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Hi! I am new to chickens, having six 8 week olds. What worked for me is starting small and being vigilant. I started with half an hour supervised and now we are up to 3 to 4 hours per day, only when I am home and working nearby/outside. In my area, I dont feel comfortable leaving them unsupervised as we have many predators (hawks being my top concern) and I know I wont be able to commit to 4 hours everyday, but whenever I can fit that in safely for them, I do.Have 10 chicks and 7 ducks that are going on 10 weeks old. I am thinking about train them to be free range... anyone have on tips and advices on how to start the process and what to expect
Hello! When you say to have a setup to hold the flock in case of a predator attack, do you mean locked in the coop or a different place?The chance of loss skyrockets with letting them out, them running around, eating grass and bugs is priceless...the secret is to find the sweet spot in the middle.
Good luck,
- Don't let them out on a schedule - sometimes all day, sometimes part of the day, sometimes not at all
- Do have a set up that can hold the flock 24/7 if and when you do get hit. Predators come back, going into lock down is important until they move on.
- Don't let them out are real cloudy days or high wind days. They can't see the hawk shadow, and they can't hear predators.
- The more often and longer you let them out, the farther they will roam. If they get to roaming too far, don't let them out for a while.
- A full grown good rooster (not all roosters are good roosters) close to year old, that has been raised in a free ranging flock is a good asset against day time predators.
Mrs K
Thank you!I mean a predator proof coop/run combination.