Free Range or Not? What Does Everyone Prefer?

[LiLChicken]

We just bought a new place on 1 acre and I am setting it up to be a Organic homestead and the lady next door has chickens, ducks and geese and was telling me I need to set up a pen and fence and net it all off like hers but I want my girls (8 RIR's) to be happy and live a some what natural life. Now I have had my girls for 7 months and no problems at all and I leave to slide up door, walk-in door and drop down window open 24/7 but that will change as the weather starts getting colder.

I free range my birds and they are fun to watch and they eat most of our table scraps and all the bugs I don't want around the place, now when they started laying I was stumped for a week why I was not getting more eggs so I walked around and found a nest they made in a brush pile and about 12-14 eggs so I took two of the eggs and placed them in the nesting boxes and the next day they were all laying in the nesting boxes.

We also have a 5 month old Akita puppy that is the watch dog and she is doing good with the chickens and she is starting to form the classic Akita no strangers in her area, animals or people and I love it.

 

[Our Roost]

You need to pay a little heed to the lady next door. Obviously she has had experience with predators that you are not aware of. Your akita will hopefully turn out to be a great watchdog over the flock during the day, but not all day and every day or at night. Look at some coop designs showing what I call a florida room attached. Its not a run area but is screened in and has a top on it to keep out most annoyances such as hawks, coyotes, coons, and a few others. When your birds are not free ranging or within the protection of your dog, they can use the shelter of this room and the coop when you are unable to keep both eyes on them or are away or gone fishing! Good luck on the new property!

 

[Nickeyo]

are you suprised they lay in the bush my hens r shut up a night but i have an automatic door that lets the out at light i also keep them in a run while im at school and let them out when im home. i think it is very risky leaving it open 24/7 and there is no point in leaving the walkin door open because if a bigger predator does come by (could get dumped) it will have a buffet.

But anywho good luck with your chickens

 

[Beekissed]

Oh, please!

Just because you can't accomplish successful free ranging~or are afraid to try it~ and feel like it is dangerous for the chickens, there are many more people out there who do it for years and are quite successful at it and the chickens live happy and healthy lives. I can guarantee that I've had less chicken loss in free ranging over X amount of years than you have had from poor health issues in your pens and runs in the same amount of years.

 

[JackE]

You have had a lot more luck than me. And that's all it is, LUCK. I've lost 16 birds freeranging in two different daylight attacks. Both times I had a rooster out there. Both times the rooster survived, two different roosters. I got away with freeranging for almost a full year. No problems at all, then within five months, big problems. They still get out of their 100X100' electrified area to wander around, but somebody is out there watching.
Jack

 

[Beekissed]

I hate to tell you this, but roosters cannot protect your free ranging flock. Doing it improperly and then declaring it does not work doesn't make those doing it properly just experiencing "luck"...it's generally just called "successful".

 

[JackE]

I KNOW roosters can't protect the flock. I have first hand experience with that. Explain to me the "Proper" way to freerange. What is the "improper" way? What am I missing? Outside of just letting them out of the coop, and they go wandering off around the yard. What else is there to freeranging that would stop a fox from running out of the woods and killing and taking a bunch of birds? It was great when they could do that, but I don't see how it's possible now.
Jack

 

[Beekissed]

It depends on your area and your resources. It really takes the proper dogs living in the range area to prevent such a thing...you need good, reliable dog(s) on their own free range(mine is on an electric confinement system). Not many foxes will brave a dog's territory in broad daylight to snatch a chicken..too risky and there are far easier game to be had. A good dog is alert, ranging, marking territory and is a real presence at night. Fat, overfed house dogs going out in the daytime to do their business just won't cut it.

Having areas of duck and cover for your chickens is also key to successful free range...these birds will always be on alert and need places to retreat to in a hurry if they are a distance from the coop.

Having breeds of chickens known for good foraging skills and survival on range is also key....Buff Orpingtons? Silkies? Not good choices. Ever. Too slow, too docile, too pet like. You need breeds that are naturally flighty and jumpy to any threats of danger. If you are free ranging a flock of pet Orps or other fat and docile breeds, you are just opening a buffet and ringing the dinner bell. Chicken breeds that flock well are important also....loners get picked off and there is safety in numbers. As with all animals that exist in flocks

A good, alert rooster is also helpful but a hen will take over that responsibility in the absence of a rooster and will call an alarm at signs of danger. The tuned in free ranging flock will instantly run to that call from wherever they may be.

Chickens that are handled a lot by humans and are used to being stooped over all the time and will immediately squat when this happens are also like offering free dinners to the predators. You can't condition chickens to freeze and squat for your attentions and not expect them to do the same over any shadow that approaches from above. Any chicken that can be easily caught by a human in the daytime is more readily so by any predator in the area.

Starting out chicks on range at 2 wks along with the experienced flock heightens their survival skills...those kept in the house until they are 4 months old are sitting ducks. That's like putting a house dog out in the Alaskan wilderness and expecting them to adapt quickly enough to survive the wild.

If you live in a neighborhood where there are many stray dogs, a perimeter fence around your property is essential...even if you can only fence in an acre or two, that is the average ranging area of a free range flock. This slows predators down a bit and requires some work to get under, over or around...this gives your dogs time to sound an alarm or confront the predator and gives your flock time to retreat to the coop.

Saying that people who have these systems in place, who do the work and plan for these events, and who develop their flocks to be predator wary are just "lucky" is like saying people who train for 4 years for the Olympics and win are just "lucky". It takes work, planning and refining to have a successful free range experience for your flock and those who don't put in the wrench time on such a system are those who claim it cannot be done~ because they did it with a faulty system and didn't work to make it better.

 

[JackE]

Yep, my flock is made up of fat docile breeds. And yes, they are also pets, not just egg producers. They have plenty of cover around here. I've seen a hen raise the alarm when a hawk comes by. I don't have a dog, from what I've read, getting the right dog and training it not to kill the chickens is another whole ball of wax. Still, to me, if a fox sees the chickens in an open field and wants to eat, the chickens are toast. I'm going with the perimeter fence thing. I'm looking to expand what I already have. They can still get outside and pick at the grass. Thanks for the info.
Jack

 

[Beekissed]

And you were surprised you lost 16 birds on free range?

That's a whole flock,man!