Free Range/New Home

[Irish Luck]

I'm torn. I have a large coop that I built for my birds. They hate it and never go in it, even if I put food in it. I have a well protected run attached to the coop that is 8ft tall and the new breed of birds I have can fly out so they have turned themselves into free range chickens and lay eggs in the horses' stalls. I love having my birds roam free and follow me when I do my chores and they seem to love it too, but I'm losing about one a month to predators. I'm considering building a new shed in a different area with a large run they can't get out of to keep them safe. I've asked them to vote and let me know if they would like that, and they won't vote. So I'm asking you all.

 

[CluckerFamily]

You could post some pictures to help some BYC members give you ideas.

 

[Mrs. K]

Do you have a rooster? A good rooster? Personally, I have found that with a good rooster (and not all roosters are good roosters, he should be the first to see you when you come to the coop) my day time predation has been much less.

But as I have been in solid lock down for months...because once the predators find you, they will be back, and back again, and pretty soon you don't have any chickens left.

I would throw a net over the run you have now. And I would lock them up now. Truthfully, they will get used to the coop. They will just squawk at first. Ignore it.

I love mine out and about, but I am telling you there are times where you really can't do it.

Mrs K

 

[bobbi-j]

You are the only one who can decide what's best for your coop. How much loss are you willing to take? That's pretty much what it comes down to. I love to have my chickens free range, too, but right now they are locked up if DH isn't working in his shop near the coops. I lost five chickens this summer. One at a time, several weeks between losses. The last two were pullets that I had purchased this spring. I decided that was enough, so now they are locked up most of the time. They get used to it.

 

[aart]

I have a large coop that I built for my birds. They hate it and never go in it, even if I put food in it.

Never? How many birds @Irish Luck ?
Where do they sleep at night?
Most folks who free range lock their new birds in the coop for a time to 'home' them to the coop.

You could post some pictures to help some BYC members give you ideas.

Yes, pics could really help here.......and dimensions.

 

[Mrs. K]

You are the only one who can decide what's best for your coop. How much loss are you willing to take? That's pretty much what it comes down to. I love to have my chickens free range, too, but right now they are locked up if DH isn't working in his shop near the coops. I lost five chickens this summer. One at a time, several weeks between losses. The last two were pullets that I had purchased this spring. I decided that was enough, so now they are locked up most of the time. They get used to it.

I so hear you and am with you Bobbie - I feel like I have been in a continuous wrecks this year. I too, had to just keep them locked up, good grief. I hate it, but I hate losing birds more. Maybe next spring.

MRs K

 

[Sally PB]

My vote would be for safety. I was going to free range, back in my starry eyed chick days.

One night, I saw a small raccoon in the run that I thought was secure. The chickens were in the coop and, fortunately, the raccoon didn't see that the pop door was open. I got it closed before he had chicken dinner. My husband said to consider that my free warning, and I was lucky.

I found out how he got in and took care of the problem. I thought that since my flock is so small (3 pullets and a cockerel), any loss would be more than I wanted to bear. If I ever have so many birds that I can deal with some losses, I may change my set up. Until then, no free range, in the coop at night. Safe birds = alive birds.

 

[claudiabostic]

Since I live in the mountains in a rural area, letting my chickens free range would be feeding the local wildlife. All my runs have tall chain link fences with added wire at the bottom with smaller openings plus sturdy hawk netting over the top. We did have a possum get in once but we patched up his hole before he did any damage. And we had a snake eat some eggs. We're very glad we put up the hawk netting on our first coop and run. Within a minute of letting our first chicks out of the coop, a hawk stooped and bounced off the hawk netting.
Since we can't let them free range, we do our best to give them as close to a free range life as we can. The runs are larger than minimum size and the coops are off the ground so the chickens can use the space under them. Most of the edges of the runs have raised bed planters with perennial shrubs and flowers and a few dwarf fruit trees. This also keeps the chickens out of the reach of raccoons. The chickens especially like the mulberries - the leaves are nutritious and the berries have a high amount of protein for fruit. We made some grazing frames out of 2x4s on edge and covered with hardware cloth. Grass and clover grows up through the wire and the chickens can eat it but can't dig up the roots. And there's a good size vegetable garden next door with picket fences around the planting beds. The chickens love to dig for worms in the mulched pathways and we let them eat whatever plants grow through the fences. We do sometimes get a chicken in the planting beds, but they have so much area to run around in that it doesn't happen very often. We do tend to keep the chickens out of the garden if there are a lot of newly planted seeds since at that point they can do a lot of damage very quickly. So the chicken run doesn't have to be bare and smelly and crowded.

 

[claudiabostic]

I think you also need to solve the puzzle of why your chickens hate the coop. Can you post pictures and how big it is and how many chickens of what kind? I know the group can come up with suggestions on how you can improve it.