Free range vs run

[Quiggy]

Hey all,
I just wanted opinions on how you keep your chickens, I free range mine but was wondering what your opinions were on it. I had an accident with a weasle/mink yesterday and I'm weighing my options if I should turn to a run rather than free range. What are your thoughts?

 

[Aapomp831]

That’s really a personal decision; you have to be willing to face the possibility of more loss if you free range. I choose my birds happiness over all, and let them free range. We haven’t lost many, but we have lost a few. But we also have 50 chickens so we can afford to lose one here and there and I’m not attached to all of them. I know that sounds terrible but once I learned how susceptible chickens are to disease and predation, I trained myself to not get too attached for my own mental health.

 

[aart]

I have no tolerance for loss to hawks, lots around here, let alone other preds.
Running a close second for lack of tolerance is poop everywhere.
My birds are confined 24/7.

 

[KarynVA]

I've decided to keep mine restricted to the (movable) run. I have only 3 chickens, but my yard is small and there are neighbors on all sides. I worry my hens will wander into neighbors yard, which is behind a screen of tall grasses, and then I won't be able to see them or get them to come back to our yard. I don't think my neighbors will appreciate them pooping and digging up their gardens.

Also, we have many raccoons and skunks in the neighborhood; and sometimes hawks. I figure mine 'free range' within the safe confines of the run, which we move around as needed so they always have fresh 'range' to graze and explore.

 

[Callender Girl]

Mine get the best of both worlds. All but one coop has an attached, hardware cloth wrapped run (construction of the final run is under way, delayed by snow!). Most days, unless it is horrific weather, the chickens free range in the area between the house (so I can watch from the windows) and the goat and sheep pastures.

There are a lot of critters out there who would like to eat my poultry, so if I'm not home EVERYBODY goes into the coops with the run doors closed off. One mink attack was enough to make me paranoid all the time.

 

[NatJ]

I had an accident with a weasle/mink yesterday and I'm weighing my options if I should turn to a run rather than free range. What are your thoughts?

My first thought: to make a run weasel-proof is quite difficult. And if the weasel can get in but the chickens cannot get out, they are even more vulnerable. It might make the difference between losing one chicken at a time if they free range, as compared with losing several or all of them at once if a weasel gets into the run.

I don't know what is best, but do at least think about what it takes to make a run weasel-proof before you spend money and effort building one.

(It's relatively easy to make a run that keeps chickens in, and keeping dogs out is not much harder, but weasels can climb, dig, and squeeze through small openings.)

 

[Anon112]

I used to free range, but then a coyote discovered my property . . .

I live right next to a state park, and so I have bears, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, possum, hawks, and other critters that pass through. I've discovered that my yard is a common "through-way" for animals going from the deep woods to a creek that runs by my property. I set up a wildlife camera near their coop and caught 3 different foxes, two raccoons, and a possum passing through.

I converted an old horse run-in into a big run. It's sort of an L-shape with tall ceilings. Because I feel bad about how much time they spend inside, they have a lot of enrichment (ladders, "sentinel" walkways, a swing, floating boxes attached to the walls, etc). When the weather is nice I sit in a chair near their run and work while they free range (usually about an hour at a time).

My flock is relatively small (about 14 birds), so losing a bird is a major event for me. (And I'm a big sensitive softy and my chickies are definitely more pets than livestock).

 

[aart]

At one point, one perched on the fence and hopped under the cover and chased down the chickens in the run.

Needs have a more secure cover, eh?

I’ve never heard of using crow decoys. Are they effective for all birds of prey? Or just hawks?

Doubtful.
..oh maybe this owl needs to be painted black?

 

[Callender Girl]

@Quiggy, you asked how I get mine into the coops? Bribery!! Mine LOVE scratch and I open the garbage can where I store it, yell, "Chick, chick," and run toward their coops with a scratch-filled scoop in hand. The way to my chickens' hearts is truly through their stomachs as they dash into the coops for the treat.

 

[Cass208]

I let all mine run free, I have livestock guardian dogs , they have made the difference for my little stinkers, the biggest issue is the chicks, who I like to put out in the day with their parents in the sun. There are roadrunners who come and prey on them, even through the cages. I have one chick who is minus a wing because of it, but I fall back to quality of life, I myself would prefer a shorter life of freedom, than a longer one in a cage.so I let all of my pets live that way.