 golden comes, 2 easter eggers and 2 sexlinks) they are around 16 weeks old... I do let them free range during the day.. they do go back to their coop during the day and lay under the coop... My question is when it is time for them to lay eggs will I need to keep them in the enclosed area so they will lay their eggs there or if I let them free range will they go back to their coop? A friend of mine told me that most likely they will only lay their eggs in the woods so I will not be able to find them.

 

[shchinchillas]

We free range ours. They have the run of the farm, but tend to stay close to the house digging through the mulch or near the barn. They are put inside the barn at night, we weren't doing so until we heard a family of coons getting closer and closer. So at dusk they go into the barn, and then are left out to do as they please first thing in the morning when the horses are left out.

 

[tasymo]

Of course you don't "have to" free range your chickens. Mine do prefer to have the run of the yard, and are surprisingly good about staying within it's boundaries (our yard is just under an acre, on a corner lot, bordered by one residential street and one busy highway, and no fence). Since I can't supervise them all the time, I set up a 14'x30' "open run" using 4' tall welded wire fencing with 2"x4" openings. It surrounds their 8'x10' covered run. It isn't predator proof. This gives me four options for my Girls, lock down inside the coop at night, the covered run for outside when we won't be home or it's stormy, the open run for limited ranging without supervision when we are at home, or free ranging the entire yard with supervision. This system works great for me and my six hens.

 

[cdawson41]

I consider our chickens to be allowed to free range, however, the reality is they are enclosed at all times. My hubby and sons build a large yard for them that has a divider fence down the middle. The yard is 24 x24 in total size. Our chickens love to get in the grass and eat and dig and just do their chicken thing. By having the divider in the middle we can let them out on one side until the grass starts to get pretty short, then we let them out on the other side giving the first spot time to regrow. Works very well for our girls. Just a suggestion is space is an issue.

 

[VVolfpack]

My question is when it is time for them to lay eggs will I need to keep them in the enclosed area so they will lay their eggs there or if I let them free range will they go back to their coop?

I thought for sure I was gonna be having to do an easter egg hunt everyday with mine cause they free range all day and only spend the night in the coop. I still have troubles getting them into the coop at night, they like my deck railing too much. I saw somewhere on here to put golf balls in the nest boxes to give them the hint to lay there. When laying day finally came sure enough there was an egg in the nest box right next to the golf ball. I've watched them outside roaming around then when it's time and they will one by run head towards the coop, lay their egg, and be back out scratching around. They have been laying over a month now and have yet to have one miss the nest box.​

 

[sphsea]

I kept my 4 in their 9' by 4' coop for the first month. Now, I let them roam over 1 plus acre for a couple of hours before dark (I have to tie up my bird dog when the birds are free). The chickens are more productive, seem happier and are fun to watch in the yard while "free-ranging." At dusk, they go back to the coop and settle in for the evening.

More eggs, happier chickens, if you let them loose, in my experience.

 

[Beekissed]

I used to live on 1/4 acre in town and I had a flock of over 15 chickens that I pastured with the use of a chicken tractor. We would move it several times a day if we were home but if we were not we moved it as soon as we got home and then again before they went to bed. Then we just moved it next to the coop and opened the door on the tractor that was butted up against the pop door and they just trooped inside for the night.

You can have some of the benefits of free ranging if you want to use a tractor. Your birds will be happier, healthier and your run will stay cleaner and less bare.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

This is a good question. I just have suburban back yard chickens, but I haven't yet had the nerve to let them out of the run and into the yard. I hear, but don't see, a hawk fairly often. With only 4 birds, I would feel horrible if I lost one. I'm working on a chicken tractor, but it is slow going. My run is 5 x 10 and really needs to be expanded at some point. I feed them veggie scraps and dandelions, meal worms and sunflower seeds. They seem to be fine, but I feel somewhat guilty. I always thought I would have them wandering about the backyard, but when it came down to it, I just wanted to keep them safe.