Free Range in Central Florida

[DarrellP]

So I got my first birds at tractor supply last year... 8 hens turned out to be 6 hens and 2 roosters. I decided to move my roosters to a tractor and let them free range because a 6-2 ratio was no bueno. Everything was great for a while then a predator got one of the roosters so I moved the one back to the coop and run with the ladies. All is well. I decided to incubate - had 7 hatch. At 3 months I've got 3 new roosters for sure and 2 that I have my suspicions about... I've got plenty of space and I'd really like to have a bachelor pad set-up for the guys.. they all get along fine... but I've got so much space I'd really like for them to free range vs penning them up in a run. Anyone have any luck with free ranging i the Sarasota FL area? Predators are everywhere (racoon, owl, hawk, eagle, an occasional bobcat, or fox) -- my coop and run is very large and a rhino couldn't get in there. I have cameras set up and they racoons come by every night and don't even try anything now. I don't want to get rid of the roosters but I also don't want to serve them up as a buffet. TONS of cover, but I thought that would be enough last try... any hopes of me successfully free ranging these fellas? <no dogs of my own right now and willing to get a guard goose or two if that would help>

 

[Debbie292d]

Free-ranging depends on the predators in your immediate area, and it sounds like you already know. You can get solar motion lights that'll scare them off at night, and that does work here, but we've also got two dogs that keep them safe during the day.

A goose may or may not help call the alarm, but a hungry fox wouldn't care; it'll just run up and grab what it wants.

Something has already helped itself to one of your roosters, so I wouldn't do it unless you had a dog to keep predators away.

 

[Ridgerunner]

any hopes of me successfully free ranging these fellas?

Not without risk. You can train them to sleep in a predator safe coop at night and reduce your risk that way, but dawn and dusk are high risk times. I would not let them out too early and would be prompt in locking them up at night.

During the day there is not much you can do without locking them up. You can help protect them from non-flying predators by using electric netting but that requires maintenance. You have to keep plants from growing up in it and shorting it out and they are still vulnerable to flying predators. You could stay out with them, which will help, but people on this forum have had a fox take a chicken withing 15 feet of where they were standing so that is not a guarantee.

Some people can go years free ranging before they have a loss. Some people will lose one the first day. You just never know.

 

[Wild Iris]

I free range in the boonies of Alabama. Our German Shepherd marks his territory and most of the 4-legged predators respect that; he does not actively guard the chickens. Forest hawks and snakes are our most successful predators so far. If you decide to free-range, you should expect to lose more than if you kept them in the run.

I have a game rooster who, when he first arrived, engaged a hawk and successfully protected his flock; now he is exceedingly alert for the danger. For the most part, the whole flock works together to keep an eye out for trouble.

Florida Bullfrog has written a very good book on raising free range chickens. It's on Amazon and titled "Free Range Survival Chickens."

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

I free range my (very) large flock in SE Georgia so I have a lot of predators too. I've never lost a rooster to a predator, they keep their head up more than the hens and chicks do.

I have an electric net fence circling their area, it was expensive and we have it mostly to keep our goats in. If you go without a fence, you will probably lose one to four-legged predators. With the fence, my losses have mostly been to hawks and snakes (copperheads and diamondbacks). The snakes almost always get one of my mothering hens, they are more defensive and won't just leave the snakes alone. I think you will be unlikely to lose a rooster to a snake. The hawks usually get a grow-out or two a year, the youngsters wander off from the roosters' watch area and get surprised by a hawk attacking from the trees.

Unfortunately with free ranging you will lose a chicken now and then. You have to decide if that risk is worth it for their better quality of life.

 

[Shadrach]

any hopes of me successfully free ranging these fellas?

It rather depends on what one considers successful.
For some keepers a single loss to a predator is a disaster. If this is your view then free ranging isn't for you, there are always predator losses when free ranging in my experience.
There is a learning curve for the keeper and the chickens. It takes time for the chickens to learn how to protect themselves from the predators in the area and time for the keeper to assess what they can do to help the chickens avoid the predators. The losses early on can be quite sever. Two or three generations, naturally hatched and reared, helps to pass what knowledge the elders/survivors have acquired on to the next generation.
For the keeper a better understanding of what sort of environment is likely to maximize survival chances and trying to establish such an environment takes time. If one has open fields with very little cover it's not going to go well. If one's property looks more like an unkempt jungle then the chickens are likely to fare better.