Do you free range your chickens?

[Double Yolked]

May I suggest a compromise of sorts.
1. Fence in about a quarter acre or so with sturdy wire and let them run there. Make sure they have adequate overhead shelter. That's what I did and I only lost one hen to wild predators in 10 years. An early riser was nailed by a late running great horned owl. I also planted a very large overhead grape arbor and included a portion of my apple orchard as part of the hen run. With the goal of protection from flying dangers. Hawks don't really like to fly through something they can't clearly see through. That made my heavy grape arbor and thick apple trees a hen paradise.
2. Put a timed, possibly solar powered, door opener on your hen house door, keep the little enterprisers from getting out too early. That's how I made sure the great horned never got a second hen.
I recently sold my farm and moved further out to a much less populous area. I've been off BYC for a while due to moving. Now I'm looking at a whole new, smaller, chicken set up. LOTS more predators near me now, including foxes which I've never had to deal with before. Should be interesting!

 

[Ila88]

My 18 free range on half an acre. I have no problem with the neighbor‘s cats, but we have lost some to mink and hawks. We make sure they are in well before dusk, and have strung up lines to deter flying predators. The chickens love having the run of the place, but all the negative comments are true. We can’t plant anything or it’s dug up and there is chicken poop all over the yard.

 

[tmosscurrier]

So I’ve been terrified to let my girls free range for many reasons. One I’m worried they won’t come back (silly I know). Two I’m worried about predators. We live on about 25 acres so lots of possibilities. We have had issues with our neighbors young dogs jumping the fence so they are my main concern besides cats. Most other predators come out at night. Thoughts? Am I nuts? My family thinks I’m over thinking it. PSA they have a big outdoor area and we have 20 chickens.
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My hens and rooster fr

 

[Squidward]

So I’ve been terrified to let my girls free range for many reasons. One I’m worried they won’t come back (silly I know). Two I’m worried about predators. We live on about 25 acres so lots of possibilities. We have had issues with our neighbors young dogs jumping the fence so they are my main concern besides cats. Most other predators come out at night. Thoughts? Am I nuts? My family thinks I’m over thinking it. PSA they have a big outdoor area and we have 20 chickens.
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I have 14 acres, 10 wooded. Living in the woods, unfortunately my flock (12 hens, a duck, and a rooster.) must be kept penned and cooped. The pen/run is covered. That helps with the predators.

 

[MarlaMac]

Our chickens free range all day. We are in and out all day long. We have cats and dogs that are always in and out and we have a rooster that helps keep watch. They stay pretty close although they have a ton of space to roam - we live on 60 acres. They stay on 1-2 acres all day long. Mostly, they hand out under the trees next to the back yard catching the sun or the shade and a dirt bath once in a while. I see runners back and forth to the coop to lay, sometimes rooster walks them over and he always calls to them to let them know where the flock is when they are done. It is really quite fascinating. We let them out in the morning and we gather them up at night for last call so to speak. We have predators, but most stay at bay b/c of the array of all our animals. Hawks above, but they have lots of cover and the hawks have their pick of small rodents, etc. The space is pretty wide open so they can see a bird coming for quite a distance. Had a racoon show up at night for a while but we would chase him and throw rocks at him, treed him a couple of times. He hasn't been by in a long time. They are locked up securely at night. If we are late to let them out of the run in the morning, they are very vocal about it.

 

[MariBellsy42869]

We'd love to but right now avian flu is high in my state. Also all my feathers aren't banded yet and I'd feel better if they free range with some form of ID

 

[Love-my-girls]

So I’ve been terrified to let my girls free range for many reasons. One I’m worried they won’t come back (silly I know). Two I’m worried about predators. We live on about 25 acres so lots of possibilities. We have had issues with our neighbors young dogs jumping the fence so they are my main concern besides cats. Most other predators come out at night. Thoughts? Am I nuts? My family thinks I’m over thinking it. PSA they have a big outdoor area and we have 20 chickens.
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I let my girls out of their run about 1-3 hours, depending on the weather, before dusk as long as someone is outside with them. I had lost a chicken to a fox attack years ago when I allowed them to free range all day unattended.

 

[NevadaEmma]

I live on an acre. I did take the plunge and let my girls out only if I was supervising. One day I was putting them up and saw a hawk fly low overhead. That was the end of that until we could figure out a solution. We put up some cheap bamboo fencing and attached it to the run with bird netting over it. Works great. I still stay out with them because they love me (lol). It's set up so that when I open the gate to the run they can't escape to the rest of the property but feel like they're real "free ranging" chickens. We're expanding the actual run over the next month or so to give them more room.

It's amazing how sad they seem when they can't go outside and forage. They have a giant run already but they are so spoiled. ❤

I do not think they are so much spoiled, but happier, healthier and so much more natural in their habitat when they can free range.

 

[HerbDoll]

My dozen have an 8x20 run that's a hardware cloth 'fortress', and I open their run door daily to let them into a big yard that we enclosed with tenax 7' deer fence & t-posts, and then put some taller posts in the middle, and did aerial netting over 3/4 of it (trees are in the unnetted area). I didn't have peace of mind to ever let them out until we did that, and it wasn't that costly, and went up pretty quickly. Study youtube videos on doing the aerial netting on large areas, and it goes easily.

 

[Squidward]

No because last time i did two dogs wiped out my birds then a fox wiped out more wasnt worth it and i cant have all my free ranging because i need my breeders pure

I don't know where you live, but the leash laws here provide for terminating dogs that attack livestock and people, excepting dogs and cats.

I've got 'coon tails hanging all over my coop, too!