Free Range

[Chickenlover4ever]

Hi! Just looking for some advice on how to keep my ladies as happy as possible. For context, I have 7 pullets: 2 Barred Rocks, 2 Jersey Giants, and 3 Easter Eggers. They’ve been in their coop since mid to late October, respectively (there’s an age difference between the older 4 and the Easter Eggers so they got moved outside in a staggered manner). The coop I have for them, after lots of exhaustive research to find a decent one, has a run that’s about 10X3-ish. I’m concerned it’s not enough space for them and I’d like to free range them as we live on ~1.6 acres, but I want to be smart about predators and things. We have a half acre side yard and then a hilly sort of pasture area in the back that’s about an acre, and it backs up to some woods at the edge of our property line. We live in a quiet neighborhood at the end of a dead-end street so I’m not concerned about them getting hit by cars or anything, for the most part. My concern is about hawks or other wild predators, and also my neighbor’s dogs. Almost everyone in the neighborhood has dogs, though they are kept in fenced areas or inside as far as I know. HowEVER, the neighbors on one side of us (very close to where we currently keep the coop, I might add) have 3 Dobermans they keep in an electric fence, and I’m worried my hens will wander into their area and get attacked by the dogs, and of course I wouldn’t be able to help them due to the electric fence situation. I’m also concerned the chickens could escape into the woods at the back of our property too. So I’m really conflicted about what to do. I want my ladies to have enough space and be happy, but I don’t want to put them at risk either. In a perfect world, we’d either fence in our property or enlarge their coop/run, but I’m afraid neither of those options are in our budget right now. I guess what I’m wondering is if there’s a safe way to free range my chickens, or is it best to save up for fencing/additional run space? If you’ve made it this far on my rambling journey and have some advice to give, I’d sure appreciate it!!

 

[AidKD]

My advice would be to wait till you can expand their run. The woods alone holds a multitude of predators and your chickens could be gone in a week. And you could count on them wandering under the fence into the dog's territory. I do think the area you have for them is a bit too small, but in all actuality they'll survive until you can afford a bigger run. Just make sure you have a couple of roosting bars in the run and maybe a couple different bushes of some sort so they're occupied and don't start fighting and they'll be fine.

 

[SueT]

The chickens, when let out, aren’t going to just run off into the distance and disappear. They will range around their home base and always come home. However that range could indeed include the neighbors dog yard and the woods.
When free ranging you have to accept there will be losses. I used to replace those losses each year. But 3 years ago, the hawks were just too much, and we made a big run for our chickens. The flock, who had witnessed the last hawk attack, didn’t ever ask to go out after that. The majority of my current flock has never free ranged.
You have to decide yourself how much risk you want to tolerate.

 

[susania]

I have 16 chickens and the enclosed run is 12 x 12 x 8 with an attached coop. We have many predators here. I do let them out daily for about 45 minutes while I clean and change out their food and water. None of them have ever run off. I throw scratch on the ground and they stay close and scratch and eat the vegetation around the run. When I’m done with my chores, I tell them to go back in the run. Some listen, some don’t and I have to round those gals up. I never leave them alone while they are out and haven’t had any issues.

 

[Mrs. K]

The thing is, occasionally letting them out to free range for a couple of hours, and then confining them crowded for the rest of the time really does nothing for getting birds to get along.

What does the space look like, pictures of the coop/run can really help. A lot of runs are just open rectangles, where a bird can see every bird 100% of the time. There is no hideouts, no roosts, platforms, mini walls, multiple feed bowls set up so birds eating at one can't see birds eating at another. People think it looks cluttered, but really it is much more interesting to the birds.

Free ranging is risking loosing birds. And it is ALWAYS your favorite bird, always. I love to let mine out to free range, and I know that not all might come back. I do have somethings that help:

• don't free range on cloudy or windy days - gives advantage to the predators
• a year old good rooster has helped, but not all roosters are good
• don't free range on a constant schedule, some days I let mine out at 7 am, somedays at noon, and some days not at all.
• if you get hit by a predator, you have to go into lock down, and stay in lockdown for a couple of weeks. Predators will come back.

So free ranging really won't make up for overcrowding. You really need the size of the flock to fit in the set up you have right now. The easiest way is to reduce your flock, and think about it, if you are having social problems in the flock. If you think you can expand later and do so, well then you can get a bigger flock.

As birds get to full size, all of a sudden, what seemed like way more room than they needed, suddenly is not enough room and ugly behaviors start and get worse. Reduce the number of birds in your flock.

Mrs K

 

[Shadrach]

Hi! Just looking for some advice on how to keep my ladies as happy as possible. For context, I have 7 pullets: 2 Barred Rocks, 2 Jersey Giants, and 3 Easter Eggers. They’ve been in their coop since mid to late October, respectively (there’s an age difference between the older 4 and the Easter Eggers so they got moved outside in a staggered manner). The coop I have for them, after lots of exhaustive research to find a decent one, has a run that’s about 10X3-ish. I’m concerned it’s not enough space for them and I’d like to free range them as we live on ~1.6 acres, but I want to be smart about predators and things. We have a half acre side yard and then a hilly sort of pasture area in the back that’s about an acre, and it backs up to some woods at the edge of our property line. We live in a quiet neighborhood at the end of a dead-end street so I’m not concerned about them getting hit by cars or anything, for the most part. My concern is about hawks or other wild predators, and also my neighbor’s dogs. Almost everyone in the neighborhood has dogs, though they are kept in fenced areas or inside as far as I know. HowEVER, the neighbors on one side of us (very close to where we currently keep the coop, I might add) have 3 Dobermans they keep in an electric fence, and I’m worried my hens will wander into their area and get attacked by the dogs, and of course I wouldn’t be able to help them due to the electric fence situation. I’m also concerned the chickens could escape into the woods at the back of our property too. So I’m really conflicted about what to do. I want my ladies to have enough space and be happy, but I don’t want to put them at risk either. In a perfect world, we’d either fence in our property or enlarge their coop/run, but I’m afraid neither of those options are in our budget right now. I guess what I’m wondering is if there’s a safe way to free range my chickens, or is it best to save up for fencing/additional run space? If you’ve made it this far on my rambling journey and have some advice to give, I’d sure appreciate it!!

I've got some advice; don't free range them.
However, you could range them supervised each day. It's what I have to do with my current charges.
Even an hour a day in a space in which they can fly and run makes a noticable difference to their fittnes and that usually translates to healthier birds.
Thye will also pick/dig out bugs, roots, eat grass and other vegitation and this stuff helps to provide a varied diet, supplying nutrients that may not be available in the feed.
It's also good to spend an hour a day with your hens for your own mental health.

 

[rosemarythyme]

has a run that’s about 10X3-ish.

If this is accurate you have more than twice the number of birds your space can hold. You either need to reduce the number of birds very soon, free range the majority of the day, or expand the run.

As a temporary half measure even a run that's not fully predator proof (i.e. chicken wire, snow fencing, etc.) can at least encourage them to stay in one area so they're not visiting the neighbor's dogs.

 

[McChooky]

Only free range while present to avoid a disaster.It takes 6-8 months to grow a batch of chicks to laying age.Free ranging a small flock can mean zero eggs for a year