Do you free range your chickens?

[Plainheder]

I free-range many of my chickens and all the young ones. Acreage I own is about 18 acres. I have had predator / dog issues in the past although largely corrected like at no time since I was a kid when we had far more acreage and far more dogs.

Now I have fenced in a area of about 8.5 acres and have two dogs running loose with chickens 24/7. The chickens have cover patches scattered about for daytime cover. Roosters are out to repel hawks that target smaller chickens and hens. Area is not conducive to Red-tailed Hawks otherwise preferring small rodents. Chickens have a very much dog protected area to retreat to at night where dogs interfere even with owls going after chickens roosting in trees. Dogs that are not mine can't get passed fence and if they did they run risk of my dogs at least beating them up real good. Dog actions good enough to keep coyotes and foxes out, especially when chickens give alarm for predators.

I've had difficulties keeping free-range without using the holistic approach described above that has layers of protection.

My dogs are good with my chickens, but they also like to EAT all the chicken poop. How do you stop your dogs from doing this?

 

[Maddcatter]

My dogs are good with my chickens, but they also like to EAT all the chicken poop. How do you stop your dogs from doing this?

I have a dog with pica. She's eats EVERYTHING (including jewelry). The dogs tend to have supervision, and when they're eating something they shouldn't I tell them "leave it" (firmly) and give them treats when they listen.

It's not a perfect system (alas, my poor ring), but they do get message that I don't want them to eat certain things.

Cat poop and chicken poop are mostly safe. Rocks, otoh....

 

[NevadaEmma]

I have always free ranged my chicks and geese. They have the run of the area we live in and they sometimes wander over to the neighbors or out into the pastures. I am lucky that most people where I live have animals, and not just dogs.

The few chickens I have lost have been to hawks or owls or a few dogs that run rampid.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My dogs are good with my chickens, but they also like to EAT all the chicken poop. How do you stop your dogs from doing this?

We have about 25 chickens that free range on basically about two acres. If our dogs didn't eat the chicken poo we would be up to our ankles in it. I don't see that it does them any harm as we worm our dogs regularly and we don't kiss our dogs or let them lick us.

 

[50-140]

Earlier in the thread I said I didn't free range my birds because of coyotes, there's been numerous posts about dogs being the reason for a lot of posters. With me it's just the opposite, my dog, Border Collie/ Aussie has never hurt one of my birds. Even though I had a Banty rooster who would have deserved it.

 

[centrarchid]

Earlier in the thread I said I didn't free range my birds because of coyotes, there's been numerous posts about dogs being the reason for a lot of posters. With me it's just the opposite, my dog, Border Collie/ Aussie has never hurt one of my birds. Even though I had a Banty rooster who would have deserved it.
View attachment 3436100

A combination of dogs, fencing and me being on my toes makes so remarks from others that “free-ranging always incurs losses” has no meaning because someone simply has not lived where they are properly resourced to free-range chickens. We went through some rough times where even my dogs caused problems but we are now up to six dogs that are on the job. No I am trying to squeeze more production out of the landscape as I use chickens to disperse nutrients.


https://fb.watch/jmJ_w4DnBn/

Fences within fences and multiple pens making so "flocks" can have their own roosting sites.

 

[3KillerBs]

A combination of dogs, fencing and me being on my toes makes so remarks from others that “free-ranging always incurs losses” has no meaning because someone simply has not lived where they are properly resourced to free-range chickens.

You don't have hawks?

My losses of birds who have gotten out of the open-topped pen (which has shelters in it), have all been to hawks so far.

 

[Isadora]

My dogs are good with my chickens, but they also like to EAT all the chicken poop. How do you stop your dogs from doing this?

It's such an uncontrolled situation that I don't see an easy way to stop a dog from eating it, as far as free range birds are concerned.
If anyone comes up with a way, let us know

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

It's such an uncontrolled situation that I don't see an easy way to stop a dog from eating it, as far as free range birds are concerned.
If anyone comes up with a way, let us know

Invite a friends dog over to eat all the poo!

 

[centrarchid]

You don't have hawks?

My losses of birds who have gotten out of the open-topped pen (which has shelters in it), have all been to hawks so far.

I have hawks. Pretty birds. They no longer cause losses.