Free Range?

[Matt R.]

New to this so please be patient with me. I live in Texas on 2 acres with my family and would like to get some chickens for the kids. I have no idea what I am doing and need some advise. These chickens will primarily be for pets with the benifit of the eggs and entertainment for the kids. There are horses next door and I don't have a fence around my place so it is possible for coyotes to travel through. I have seen them.
I had chickens when I was young,but we lived in the city with a typical back yard. I remember the chickens roosting in all kinds of places in the back yard.
With all that said this is what I am thinking and would love some input from the pros.
I don't have a problem building a coope but would like to turn out my chickens to run free and scratch. I figure that there are going to be times when I won't make it home before dark in order to close the chicken coope. Can I build my roost and nesting boxes up high enough that a coyote or fox can't get them in the event I am away.
I figure I will have to keep them closed up until they get used to thier new home. Maybe 6 months. Will they come back and nest in the same place every night if the coope is left open. Would a smaller, lighter chicken be better at flying and roost higher? How high would I need to put the nesting boxes? Could I build a small ladder that they could climb but a coyote would not? I am only talking about a half dozen or so chickens.
Any input would be much appriciated.
Sincerely
Matt

 

[Doopy]

Hi Matt and welcome to the forums.

If a coyote gets inside the coop there will not be any chickens left by morning. No matter how high you put the roosts. The idea is to keep all predators out of the coop. So closing the coop every night is important if you do not have a very secure fenced run for the chickens.

As far as free ranging the chickens goes, you can certainly do that and the chickens will love it. But you will most certainly attract coyotes, hawks, coons, and every other chicken predator in the area. It's kind of strange that some folks have very good success with keeping their flock safe while free ranging and others loose their flock immediately.

I'm sure others will chime in and offer good advice.

 

[catdaddy66]

If you have seen coyotes then you will need a predator proof coop. I don't think a short amount of daytime ranging is bad at all, but again beware of predators! Most birds WILL return to roost But need to be locked up at night. Maybe an auto-closing door is the answer. All of these things can be searched on the searchbar above the threads. Good Luck and welcome to BYC!!