do chickens need to be free range

[farmgirlforever18]

i have about 45 acres but i have mine in a closed run due to dogs ect. and they do just fine

i will let them out for a couple of hours every other day or so.

 

[poseygrace]

I think a lot of the reason I choose to free range them is my run is just too small, and it basically looks like a moonscape. If I had a beautiful run like the pics posted, I probably wouldn't feel so sorry for the little boogers. I learned the hard way to build wayyyy more run than you think you'll need. I want to make the run bigger, but haven't had time. Plus, we live in major suburbia, and I am technically not supposed to have chickens, although I cleared it with all the neighbors first. Anyway, I think ALL of our chickens are better than the poor dears in the factories.

 

[stargazingmommy]

I live in the city on just under 6000 SF. house is on 924 of that, then theres a shed and the front yard. and a pool. Not much room for ranging chickies. I try though...I frequently evict the ducks from their yard and the chicks from their coop and run out into the main yard. Ducks immediately head to the chicken coop(their old home), and chickens run to a corner of the yard where the old coop used to be. morons.

 

[shiloswizard]

We do let our chickens free range and they seem to love it. Have had them for 1 1/2 years with no issues. Sadly a fox got our bantam rooster this past Sunday around 8:00pm. Today the fox came around 8:30am. A worker at a local Blue Seal suggested I let them out a little later in the mornings and bring them in around 5:00. Has anyone tried this? We are considered putting a run or enclosure up for them. Any suggestions on how to approach this problem?
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

I think you have to have common sense about whether to range your birds or not and where/when. Prior to my getting chickens, I watched my neighbor man do everything wrong and his birds disappeared one at a time till he only had 4 of his original 18 left within a 14 month period. We have seen foxes in our front yard, have a pair of barred owls living in our oaks, have tons of hawks, had racoons, skunks, and opossums on our back porch, and even seen coyotes. Now, those same trees that house the owls also seem to deter the hawks: We have about 2 acres of sweeping live oaks with low twisting canopies. I have seen hawks make several attempts to dive into them without success...so we put the coop, run and pasture under the trees. We also put larger animals that do not like anything/anybody they don't know in with the chickens in their pasture.

I have a 100x300 fenced pasture that the chickens share with four decent sized goats and sometimes a cow or horse: If my nanny goat doesn't know you...you aren't getting in and that goes for animals too (she attacks our 90 lbs dogs and they are terrified of her). I have a dutch door (split in middle...top and bottom open separately) on each coop section and in the morning, after the sun is fully up and the owls that live in our trees have went to bed, I open the top door. The chickens that want to go out usually do so then and must fly and perch on the top of the bottom half of the door. They stay out till late afternoon, early evening when they all return to their respective coops to roost. I usually have to put the last couple guineas in at night and then close the doors and secure the latches. During the day, half the chickens stay in the pasture, but at least 1/3 of them venture all over the property: Our cat keeps a pretty good eye on them (doesn't bother them at all...never has). Also, our guineas are pretty good at defending against death from above and have saved our ducks before: It was awesome to watch them beat that hawk down.

When I started letting the chickens out, I had a couple times somebody stayed out till it got dark: They couldn't seem to find their way home (probably since they are night blind). So, we installed a 25 watt light bulb in the coop. Since then nobody has stayed out past curfew. In a year and a half I've only lost two chickens: One bantam Dorking rooster that didn't get back into the coop before dusk and the Barred Owls got him (he was rehomed here and didn't follow routine); and one Golden Campine that went over the back fence and never returned (added to the top of that fence).

So, if you can let them out in an area that is safe: They will love you for it. If you can't then as others have said...just bring them treats from the outside and they'll still love you for it. Just use your common sense: Nobody knows your property and predators like you do. Even if they only get out once in a while, anything beats life stuffed in a cage on a production farm.

 

[dbounds10]

My 6 girls have a 216 sq ft run but it is all sand for easy cleaning and drainage. I try to give them some sort of fruit or veg every day but I have been feeling sorry for them. Today I let them out for about an hour and boy did they have a blast. I got them all back in the run with blueberries. Have part of my fence that fell down so I have to stay out with them to make sure they dont wander into my neighbors yard until I get that panel replaced. We live on an acre so I have a pretty big back yard and we do have hawks so I dont think I will ever leave them out alone. I plan to start letting them out every night an hour before dusk and see if they put themselves back to bed without treats. I want them to be happy and to give me some yummy eggs. They are almost 21 weeks and I have no eggs yet.

This is their run:

 

[Naughty]

i just recently started letting mine out of their run for awhile at night - not for space -b ecause their yard is more than enough space - but because my garden full of grasshoppers and those girls do the best pest control ever

have had a few that had to herd them - but mostly they are trained to come in to the yard when i ring the bell.... mostly i just let my older birds out - and it helps supplement their feed too - they haven't tried to get any of my veggies - probably because they prefer the bugs - but if they do get an occasional small tomato - i'd rather they get it than the grasshoppers.

i am working to get the garden fenced with access all day for them - but so far they are happy

problem is - now when i go out to take care of them - i have to watch them - they want out in that garden - even when i don't have the time so i have to watch that they dont slip out when i open the gate to go in