Free range chickens

Quote:YES put them in at night. Chickens drown, but they shouldnt go into the water- unless they dont know its there or gets frightened into it some how. They dont go far from their coop- especially if their food and water is there.

 

Mine come in every night. Most predators will go out at night, so don't want them disappearing in the middle of the night. One night my DH left one chicken out... guess who was gone in the morning

They don't stray very far during the day. They can fly over the fence easily, but choose not to. *knocking on wood*

 

When you first move them from the brooder into the coop leave them in for several days so they know where food and water is. I left a light on in the coop for the first week but I don't think this is really neccessary. After they get settled in let them out in the morning of a nice day and they will go right back in in the evening. Don't worry about the pool. They will use it for drinking only. A chickens natural range is about 200 yards give or take.

My flock is free range and they have never failed to return to the coop in the evening usually one or two hours before the sun goes down.

 

I just started letting mine out, I always lock them in the run at night, but I do leave the pop door open into the run.

 

I free range mine all over the property. They do not go in the pool, but they perch on everyone's water troughs and buckets to drink from them. I believe they're healthier this way, and I don't have to feed them a fraction that I would have to if they were penned up all the time.

They come in every night about dusk. I usually just close the pen so they have access to the henhouse and their pen. But lately I haven't been closing them in. I like that they don't have to wait for me to let them out, but I'll probably end up closing them in soon.

The guineas roost in a tree when the weather is nice though all winter they go back in with the chickens.

They should all return to their henhouse and you can just lock them in and let them out again in the morning.

 

Definitely build a run for your chickens. If I got a comment like that from my neighbor, I'd take it seriously. The next one might not be so jovial.

Chickens will put themselves to bed at night. But it's up to you to close and lock their door so that they don't have any night time visitors of the deadly variety.

If you have a run, then the chickens can be outside all day, on THEIR terms, and you can come and go without worrying about them. When you free range exclusively, you never really know what's going on when you're not there to watch them. And let's be real - who wants to do that ALL DAY?

Unattended free rangers are exposed to all sorts of trouble, namely: neighborhood dogs, hawks, raccoons, coyotes/foxes, cats. Spend some time over at Predators and Pests and then decide. There are plenty of folks who exclusively free range, and of course the chookies LOVE it, but losses are expected. I don't think my nerves could handle it...

 

We free-range our flock in the fenced in portion of our yard. They have about 1 1/2 acres to roam and they use it all.
This past year has been our first with chickens, and we have been lucky so far about preditors. Last fall we had a scare with a young hawk. Everyone was fine, but I had to close them up in their run for a week to be sure.
We have seen foxes in our yard in the early morn. and late evening. Now we have a border collie who patrols the border several times throughout the day. He seems to be doing the job. Even the groundhogs are laying low. This is the first year they didn't climb the garden fence and take all of my brocolli. Now, the true test will be when the peaches ripen!

 

Some of mine stay close to the coop, others go far back in the woods or into a nearby clearing where DH feeds corn to the deer (so he's really feeding chickens). They all return to the barn at night, but some are much later than others. I've been leaving the door open a bit (yes, I know it's risky) so I don't lock anyone out. I have never had an issue with predators. I'm surrounded by forest and only one neighbor.

They should be locked in at night. I'm thinking about a run for most. Maybe just leave the sumatras out. They're quick and great flyers.

I had an 8 wk old chick drown in a bucket of water. I'm sure they don't choose to go swimming, but If they fall into the pool they may not be able to get out.