Free-ranging advice?

[tuesdaylove]

I'm interested in the idea of letting my flocks free-range during the day, but I'm not sure where to start and I have a few concerns.

I have two flocks of chickens. Currently, they are kept in runs 24/7. None of my current chickens have ever free-ranged before. Only two of them are tame enough that I can pick them up after a little chase to catch them, and the others are all completely wild, and will nearly kill themselves trying to get away from me once I try to catch them -- I don't know why, I raised them all from chicks (most of them were born here!). One run has my "main" flock, consisting of one bantam roo, three bantam hens, and one two-month old unknown gender, large-breed bird. The other run has my other bantam roo and one bantam hen. The reason I have two groups in the first place is because my roosters started fighting, I've had zero luck in rehoming either of them, and I personally am not willing to cull my birds.

The bigger flock of five birds are in a 10ftx10ft chain link dog kennel, modified with some chicken wire for safety and a roof added on. I don't know the measurements exactly of the other run, as I kinda threw it together with what I had, but it's a bit smaller than the kennel. Point is, they're small enough that grass never grows in these runs. The ground stays very muddy, which is making the chickens' feet look terrible and the eggs are always muddy. Both of these runs are contained inside the backyard, surrounded by chain-link fence, I believe four feet high.

I'd just like for my chickens to be able to eat grass and fly around a little bit and have more fun! But here are my concerns...

1. I live in a very, very, very predator-heavy area. There are thick woods behind my house, filled with a variety of predators, birds of prey always flying around, and a major highway out in front of the house. This is the reason they've been contained their whole lives thus far. To illustrate how bad the problem is, I actually have a third chicken run that I built myself -- it's a bit closer to the woods, while the pens I'm using right now are up against the house. The third run has been broken into multiple times, and I've had seven chickens killed in that run, so I'm not using it now. We get possums and raccoons coming into the yard at least several nights a week. I've seen coyotes and foxes just behind the yard. Hawks, and I think golden eagles, as well as buzzards, fly overhead daily. Two of the seven chickens I've had killed were by hawks, and the hawks got them while they were hiding under trees and bushes. We've also got a fair amount of feral cats, but the most I've ever seen from them was when a feral kitten walked into one run and ate some chicken food, and the rooster just stood there and let him do it. So my question is, if they were coming out for a few hours in the evening, supervised, then put back in their runs at night, what is the risk of predator attacks?

2. With most of my chickens being completely un-catchable, I'm not sure how I'd get them back in the run at night. The setups are just runs without proper coops, though each run does have a little house inside and roosting poles. Will the chickens instinctively get back in the runs at night if they were not raised doing this? Will they not recognize the run as where they need to be, meaning they have to have a legit coop to go back to? What if they don't get back in the runs and I have to put them back manually -- I really don't think I could catch some of them, and they'd absolutely have to go back at night due to predators. Is there any way to train them to return to the coop without me having to forcibly move them in?

3. Will they leave the yard? The fence is low enough that they could definitely fly over it. I'd prefer them not to leave the fenced area, as they could get hit by cars, and I definitely don't want them going into the woods. Would they? The woods start probably 100 feet back from the farthest part of the fence.

I hope this is enough details to help y'all give me some solid advice here. I can of course just keep them in runs from now on if that is safest -- I don't ever own too many chickens at once, so I'd like to not lose any, but I'd also like them to have the most fulfilling life possible.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A lot depends on the breeds. I sometimes have as many as 7 flocks (4 right now) and they always free range every day. They usually keep to themselves and don't mix. The breed I raise now is very respectful of fences and won't go over a 3 foot fence. In the past I even had Jersey Giants that would go over a 6 foot fence if they new there was tasty garden produce on the other side.
My Penedesenca roosters are very protective and have fended off hawks and other daytime predators. I lost a rooster to coyotes once but that's it.
You won't have to catch them. They'll all go into the coop by dusk on their own. Mine are wild as well and I've never been able to catch one. Out of 30 breeds in the past, JGs are the only ones I've been able to pick up out in the yard.

 

[ChickenGirl555]

Based on the amount of predators, and how they were able to break in, I would not HIGHLY recommend it. But then again it Also depends on breeds, and you have roos and I don’t, but the Roos may be able to warn the chickens before the predator attacks. But then again, I live in an area with only night predators (foxes, raccoons, etc.) and once I lock them up they are good.

 

[tuesdaylove]

Thanks!

To specify, my roosters are both Belgian d'Uccle/booted bantam mixes. Two of the hens are also d'Uccle/BB mixes, and one hen is pure d'Uccle. The other hen is a Cochin bantam/Rosecomb bantam mix. The large-breed chick is half Cochin bantam and half Rhode Island Red. So she'll be huge when she's grown, but the others are all very small. All my bantams can fly about six feet into the air, I've seen them do it many times.

I think one of my roosters would probably defend his hen, but the other rooster has no protective instinct. Like I wrote in the first post, he stood back and let a feral kitten wander into the run and eat their food. He made absolutely no attempt to chase it off. Granted, the kitten didn't try to mess with the birds, either.

I'm thinking I wouldn't let both flocks out at the same time because the roosters fight. One day I'd let out my flock of two, then the next day let out the flock of five, and so forth.

 

[lazy gardener]

I would suggest that you put a hot wire around your runs. Then, if you want to try letting them out for free range time, do so when you can be outside with them. If you are in a place where it is safe and legal to shoot, I'd suggest that you have a weapon with you. You might need it to keep a bird out of a pred's mouth.

Finally, I suggest that you turn your 2 existing runs into deep litter runs. That will give them the benefit of being able to scratch for lots of goodies in the litter. Studies have shown that birds on DL have healthier immune systems and better feed conversion rates. The DL will keep their feet out of the mud and should make your nest boxes much cleaner.

You can also grow sprouts to give your birds the greens that they have been missing out on.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Yeah, like I said, it depends on the breed. I wouldn't expect most breeds of bantams to take on a hawk. I've seen these Pene roos make the aerial predator call and each flock of hens would flee into the coop or under brush and the roosters would just stand their ground facing the incoming hawk. When the hawk swept down to attack one of the roosters, the rooster flew up to meet it and took the hawk out of the air. Then the rooster slowly strode back to his flock as the hawk struggled to get to its feet and fly off.

 

[lazy gardener]

Perhaps I need one of those mean boys!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They're not really mean, they just don't like hawks and remain aloof from anything not chicken, including humans.
Having all these roosters does give me lots of peace of mind when I leave with them all free ranging around the property. It's been about 2 years since I lost a bird to daytime predators. Night is a completely different story.

Oh, and I sell hatching eggs and chicks.

 

[tuesdaylove]

I don't have any guns, and my only real weapon is a taser... I can kinda see myself grabbing and tasing a hawk if I must!

I do put some litter in the runs, but they kick it all back out through the sides of the fence. I'll see if there's anything I can put around the bottom edges to keep it in there.

 

[JeanR]

If you free range, you will lose one or all, in a short time! I learned (and I have NO birds to lose) by losing just 2! I NEVER free range any more. My pen of 7 bantams are often outside of their inside house, which is 6X10 their section, bedded with shavings and with full floor space, as their nest boxes are on a shelf above the window, and another shelf with their night roost above that, with roosts to fly up to each. They have plenty of room to be active, and can give them apples, chick weed--and leafy alfalfa hay when they can not go outside. The outside runs are green short grass! The grass is mowed, always short, , and watered to keep green in summer. bantams are never out until the dew on the grass has dried! They are never out in the rain or snow! If they were, there would be NO grass a all. By limiting their outside pen time, their dusting area is around the edges of their pen. There is netting over the top of their outside pen and tree and shrubs for part shade in summer! Wet, dirty feet make nest boxes and eggs dirty. As it is, eggs are always clean and the inside bedding is never wet.