Free range or large run

[wild chick]

I have about 6 acres fenced to be dog & coyote resistant. It's only 4', but secure at the bottom. If one wanted to climb over they could, but they haven't so far. The coop is not near the fence line, so night time predators that may walk the fence aren't close to where the chickens sleep. I've had 2 predator deaths in 3 years, one was neighbor dogs before we put the fence up, the second was a year later at dusk - a pullet that always wandered off by herself because she was bottom of the pecking order. I don't know what got her, feathers scattered inside the fence but no body, so had to be something big enough to carry her away. I'm thinking bobcat, but what ever it was never came back. I'm surrounded by literally a million acres of national forest, so we have every predator you can imagine. I name my chickens but they aren't really pets: 16 + a rooster - and I know my chances of a complete slaughter are higher here than anywhere, but seeing these guys roam and peck and scratch to their hearts content is beyond joyful. Be prepared as best you can for loss, put up the very best perimeter fence you can afford and learn all you can about your local wildlife. Dogs will usually be the biggest problem if you are in a neighborhood. All that said, if you can't stand the thought of loosing one of your flock to a predator, just build the largest run you can.

 

[jolenesdad]

Maybe, maybe not.
How tall is the fence and is area covered from aerial predators?
Best of both worlds would be a covered secure run when needed,
and the ability to free range on occasion.

X2.


You’ll be predator free until the day that you aren’t. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who has been in chickens for any amount of time that hasn’t loss chickens if they are not fully secured.

Once you let them out, they’ll want to get out all the time. If you wait until the evening, you can range them only when supervised and get used to that pattern. If I were you, I would do that. 600sf is MORE than ample to never come out. As Aart said, the best option is both, a coop you can use in inclement weather and when you see predators in the area or lose some birds, and ranging them when the danger has past.

 

[Pretty Birds]

I've always kept my chickens in an outdoor run. In the summer on nice days I would let them out, then the predators started to come and killed a few, and my dog got out unnoticed, and killed two. I then stopped free ranging and kept then in the pen, which was just a simple wire fence. The predators still got a few, then we completely redid our run. We now have wire that goes into the ground a few feet, and the top is covered. It has been almost a year, and have not lost a chicken to predators.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I have 12 in a 180 SF chicken house with about a 600SF run with 8' tall fencing, no top. They have a auto door that lets them out from noon til dusk. They used to have more outdoor space about 2000SF but I got tired of avoiding the poop. They will be in this setup forever, no plans to let them out of the run. Everyone is happy.

Gary

 

[Shadrach]

With 600 square ft to roam, am I gaining anything by letting them free range?

Yes, you'll gain extra worry and stress, maybe a new spade for burying the dead if you find them. You may gain a few entertaining hours trying to entice them out of some tree they prefer to their coop to roost in. You may even gain a reduction in bodyweight and some extra fitness trying to keep track of where they go, where they've built a nest and of course the great outdoor egg hunt.
The chickens on the other hand gain the opportunity to carry out something more like their natural behaviour. If they live they will probably be happierand fitter both physically and mentally.
So, there you have it. Does the chickens need to live a natural life come before, or after all you may gain mentioned above?
Next there is this erroneous assumption that keeping chickens confined in a run is going to keep them safe. Just a few hours spent on BYC reading the ER and death posts should show you that lots of chicken keepers lose chickens, not just in runs, but also in coops.
Have a look at some of the runs and coops. Many have badly fitted sections of chicken wire or inappropriate pieces of fencing lent on rickety posts that wouldn't keep a blind kitten out. Some of the coops have enough holes in them to act a a colander.
It's the type of run and the type of coop that is important, not just the square footage.
Sure space is good, but if that space looks like a bare lawn that recently suffered a mole attack it's hardly entertaining for a chicken. There are some well thought out secure runs that provide shelter and entertainment for chickens. Unfortunately they are the minority.
Most are like prison courtyards.
Decent runs and coops cost money, quite a lot of money if some planning and imagination has been applied. A 600 square foot secure run from both airborne and ground predators is going to require a lot of thought and a lot of money. If your predator population is large and varied even with the best planning and materials eventually a predator will get in. A weasel or Mink, once in the coop or run is likely to kill every chicken it can catch and because the chickens can't escaper the losses will be high. It just takes one small gap.
I free range. I lose chickens every year. This is what happens in nature. It also applies to people, they have accidents instead of predators but the result is the same; dead or injured.
My belief is the chickens here have an excellent quality of life. Yup, lots die over time but they hatch new chicks and life goes on.
This is the point that I think doesn't get fully understood. Death is not a facet of the quality of life. It's an inevitable consequence of it and neither you nor I can do anything about it.
If you can't avoid death then put your efforts into ensuring the chickens have the best quality of life possible and if that is going to cause you stress and anxiety and you are not prepared to deal with this then don't keep chickens.

 

[perchie.girl]

In suburbia California youd be surprized at how many predators walk about at night. From Bobcat to Opossom Raccoon and Various Hawks and owls. I have lost four flocks Whole flocks at a time.... One a free range dog... that chases and killed and chases and killed till there was nothing more to chase... One was coyotes.... Yep in San Diego we have Coyotes.... And finally a Bobcat took my flock of Landrace Chickens. Wily and quick to fly. Good foragers in the desert.

My next flock will have a 25 x 100 foot flight cage.... and no free ranging.

Some people live in an area that has trees for roosting.... Tallest tree on my land were planted there Covered in thorns the size of your index finger.... The other trees are about fifteen feet tall. Easy to climb...

Rule of thumb If you dont have predators they will seek food out at your place. They follow the rabbits in who use your source of water and feed scattered....

I use Dog kennel panels the chainlink kind. the exterior walls of the kennel panels are covered with Aviary wire which is 10 gauge and small enough spacing that anything that can get through is edible... Had the aviary wire... Left over from Raising Finches and parakeets.

I used to use kennel panels for a roof with Silver tarp to shade and keep the elements out. This go round the roof will be steel sheet metal roof panels, Hardware cloth to cover the gaps when I create a pitch ....

By far the best protection is having a vigilant dog that knows the chickens are part of the family not dinner. I had no issues with predators when my neighbors dogs meandered over to visit on occasion... Golden Lab and german Shepherd... Both were big goofs and loved my dog.... they peed on every thing marking their territory. for that first couple of years i never saw a Coyote.

Then the 5150 (crazy) neighbor poisoned one of them. the other died of a broken heart.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Oh and I have almost twenty acres Unfenced.... my yard and enclosures and fencing cover about three acres. Not including my horse corral.... she has 75 x 100 pipe corral.

deb

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@Shadrach my friend, I do not know if you hold credentials in animal husbandry or philosophy, but I like your style!

 

[Morrigan]

I had very much wanted to free range when I first got chickens, but nixed that due to an extremely high predator load. So, we fenced an 80X80 area, covered it with aerial netting and ran electric fencing around it. Even so, we've had losses as wily predators found gaps in the netting, an un-electrified door gap, etc. Everything does like chicken.

In being forced to keep them confined to one yard, I've learned that if you put straw/mulch/autumn leaves in on a regular basis, over the years, it can grow decent forage.

Here is a picture I took last year of part of the yard. This spring, the forage was even more dense an varied. DH even had to get out the weed whacker to clear some open areas. When I first started 6 years ago, the entire thing was bare dirt, not so much as a weed.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I do both. But I live in suburbia. Most people in my area lose chickens to neighborhood dogs. That's pretty easily avoidable where I am, though, with a tall privacy fence and a dog of my own. But I have noticed increased hawk activity of late. They migrate through this area. It worries me, but I don't have a 600sf run. I'm so envious.... I would be in a similar quandary if I had a similar situation.

But the whole reason I got chickens in the first place was to give them good lives. My run is too small to keep them in perpetually, imo, even though they have more than 20sf of space each. And they so love foraging in my yard.

I started this reply thinking I had an opinion about which method you should employ. Truth is, I don't know what I would do, either! Sorry for wasting your time- LOL!