Free range? So much poop!

[aart]

Yes.
I planned from the beginning to make a big enough run to keep them confined.
Second most important reason was poop everywhere.

we have a pretty large run, though they only get put up at night and get supervising freerange all day.

Not sure why you quoted my post for your reply?

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

Hello! We have 5 hens. We've let them free range in our .5 acre yard most of their lives. They really enjoy it! The problem is, they poop everywhere! On the deck, throughout the yard and they dig in the flowers. I had a fence built around my raised beds. My daughter no longer wants to play in the backyard because of the poop. I clean the coop and the yard every day. We also don't feel like we're enjoying our outdoor patio space.

We have an omelet (tractor) coop with an 8 ft. run. I just can't imagine them being happy enclosed in the run all day. I'm not sure how to make the yard enjoyable for everyone. Do most backyard flock keepers keep their chickens in their run all day or let them free range? Do I need to build a larger space for them? I've already spent so much money on the coop and fencing the garden. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I let mine free range but I also power wash frequently for patio and etc.

 

[BuffetChicken]

Echoing what all the others have said, the choices I found were to contain the chickens or accept the poop. I took over year-old hens in March. There was snow. With the sun's low angle, there was a small, ~4' wide strip of yard that would melt. The chickens avoid the snow. They spent their time scratching and pooping in that strip, which also started to get muddy. I was losing my mind over the poop and the mud.

After a month or so, I built a yard exclusively for the chickens. Their yard is sectioned off with 4' chain-link fence. I also removed the grass from their yard and replaced it with sand under the coop and run and a meadow seed mix for the rest of the area. To allow the seed to take root, I had to continue to allow the chickens to free roam the whole yard for more than a month. In the meantime, the yard dried out and the chickens starting accessing the entire yard rather than just the 4' strip. I learned that chicken poop dries out pretty quickly, and the dried poop doesn't get on your shoes. Most fresh poop--not cecal poop--from my grass-eating chickens comes off my shoes quite easily. If they poop on the patio, it dries out and is easy to clear off before anyone wants to use the patio. So, my four hens in the back yard of a 0.15 acre total suburban lot were manageable over the summer. Winter has yet to truly arrive here, with only one dusting of snow so far. I therefore can't say whether I might start losing my mind again with free-roaming chickens who are traversing narrow pathways to avoid snow.

In early November, though, a hawk showed up looking for an easy target. I've since hung bird netting over the chickens' yard to keep them safe from the hawk, and I no longer allow them free run of the entire yard. They are definitely less active than they were before. Now they spend most of their time in the dust baths, whereas previously they spent most of the day walking the entire yard, pecking the grass and bugs, and scratching at the ground (without causing damage!).

The chickens' yard is approximately 14' x 35'. Honestly, I feel a bit guilty about confining them there, even though it's to keep them safe from the hawk. Like I said, their behavior has changed since being confined because they don't have the same opportunities to express all their previous behaviors. And being back to the low angle of the winter sun, that space gets just a sliver of sun for a short time each day. I'm considering doubling their yard continuing the bird netting over the expanded area and likely giving them supervised access to the entire yard like KyCoop. DickMidnight's 50' x 50' enclosure is a better compromise than my space, even once I double it, and it sounds like you have the space to similarly provide them a larger zone.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have a 50 x 100 area off my run and I let them into "my yard" for a few mins a couple times a week supervised. Just for enrichment. Not long enough to poop everywhere and dig up the beds but long enough for them to have some fun and eat "new" grass.

I do the same. My entire chicken set up is 20x25 but we have acreage. I let the chickens out daily (weather permitting) for some supervised free ranging. If they're on the main lawn I follow them around with a poop scooper and clean up after them (we have a 2nd lawn across from the first that the dogs are trained to stay off of, so the chickens are allowed to poop there without my cleaning up.)

 

[Rangergord]

Hello! We have 5 hens. We've let them free range in our .5 acre yard most of their lives. They really enjoy it! The problem is, they poop everywhere! On the deck, throughout the yard and they dig in the flowers. I had a fence built around my raised beds. My daughter no longer wants to play in the backyard because of the poop. I clean the coop and the yard every day. We also don't feel like we're enjoying our outdoor patio space.

We have an omelet (tractor) coop with an 8 ft. run. I just can't imagine them being happy enclosed in the run all day. I'm not sure how to make the yard enjoyable for everyone. Do most backyard flock keepers keep their chickens in their run all day or let them free range? Do I need to build a larger space for them? I've already spent so much money on the coop and fencing the garden. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I would put wheels on the omelet run and use it like a tractor. This is still actually a form of free ranging. The chickens are contained so they do not get in trouble. They have access to grass, dirt, bugs and thus have plenty to keep themselves fed and entertained. That is as good as it gets. They are not confined to the coop or a mud and dirt filled fixed run and they are not in the garden beds or on the porch!

 

[21hens-incharge]

Mine are fenced into the run 80% of the time during the non gardening time of year. When my veggie garden is growing they are NOT allowed out.

They get what I bring them from random strawberries that are a bit over ripe, extra tomatoes, corn cobs after harvest to things I grow just for them. They aren't allowed to decimate the garden but do still get goodies from it.

In the run they have over 20 square feet per bird so don't mind staying in it.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Mine are fenced into the run 80% of the time during the non gardening time of year. When my veggie garden is growing they are NOT allowed out.

They get what I bring them from random strawberries that are a bit over ripe, extra tomatoes, corn cobs after harvest to things I grow just for them. They aren't allowed to decimate the garden but do still get goodies from it.

In the run they have over 20 square feet per bird so don't mind staying in it.

Quite smart. I speak from experience you dont want your chickens destroying your plants and seeing months of work scattered on your doorstep.

 

[K0k0shka]

Depends on what your priorities are. In my yard, humans (especially children) are higher priority than animals. If the humans can't enjoy their space because of the animals, the animals gotta give. I refuse to walk/sit in poop in my own space just because of some hippie notion of chicken freedom. My chickens have 20 square feet per bird in their predator-proof, enclosed run, and that's enough. They are happy, and my yard and patio are clean. Would my chickens prefer total freedom? I bet they would. I would prefer to live in a large mansion and have staff wait on me, too, but I ain't getting that in this lifetime. We don't always get what we want, but if our needs are met and we are genuinely and lovingly cared for, then that's gotta be enough. So the chickens stay in their run and don't have a say in the matter.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Depends on what your priorities are. In my yard, humans (especially children) are higher priority than animals. If the humans can't enjoy their space because of the animals, the animals gotta give. I refuse to walk/sit in poop in my own space just because of some hippie notion of chicken freedom. My chickens have 20 square feet per bird in their predator-proof, enclosed run, and that's enough. They are happy, and my yard and patio are clean. Would my chickens prefer total freedom? I bet they would. I would prefer to live in a large mansion and have staff wait on me, too, but I ain't getting that in this lifetime. We don't always get what we want, but if our needs are met and we are genuinely and lovingly cared for, then that's gotta be enough. So the chickens stay in their run and don't have a say in the matter.

quite true! I would say the same, if i didnt get guilt tripped by them 24/7. i try to let them out where we just dont sit but when i leave the door open to pull groceries out of the car and the chickens are sitting on my sofa aint no way im getting them out.

 

[aart]

hippie notion