Free range advice

[Resolution]

Yup! Some roosters are better than others. One that can fly well is key. A breed that tolerates multiple males in another- two or three roosters make all those hens much happier, more content, more secure unless they're polyganist Mormon or Muslim chickens- then its just one oroster and to a dozen hens...

Iowa Blues are reportedly the very best hen protectors of all and their hens are great layers.

 

[karimw]

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I did this when they were younger, now I don't worry so much that they are full grown.

 

[gryeyes]

Free ranging does invite losses, eventually. I had one go up into a tree, then over the fence less than 50 feet from the coop, and into the neighbor's yard, where she encountered their elderly Golden Retriever and young Rottweiler. The former had fun chasing her, the latter caught her and shook her like one of its dog toys. Not the dogs' fault, not the neighbors' fault (although they felt absolutely AWFUL about it). My chicken went into THEIR yard. Dogs do what dogs naturaly do, and it was -after all - right in their own yard.

Mine have an acre in which to range. I have more than one rooster, and I find they do a good job rounding up the girls, especially in the evenings to come home to roost in the coops.

 

[turbo13]

It almost happened today. my 3 gals.BR, EE, BO, were just let out of the coop.The BR laid her first egg an hour before.Out of nowhere came a hawk the size and color of the EE,it swooped down just missing the EE.scared all of us.I have no doubt that my EE roo.would have gone after it.Too bad I had to rehome him 2 months ago.( not allowed).needless to say no outing today.

 

[centrarchid]

I free range in true since. Predator management and risks a concern but is cost of doing low input chicken culture.

Size of free range varies for many reasons, some already referred to. A very important factor is forage base. When plant growth stops and insects crash, the birds will range farther to compensate, within limits. When my flock expands range I have had some success causing range contraction by manipulating supplemental feedings. In my case, bumping up black oil sunflower reduces roaming. I suspect the sunflower seeds contain some nutrient(s) local forage base is limiting in.

 

[Beekissed]

As mentioned before, a good roo will try to keep your gals close to him and will call to them when they range too far. You may also start having trouble with your gals laying in outside nests. If they are starting to lay, you can try cooping them for a week until they learn to lay in your nestboxes.

A good dog patrolling your acreage will help protect your free rangers. Without one, your free ranging safety will be hit or miss...when the foxes are feeding their kits in the spring, you may suffer heavy losses and the hawks may get to be more of a problem in the winter when small game is scarce.

 

[centrarchid]

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I am unable to determine mechanism(s) controlling distance between birds in flock. Hens like to hang together most of time, sometimes they avoid some roosters. Rooster seems responsible for leading group to water, if they have to walk any distance to it, and the roost. Some of foraging range appears to be a fuction of hens were rooster moves with group calling hens in for tid bits at every egg making opportunity. Roosterless groups might follow cover / fence rows tighter but ranging distance I do not know if affected. Does the rooster actually put breaks on or provide a center of gravity for long range foraging? Some of my young stags not associated with females range farther than all my birds.

 

[Resolution]

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Absolutely. Energy is what the birds' instincts are demanding they store up on for winter. Sunflower seeds are a fantastic way to help fatten up the birds for winter. A decent wild bird suet packed with nuts and fruit or the cayenne nuggets- important to put out once every other week or so during evening feeding -at the onset of cooler temperatures and at the onset of warmer weather in spring. During the coldest weather don't skimp find a high quality - optimally nutritious ameliorated suet- BabyCakes and other nut dough logs will prove very important- and this is for birds confined during the coldest months as well as those able to forage free run in warmer climates. If you are working with valuable stock that you want to survive for many years you've got to meet all their nutritional requirements in a fat soluble supplement during winter months. Babycakes are my first choice naturally as they are formulated exclusively for landfowl that require specific nutrients found in invertebrates and oil rich seeds, fatty acid packed roots, nuts and drupes. It's important to really think about everything the birds dig up in a day and try and replicate that, especially in the winter months where there is no access to these optimal foods they forage for in their free range environments.

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I think the best survivors of my flocks over the years are those breeds where males form prides - the fairly monogamous races.
For example, the Mapuche Huastec pride of three males (never four for some reason) only associate with four to five hens though will tolerate a few more.

The males are never more than a few feet or yards from one another and the hens. Perhaps some of the more commercial breeds and strains have lost a great deal of their instincts and common sense? Game Fowl tend to be non-flocking in the truest sense of the word. Each hen and rooster is capable of defending themselves against most predators due to their size and pugilistic qualities. One consequence of the scarcity of food in the scorched and deforested human environments one experiences in the subtropics, is that domestic fowl scatter far and wide to find adequate food.
Even these archaic races will rush in and gang up on any potential predator, especially snakes, monitor lizards and those day hunting jungle owls and the ever dreaded hawk-eagles.

But its important ro remember that all the heavy breeds have a great deal of Malay genetics in them- even if its via Black Java.
Unpaired males with no territories of their own tend to wander further afield and this actually serves the core social units as these bachelor parties tend to run into trouble before their parents do.
This doesn't mean there are never mortalities and near misses. One of the old Huastec hens in this photo was hit by a goshawk and nearly taken but all three roosters flew into action, deterring the raptor, which we rescued from serious harm as the pride assaulted her obsessively, eventually attracting the peafowl. Peafowl kill birds of prey. We love birds of prey even though they do seem to take quite a few young of the year and even some of our favorite adults including roosters every year. That said, the arable parts of the farm is spread out over 8o acres and the birds live in five different regions within that footprint.

They truly live outdoors.

 

[abhaya]

Mine free range my only losses were to my dog and a stry cat that got into the coop no losses free range.

 

[Beekissed]

My roo tends to get a little nervous if my gals range out too far and tries to do mild alarm calls to get them to come running back. When he does these, it even fools me sometimes and I immediately look at the sky...

If the false alarm call doesn't do it, he tries the "hey, ladies! I have some food!" call to get them to come in closer.

My birds are rarely far from a duck and cover spot, so they tend to do pretty well here. I am lucky that I do not live on a wood line, as I think it would be too much temptation for my gals.