Do you free range your chickens?

[SamLockwood]

I do, but it's not for everyone. I'm on a relatively large piece of land (16 acres) on which I've lived for 17 years and I'm very familiar with what kinds of predators are nearby and their general habits. I'm also willing and able to shoot any raccoons, coyotes, etc. that are stupid enough to make themselves visible on my property.

There's pros (insect control, my adult birds lay a bit more often), and cons (besides the obvious, the old birds have a habit of following me into the house if I leave any doors open, which is NOT cool if you don't want chicken poop in your floors).

Still, my first two weeks free-ranging I lost one of the four remaining birds from my original flock. I thought I lost another but it turned out she's become a master of stealth and is impossible to find when she naps under the deck or in the shrubberies.

The new flock has been doing "supervised" free ranging for the last 5 & half weeks, with the only "major" incident being when some neighborhood kids wandered up the 600' driveway and the guinea half of the flock made it known they DON'T like visitors.

 

[3KillerBs]

How high does the fence need to be?

That depends on the bird.

I had a Brahma who, after she hit POL, was so heavy that her maximum flight capability -- when powerfully motivated by the thought that someone else was getting a treat she wasn't sharing -- was about 18".

I have seen a 6-month-old OE cockerel make it up to a 10-foot roof by stages and his brother make the top of a standard-height door in one flight.

I find that the worst birds for flying out of the run are the POL pullets.

At least 4 feet, maybe 6 feet for lighter birds. But there are ways to make them less likely to go over any given fence. Primarily, to make the top too flimsy to land on because few birds (other than my first California White), intentionally go up and over. Usually they either go up because they're startled or something and randomly come down on one side or the other or they go up, perch on the top, and then decide which side to come down on.

(That CW, Chipotle, was smart enough to fly back into a pen she flew out of when she was done with whatever she was doing out there).

 

[Shadrach]

Is there a definition for "ranging?"

Not that I've read. I would take ranging to mean everything between free ranging and confinement. At the allotments which is a smallholding and subject to slightly different laws the chicken are still contained in the allotment run which is the large area outside the coop run.

 

[K0k0shka]

I don’t like how a lot of free range nazis call anything that’s not free ranging “confinement”. A factory farm cage where birds are on top of each other and can’t turn around AND backyard chickens roaming a large, but enclosed run is all swept into the same category of “confinement”, with a judgy implication of “imprisonment” and “denying of rights”. It’s a lot worse in other groups than on BYC, but the sentiment is still out there. Having a nice predator proof run where chickens have a minimum of 10 square feet per head is not confinement. It’s safety, and common sense.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

 

[Painted Calls]

Mine free range when I'm out there with them. I have a LOT of predators, and wouldn't have any birds left if I just turned them loose and said "toodles".

 

[srcannello]

I live in a suburban area. I have three chickens. I let them free range when I am home. My dogs help me keep them safe. I keep them in a pen when I am away.

 

[Chold05]

We have 5 acres in a rural area and I let them out to free range but I always supervise. I try to let them out for an hour each day… it’s become my relaxation time and I’ve grown to love the quiet and watching them.

We have red tails, cooper hawks, a cat that tried to attack one of hens, ground hogs, and last year a handful of dogs that got loose and ended up in our yard. Plus foxes, raccoons and coyotes . The hawks are our biggest problem though.

We also built a chicken tractor (enclosed pen) on wheels that I use sometimes. It’s not 100% predator proof say from a fox digging under it, but I can put them in there while I water the garden and still have an eye on them.

Unfortunately right now they are fully locked down due to a confirmed cases of Avian Flu 11 miles from us. they are not pleased.

 

[Chookchicken]

I don’t free range for two main reasons:

1. Predators
2. Bird flu

We have a lot of crows in our area (we have bantams and crows can be known to take bantams). We also have a lot of foxes.

When I’m gardening I let my chickens wonder around the yard, but I’m always with them.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I want to have at least on free range flock, for cutting down on bugs. But haven't been able to do so, due to my parents dropping cigarette butts everywhere, & my dad drowns sumac, & long grass along the garden fence in round up weed killer. The herbicide lasts in the environment between 8-9 days to 6 months, or 174 days. Seems to vary alot.