do you stay with your flock while free ranging?

[Lifetime chicken lover]

Quote:
Is this an instinct, or do they have to experience an attack first to understand they are dangerous??

My chickens have never been attacked by hawks or eagles that I know of, so it must be instinct.
Its funny, the other day, my girls were in their run and I was feeding them some bread. Suddenly one of them gave an alarm cry and they all stopped eating and looked up, then one of them made the sound of an eagle (a very accurate impression!), they stayed still for a few more seconds then started eating again.

 

[I-Have-Happy-Hens]

I let my chickens free range they are 15 weeks old i started to let them at 10 weeks i cheeck on them every 30min. to an hour.

 

[PhilErvin]

One of us lets the girls and roo out every morning. They frolic about all day and in the evening they return to the run to perch on limbs and groom themselves before retiring to the coop at sundown. One of us always comes along and collects the eggs and lock the doors.
We have plenty of shade trees and other stuff for them to stay out of the open in plus my roo is very protective.

 

[HHandbasket]

Once the girls' wings are clipped & they can't get over the fence, I will let them range about the yard freely when I'm not out there with them. Until then, though... for their own safety AND for my peace of mind, I'm gonna have to only let them free range when I'm able to be outside with them. They get about an hour in the morning and 2-3 hours in the late afternoon/evening. I let them be out and about in the yard when I'm out doing my "backyard farmer chores".

I go out and put a fan next to the chicken coop in the afternoons when it's hot. If hubby is home, he'll open the door to the coop and let them roam around the back yard where they have access to a lot better shade/cool spots than in the henhouse while he's tinkering in the back yard/garage/patio.

It's funny, once we started letting them out, their growth just seemed to accelerate very quickly. They are happy, healthy birds! I'll be so happy in the next month or two when the eggs start coming. Being patient is hard, though.

 

[joebryant]

No.
I open their run's gate in the morning.
I lock up their run's gate at night.
Between morning and night they're on their own on a narrow strip of grass and in woods and brush all day. If there's a boogey man out there, I haven't seen him yet, and hope that I never do.

 

[DDRanch]

I let my little flock free range ONLY when I am home. Sometimes they are out for 6-8 hours, other days it might be only an hour or two. I can hear them
from a number of windows in my house, and will do a "chicken count" every couple of hours. Although my property is fenced, they can still get into trouble.
In fact, just now, I heard their "trouble/predator" call down in front of the orchard and upon investigation found a deer had unwittingly cornered them against
the fence. The girls did not like that at all.

You are smart to start them out just before dusk as they tend not to venture too far and always come back to roost.

I have lost 2 to hawks over the years, so I have placed some redwood dog houses at strategic places in the yard for them to duck for cover if necessary, although it
did not help with the 2 that were lost. They can tell the difference between a hawk and a raven or a turkey vulture and will hide from the hawks. Instinct.

 

[33yardbirds]

I let them out at dawn and they explore all 6 acres, 4 which are wooded. The day will come when I lose one then I will Take what action is need. We have Coyote, Fox, Racoon, Skunk, Opossum, Feral Cats and Dogs, Eagles, Hawks and owls and of course snakes of all kinds....................................and various sizes of "LUMPY BUMPYS" (buckshot) you can't be there all the time