Free range chickens.

[Frazzemrat1]

I let them free range quite a lot during the summer months and keep them penned up most of the time during winter months.
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Same here... If nobody's home, or its the winter, my chickens are locked in their run. If we're home and its nice (no rain etc) then we let them out. I have no fencing, but my chickens have learned that I have a certain call and then I throw down scratch or kitchen scraps. I can easily recall my chickens if they stray too far. So, we keep an eye on them and keep them close. Ususally when I'm ready to lock them back up in the run, I go down there with a bit of scratch, calling as I go. I can usually get all the girls with one go, but the kids (I have three 11-12 week araucana) are still learning and need more encouragement.

 

[HopeSprings]

Mine, so far, stick close to home when they’re out. I let them range when I’m home, at least a few hours every day, sometimes all day. I worry about predators (bears, coyotes), but they do seem to enjoy being out and I love it when they come running up the driveway to me at dinner time. The shed portion of the shoop will get its doors and ramp soon!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Too many predators in my area. I put up a temporary / moveable fence and let them out of their run to forage in the grass for about an hour everyday (weather permitting). I sit with them just to let the hawks know they are not welcome. Sometimes they get bored and go back into the run. But all in all, they do seem to enjoy it.

 

[GC-Raptor]

My girls free range an hour before sunset daily, weather permitting. Usually unsupervised. Last week a Coopers Hawk buzzed me shortly after I let them out.
I never see Hawks so late in the day. They usually catch prey earlier. It must have been a bad day to hunt.
I stayed outside with them and the next 2 evenings without another sighting.
The Hens and Pullets enjoy foraging. In the 27 months that I've let them forage late in the day, I've haven't lost a Chicken.
The only time a predator attacked a Chicken was in their open top pen with my first Flock.
It was mid-morning. I was in my house when I heard the commotion. I ran out to see chickens hiding and feathers everywhere and a hawk in the tree. The 7 months old Pullet survived.
I don't want to lose any Chickens, but I will risk late day foraging. I believe it's the safest time of day. GC

 

[Stiletto]

Mine are free to forage in an area within a moveable fence; their coop, run and fencing gets moved periodically to different places and according to the season (e.g. for more shade in the summer).

The dogs are active at keeping potential predators at bay and respect the temporary fencing as a boundary. I'd like to have the chickens free range completely, but I'd need to work with my dogs before that can happen and I honestly don't know how possible it would be with my current three.

I contain the chickens in their run when I'm going to be away for more than a few days.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I have at least 2 Cooper's Hawks in my trees at all times of the day. My neighbors yard is their nesting ground and they raise their babies here. They frequently fly over head while I'm sitting with my chickens and have been as low as 12 -15 feet. I'll continue the supervised "free ranging" for now. Good luck with your flock. One of them is screaming in my ear from one of my trees right now as I'm typing.

 

[Brady bunch]

Our chickens have been free ranging since late June. But we supervise them all of the time.

 

[ticketism]

Mine free-range all the time when I'm home, but when I'm working or away for a little while they stay in their run. I have a 4x4m galvanized steel fully enclosed 'safe/security' run that their coop is kept in along with some perches, feeders, water bucket, etc, so I can close them up completely when need be and they still have some leg room for scratching around. That enclosure is inside the 'main run' which is about 17x5m and is basically just a fenced off part of my garden (uncovered) that's been made chook friendly with lots of shrubs, trees, hidey-holes, perches, a dustbathing clamshell pool, ground hutch that's a modified growout space I built when one of my Orpingtons decided to become a teen mum, etc, so sometimes they just stay in there (either by choice or if I've got work happening in the yard and I need them out of the way but not necessarily completely locked up). Other than that though I usually just let them have the whole yard to run around in doing chicken stuff and hanging out. So I guess I have three stages of chicken space, haha, and it really just depends on the situation as to how 'tightly' they'll be locked up or not.