Free Range or Not? What Does Everyone Prefer?

[Mrs. K]

they will come back into the coop/run to lay their eggs, and after being out for months, if they start to lay somewhere else, you find the nest and get the eggs, and then lock them up for a couple of days until they are laying again where they are suppose to. It almost never happens, they like to lay in the nests, if you have nice ones that they like.

Mrsk

 

[Nickeyo]

I agree hens like to lay in familiar places where other hens lay so they usually lay in the nest box

 

[PurplePoppiPpl]

mine are the same way! i cant figure out how to train them... but on the upside of things; guess who got their first eggs ever today!!! me!!! i have six 22 week old pullet and three 26 week olds and i got three eggs today! they are soooo tiny! my girls dont have a house yet they live in a pen but i let them out in the morning and let them free range untill sundown when they all automatically return to roost.. i have one rooster with them so the eggs might be fertile...anyway my chickens love corn so i came out to feed them some but only 2 where in the pen (i figured the rest were out in the woods where they hang out alot) but what i noticed was i tiny little egg in a cage in their pen! i thought it was Yolko's ( my oldest) but she wasnt in there... when i found the rest of the girls i was missing Yolko and Bonnie( who is my cochin and also older) so i freaked out ran around in the woods calling and crying( i thought they were gone foever!) but then i heard some comotion near the coop and ran to see if something had a chicken. and i found little Bonnie in the woods squaking like mad because she was sitting on an egg and another chicken had gotten too close! she layed an egg in the woods! i later found Yolko way on the other side of the yard under a pile of plywood sitting on an egg! how am i gonna teach them to lay else where????

-sorry it got kinda long..

 

[Shan30]

What a great topic!

I had never really considered using a dog to protect our girlys until we rescued a collie x pharoh hound in June. Badly abused she was extremely fear aggressive and terrified of everything, including my husband.

I showed her the chickens on day one and calmly explained that they were important and not to be mauled in any fashion . From that point forward she was the protector of all things on the farm. Even sitting at the fence when the seven new hens were introduced barking at them everytime one would attack our old ladies.

Once she grows up a bit (8 months and sixty lbs) and leaves the puppy craziness behind, I am going to finally feel comfortable letting them free range.

If they can be both free and safe I'm all for it but not willing to test the wolves and cougars until our guard puppy is a guard dog.

 

[myyardgirls]

We only have 4 birds in our your flock, but my husband has trained them. He calls his "pretty girls" and shakes the container of chopps... don't know what's more fun to watch, him perfoming the ritual or the chickens making a bee-line for him and his treats..

 

[Yukonchick]

Collie type dogs are excellent farm dogs.

 

[City Chicken]

we do both. we have them out in their run, then we let them free range in the yard in the late afternoon. i know that they will come back and put themselves to bed in their coop. we also tend to be outside then so it deters predators, of which there are many. even in the city. so, they get an hour or two of free ranging.

 

[Rachy]

Mine free range in the garden all day. They have their coop which they can access whenever they want to

 

[Chickengirl47]

I free range my chickens when they are about three to four months. Yes, free ranging is better.

 

[Beekissed]

I've successfully free ranged for many years without predation problems. I use farm dogs for protection of the livestock and I keep a rooster in the flock at all times. Both are effective predator deterrents. I never close the pop door and my coop is not a bit predator proof. I do not have a stationary run of any kind.

Over the years I've only lost one rogue loner hen to a Great Horned Owl when the hen refused to roost in the coop. Three chicks were lost to a black snake when they were still confined to the brooder pen, but applied moth balls around the coop and never lost another in this fashion.

The benefits to free ranging are myriad...fresh, healthy soils underfoot, no parasite cycling, better overall health, fresh and natural proteins and green forage, exercise, a more natural existence, a better chance of escaping predation than if confined to a pen...it's like shooting fish in a barrel to keep chickens confined to a pen that predators can breech. Out in the open they have a better chance of evading these predations and the dog can actually get to the predator out in the open.

Right off hand I cannot think of the advantages of keeping chickens in a stationary run.