Free Range Question

[Hambone]

I want to free range my birds. I am worried they might not come back to the tractor at dark. What should I do. Am I being overly cautious.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

When they were chicks I read up on how to free range my birds and the best tip I found (working so far!) was to keep the birds confined to the coop/pen area till they built up a habit and considered it 'home'. Then let them out in the morning and bribe with food to get them back in at night if necessary. With ours, it wasn't. they just went to bed on their own.
If time frame helps, my flock hatched in the beginning of march, in early may they moved to the pen outside, and in June we let them loose!
And, trickling in slowly, they put themselves to bed every night before the sun goes down, no bribery needed.
I love my chickens!

 

[Beekissed]

I agree with the above post. Form a habit and make sure their roosting area is a nice secure place to sleep. They will naturally return to this each evening.

If they are young birds and are slightly dumb about what to do at first, treats right before bedtime will get them in the groove of returning to the roosts each night.

 

[rainbowgardens]

For the first few times out of the tractor, I only let them out about an hour before bedtime. That way they wouldn't have time to stray far from the tractor and I wouldn't have to keep an eye on them for long. Each day I let them out a little earlier until I was sure they had the hang of it.