Do I need a run with my house?

[Chester1977]

New to the forum.We have a severe stinkbug, snake, tick, boxelder bug problem at the farm I just moved to in Shenandoah Valley VA. I cleaned out the chicken house and put new poultry netting around, fixed the door and have made the chicken house habitable again. It is 15' x 13' open air on one side.

Plan on getting 10 guineas and 6 hens or so and let them free range the farm to help control the bugs, keep the snakes in check and if we got a few eggs that would be great.

I understand the keep them 95 degrees first week 90 second and so on until ready for coop. Then when they are 2 months or so, just letting them out of the coop in the morning and encouraging them back in at night with feed.

Will this work without a run?

What are the pitfalls of this strategy.

 

[midget_farms]

It will work fine - would be even better if you could brood them in the coop - or very close - in either case they quickly figure out where they should be and put themselves to sleep at night.

If you have another place though - like a cozy barn on the property they may take up in there too/instead.

Free ranging is great! I do it as often as I can - but - you have to pay the tax! The tax is you will lose hens to predators every so often. I lose several per year. I have a fox I'm dealing with right now & have to keep the hens locked up as she comes around at about noon when I'm not there.

In any case - predators are a part of life with chickens & everything eats chicken! So - let 'em run free & they will clean up your bug problem very quick. But be aware that you will need to replace several each year.

They will not run away - they can't read maps or street signs so they don't know where to go.