Free-ranging is overrated. :/

[karlamaria]

Quote:
I live in the city and love my girlSr in my yard. The kids pick up th poop ( we call them divets lol ) and they get to dig up under the hedges, and they have the back of there run to dig. I also knew my yard was never going to be the same but we love our girls and it was a win win situation for us. We love the eggs and there antics. My girls are very friendly, so we play with them lol. We have a run, there kept in there until I come home at 1:00 in the afternoon, then there out until they go to bed at night. Weekends there out most of the day until bed time. They always go to bed by them selves and we shut the coop up around 9:00 pm . We open the coop at around 7:30 am
We get poop on the stairs and porch, it's washable and my yard grass is beautiful from it lol. We give goodies thru out the day, but in the mornings we give lots of different treats on a platter, to make up for being cooped in the pen lol.

 

[bobbieschicks]

We're in a residential area with slightly less then an acre. Our backyard is fenced with a 4' tall horse fence and welded wire. I also have a coop and fenced run for my chicks. However, when I'm home I let my chicks free range. I am there with them the whole time keeping my eye on them and shooing them away from areas they shouldn't be in. I've seen my chicks eyeballing the neighbor's yard and I don't want them going over the fence to find out how green the grass is over there. I only let them out if I can watch them run around as there are too many potential predators - dogs run loose in this neighborhood all the time and I've even had several jump our fence. We've seen a raccoon pass through. There are many osprey and eagle nearby since we're close to the water - while I know that those birds typically choose fish to eat - I've also seen an osprey swoop into the yard and pick up a field mouse. A large hawk made himself know several weeks ago and a family of foxes have set up house in our neighborhood - we've spotted the fox during the daytime two doors down. So my chicks get to have a little supervised freedom and I get to have a little peace of mind. They particularly enjoy running around outside the coop because they get a lovely treat of mealy worms when they hear the shake and come running back to the coop. I lock them up in the run and they put themselves to bed before the automatic door closes shut at dusk. It's working so far.

 

[Noymira]

Ours have a good sized run now, but in the spring I will be fencing in the small field their coop is in. It's tucked in a nice little dead end valley with steep walls, over a small access bridge across a stream, so it won't be hard to add fencing to a few critical areas to keep them contained. I work all day and would be worried about them out free ranging all the time. It won't be quite as "good" as free ranging, but should still give them some freedom and decrease our feed costs during good weather.

 

[wyododge]

I guess we are lucky. The birds are all over the place but never really destroy anything. They did get into the garden through the hot wire, but we will just put that orange web fencing up next year to keep em out. My wife has whacked a chicken or two if she sees them in the roses, or pecking at her flowers. Maybe that is why they don't tear stuff up.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Ditto. Free ranging is all my birds have ever known and it's all they will ever know.

Yep...free ranging takes planning and action to be successful. You can't just turn them out and give them a kiss for luck. Fences are nice additions to your free range plans(gardens are buffets for chickens, fencing is the best option)...so is protection from predators in the form of free ranged dogs who will also take care of the poop problem.

All of this works best with a nice perimeter fence to keep all free rangers ranging safely, hides for the chickens to duck into and sacrifice areas in which you don't mind them dusting. All other areas~around houses/buildings/etc~can be protected by laying chicken wire down on the ground and tacking it down.

I could never free range without my dogs....worth their weight in gold, they are.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I tried keeping my chickens fenced in, but they kept digging tunnels out. I didn't like poop on the poarch either, so I got 3 puppies. SCORE!

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
Same here, only with two-thirds of an acre.

I know my veranda is poopy, but I so enjoy watching the parade from one end to the other by various flock members. Eh. Poop dries, and can be swept away. Or hosed away if I need to clean whilst it's "ripe."

The roosters - and I have quite a few - are VERY good at warning the flock. So are the Toulouse geese.

I just learned the big black birds circling and swooping are actually turkey vultures, not hawks, so I can even relax some about that perceived predatory threat. Yes, there are hawks around here, but as I said, the roosters and geese are great alarm systems, always vigilant.

I've learned to use poultry fencing to protect plants I don't want the flock to decimate. Because I don't clip anybody's wings, this means I don't have garden beds, but specific plants to encircle with barrier fencing. Once those plants (crape myrtle, pomegranate tree, two climbing roses, a honeysuckle vine, and raspberry vine) have matured enough to have hard trunks, I "should" be able to remove the barriers.

Yes the yard is a moonscape from the dust-bathing spas they construct, but I never wanted a lawn to mow anyway. The world is there for my flock, inside the fenced perimeter. A couple bantams have gone visiting next door, but they come back again after a while.

 

[KirstenJL]

There's a good compromise. I have my 13 chickens enclosed in 350 ft. of electronetting surrounding their coop and (small) run. The enclosure takes up most of my backyard and I've run it through a wooded area and constructed platforms covered with pine boughs to provide cover and protect against hawks. I'm in the country and on a few acres, but the house sits close to the back property line and if allowed to free-range, I'm sure my chickens would be all over the neighbor's crop fields. The netting keeps them safe (enough) and allows them plenty of space.

 

[Animalian]

I find birds with feathered feet do less damage. Bantams less too.

Their run is just a well fertilised and turned patch of dirt, but they tend to be kinder to the whole garden. Except Heather... she has to sample EVERY SINGLE PLANT!

 

[hensandchickscolorado]

We do the "nights & weekends" free range plan. I only let the birds out in our fenced when we are around. They are probably out of the run a total of 15 hours/week. Treats/veggies in the run often. I only have 3, so the occasional poop on the porch isn't so bad.

We got our first egg last week and so far they have been delicious with very orange yolks, so I thinkws they are getting all that they need!