Free Range Expieriences

[BarredBuff]

I am converting to free rangers because I have lost 6 to coccidia and I cant get them better so they going to be free ranged now. How has this practice worked for you?

 

[slackwater]

Mine have always been free-range. I do have a coop that I can lock them in if I need to, but for hte most part they dictate their own schedules. They have always been healthy, happy birds. No lice, mites, coccidia or anything like taht.

That being said, I have lost a few to who-knows-what. And I have a guard mule to protect them in the coop at night

 

[BarredBuff]

Hello?

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

I have also always freeranged. My birds stay healthier than my cousins that are cooped. My biggest problem with freerange is hawk attacks on my younger birds & bantys. My turkeys help keep the hawks away, but one slips in every once in a while. A night-guard, LED flashing light, seems to work great for night, since they roost in the barn & don't get closed up after dark.

 

[TexasChickenDance]

Mine free-range from 10-11 in the morning until 7 at night. They start out at the barn area and make their way to the house and they are happy healthy hens. I would recommend it over cooping any day if you can.

 

[FaereChicken]

We free-ranged ours when we had a rooster. This ended when the roo got a little too aggressive & went to freezer camp, and spring came on and I decided to protect the small green shoots. I will do it again as soon as we have another rooster to protect the hens. At the moment we have 6 hens in a tractor, that doesn't move quite often enough, IMHO

 

[cappy]

My girls have free ranged since they were about 5 months old. I do lock them in the coop at nite but they are out and about from 9am till almost dark. they head to the coop when they are ready, I just close the door.They give me eggs in the nest boxes every day and so far I have had no problems with hidden eggs. I have not lost any to predators but I think that is the luck of the draw. We have hawks galore but the chicks run under cover when they see a large bird fly over. The foxes, coons, and coyotes are mostly here at night so the chicks are locked up by then.

Ken

 

[BarredBuff]

How can I keep hawks away?

 

[TeriNick50]

Quote:
Simply put ... you can't keep the hawks away.
What you can do is ... protect your flock by supervising free ranging (almost impossible), locking them in the coop or keeping them contained in an enclosed pen.

 

[ibpboo]

I free range my hens, they put themselves away just before dark and I close the gate. I have a lot of things in my yard for the hens to hide under when a hawk comes around. They are wise and know to hide when hawks are flying above.