Free range vs run

[ronkonkoma]

A run absolutely. My friends tell me they’re afraid their birds might not be happy. I tell them better than dead. Sorry to be blunt but that is what I say because it’s true. It’s like when you’re kids want to play in the street. protect them because you love them. I know I am different than some. Some have so many birds. They lose one or two and don’t seem phased at all. I would be so sad. I’ve never lost a bird to a predator but I am a moderator of a big local chicken group and LOTS of my members have. The very large majority were free ranging.

 

[ackie]

Mine free range and probably 2/3 sleep in the coop at night, another 1/3 in trees. I close the pen doors at night otherwise they're like a buffet, but a weasel (most likely) got in the other day overnight and got 2 hens. Both in pens. So having them in a run over free range wouldn't have mattered. The biggest downside to free range is that you dont necessarily know where they lay, and, if a chicken goes broody, they are definitely at risk of predators since shes on the ground at night (though it's not hard to move her if you can find her). All that being said, I have like 50 game chickens so they're fiesty, and they're always making more. If I had 5 or they all had names, I might think differently.

 

[RebeccaRN]

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?

I have an 800sq ft fenced yard where there coop, food and water are that I lock up at night but during the day I open their gate and let them roam my half acre backyard

 

[RebeccaRN]

I'll have to try that! Catching them one by one definitely wouldn't be an option haha! Thank yiu!!

Mine go in on their own when it starts getting dark but if I wanted them in before that all I have to do is walk out there, they follow me everywhere

 

[ackie]

Mine go in on their own when it starts getting dark but if I wanted them in before that all I have to do is walk out there, they follow me everywhere

Mine go in on their own too. Except there were a few weeks where about 10 of them decided they wanted to sleep on the fence outside the coop, which is definitely too low to be safe. So every night I went out after dark and moved them into the coop. This problem stopped after I sold off a bunch of roosters and then hens had no interest in being on the fence by themselves.

 

[RebeccaRN]

Mine free range and probably 2/3 sleep in the coop at night, another 1/3 in trees. I close the pen doors at night otherwise they're like a buffet, but a weasel (most likely) got in the other day overnight and got 2 hens. Both in pens. So having them in a run over free range wouldn't have mattered. The biggest downside to free range is that you dont necessarily know where they lay, and, if a chicken goes broody, they are definitely at risk of predators since shes on the ground at night (though it's not hard to move her if you can find her). All that being said, I have like 50 game chickens so they're fiesty, and they're always making more. If I had 5 or they all had names, I might think differently.

Everyone of my girls go back to the coop to lay no matter where they are out in the yard

 

[ackie]

Everyone of my girls go back to the coop to lay no matter where they are out in the yard

Do you run chicken boot camp? Where do I sign my girls up?

If I ever get them reliably laying somewhere, it's always a shared nest and one of them goes broody and ruins it.

 

[MixedFlock23]

My small flock (12-14) have a coop with run fenced in with 5’ 2x4” welded wire fencing and then a larger “free range” area with 3’ plastic fencing (like construction or snow fence). We had two attacks in the first four years with this. Once a fox or coyote killed a hen and two chicks... found wavy hair on the top of the 3’ fencing. I took down that movable fence after that and kept them inside the 5’ fenced run. The 3 ft fence was only to keep them in my yard and out of the neighbor’s flowers.
A year later a raccoon climbed the 5’ fence and killed one hen just before dark. (Based on what parts were eaten)
I figured predators must just be a dusk/night issue and that they’d be safe inside their run/coop if we made sure they were closed in by dusk. So we added an automatic pop door opener/closer.
But last month a hawk killed an 8 week old chick in front of my daughter at noon inside the 5’ fenced area.
So I put bird netting on the top of the big run and 2” chicken wire on top of the chick run area. It’s not fully predator proof, but (knock on wood), I think we only have raccoons, hawks, coyotes, bobcats, foxes, snakes, & owls. I’ve only seen the rat snakes eat a baby cardinal before (we saved its sibling!), so I think my birds are safe there and the coops are locked up tight dusk to dawn, so that should take care of the nocturnal predators.
They’ve always been fine free ranging on our half acre when we are outside doing yard work in the spring & summer.
I do plan on letting them free range again when we are outside. But I see too many hawks migrating for that right now.
My plan going forward to have a rooster or two with them. The cockerels are 12 weeks old now.
If we have any other issues, I’ll have to cover the top with wire inside of plastic bird netting... or dig and bury fencing again (the chicken wire buried five years ago rusted away).
(I’ve lost way more to teeny things... cocci, Coryza, mold, biting midges, and infectious Bronchitis. Being a chicken owner is tough sometimes!)
Good luck on whatever you decide!

 

[StinkinFeathers]

I recently built a 'Fort Knox' coop and run that has electric fence all around it and is definitely predator proof. I've lost hens before to 'coons, bears, foxes, you name it. I feel like since I raised these hens from chicks that it's my responsibility to protect them. The previous coop I had a bear went through it like a wet paper bag. It was quite a horrible scene and I vowed then and there that that would not happen again. So they stay in all the time and I bring 'em all kinds of stuff from outside the coop and that seems to keep them happy.

 

[Willow2253]

I have a run for my chickens, but they get to free range when someone is home. It used to be all the time, but we had a neighbors dogs come over and kill a bunch while we were gone one day, so no more leaving them unsupervised. We’ve had no predator problems since because of this system.