free rangeing believers here!!!

[missourichickenmama]

i am proud to free range !!! i would like to know other free rangers.

 

[austinhart123]

i free range my mutts

 

[shelleyd2008]

All my birds free range, except for brooder babies and the silly guinea keets!! I had lost some a few weeks ago, and kept my little ones confined for a few days, but there haven't been any loses in a week at least!!

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

We free range

The birds LOVE it

 

[DaKid]

I would love to, but having lots of wooded area around me and neighbors about 200 ft or so away each side , I just don't thing they would like my chickens over there on there property and well lots of predators in the woods to the back and part of the front & side of us too. so just a large pen for us

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
My neighbors are not quite as close, but I live right next to a huge government owned land area that is used for mostly game preserve/hunting/farming, in that order. I have lost my chickens IN MY YARD, not in the woods. The ones I did lose were all young yard chickens.

 

[spook]

Huge believer in free range, but there is a choice in my neighborhood, keep enclosed in the 14 x 30 pen with netting over the top, or lose the whole flock to the 2 types of hawks that picked off 2 already, or the bald eagle juvinille, osprey or owls.
See, we all love chicken.

 

[spook]

my pc is placing 2 posts at a time this morning....grrrr. sorry to you folks!

 

[M@M@2four]

Most of my flock free ranges with the exception of my Polish, Silkies and bantam breeds--they get oustide time and fresh greens, but are just penned outside for that! The rest free ranga from dawn till dusk. My property is not fenced--they just know their boundaries and have always stayed in them...it's amazing! Yes, I know free-ranging leaves them more vulnerable to predators, but that is something you understand when you free range...it's never happened to me yet, thank God, but I understand that it could happen...but I think the benefits of free ranging far outweigh the negatives. I have happy, healthy birds because of it!

 

[verycherry]

We "sort of" free range. We have a fenced in section of our pasture for the chickens. They can easily get out if they really want to though, but it's plenty roomy for them, so they rarely do.....specially during summer when it's the only cool shady spot for them.

If they do ever venture out, they still have a wood rail fence around about 2 acres, but of course can get out of that very easlily, so we do try to herd them back in fairly quickly if we aren't going to be right there watching or working in the garden. Just too many hawks and other preditors around our neck of the woods. We even saw a dead bobcat about two miles up the road one day, so we really have to keep an eye out.

If I could, I'd let them free range all the time. They really enjoy running around in the field.