Free ranging is so hard!

[Dixiedoodle]

Does it get easier to let your chickens have a little freedom?? Or am I freak? I have had my chickens for 6 weeks and two days ago, I let them out to free range for the very first time...Oh, how they loved it.. they scratched, pecked, rolled, ran, stretched their wings and just seemed to enjoy themselves!!!! But poor mama (ME) was about as nervous as I was the first time I let my kids take the car out alone!!! I made my dh come outside to sit with me--just in 'case' something came up.... I heard SOMETHING in the woods and screamed 'there's something in there' and started running toward my chickens---only to see two petrified squirrels running as fast as they could.--to which I was very embarrassed.. I continually counted heads.. I rounded them up and herded them back into the space--I thought was safe... I was exhausted after 20min. and dh helped me put them back in the coop...They are 24 weeks old..

It wasn't one bit relaxing, as I read on here! SO, does it easier???

 

[Wifezilla]

 

[AmyBella]

I'm glad I am not the only super-paranoid chicken mama! For me, it is actually getting harder... at first they just stayed close to the coop and house. Now they have discovered the "wild" edge of the yard along the river and they go into the thick brambles and sumacs. I don't know about yours, but mine do NOT come when I call.

"There's something in there!" LOL... I can totally picture it!!!

 

[gritsar]

It gets easier.
When mine were little and I let them out I used to sit with them THE WHOLE DAY! I had my DH relieve me if I needed a pee break or something to eat and drink.
Now I check on them a couple times a day. They're fine. They're happy.
Keep in mind, free ranging does come with risks. You have to accept those risks to be comfortable with free ranging.

 

[wildorchid053]

ha easier??? mine have gotten braver and are going farther away... we have all sorts of predators here in the open and no trees nearby.. and yes i watch the sky. the farm land..the chickens.. the neighboring trees.. and they do make me feel like my kid came home late from a date.. in the evening i make hubby go watch chicken tv for a couple of hours with me so he can help me round them up..i feel like a mother hen

 

[jerseygirl1]

Have no fear, I thought I was bad, I have a nanny cam so I can watch them free range on my television......

 

[chickenannie]

It can be nerve racking, yes, but as someone mentioned above, there will be some risk.

I do a lot of head counts. In fact, I was complaining the other day that I'm constantly counting heads and it gets to be too much, so I stopped. But I'm like, OK, there's the banty with 3 chicks, there's the banty with 7 chicks, there's the 4 turkey hens with their 8 babies, and on and on.

Best thing to do though, is to get the chickens used to you calling to them for treats. It is a good way to call them when needed. and don't ever "waste" the call without giving a treat, or they won't heed you.

Also, make sure they have spots to run and hide under (in my case a huge juniper shrub that is low to the ground) they always run toward it if threatened by a hawk, cuz he can't get them in there.

 

[Chicky Tocks]

hehe! My girls have only been freeranging for about 2 months now. I let them out every evening for 3-4 hours of grazing. For the first month and a half, I sat out there with them the entire time. For me it did get easier.
Now I will go into the house and start dinner or do something that I need to do, but I'm in and out every 10-15 minutes checking on them.

Now that I do let them range without me hovering over them every minute, I've set up hidey areas throughout the yard. A wide piece of lumber over sawhorses, turned over chairs..etc...just in case they need to duck for cover. We do have hawks.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
First couple of months I about went crazy trying to count them all at once. Then I wised up and learned to count by color, since I only have three colors. Much easier.

 

[sonew123]

Nervous for a few weeks-I had alot of chicks out and about-now that I have culled the roosters Im 10 heads further downa dn it makes counting easier. They go free range for about 8 hurs a day and checked on a few times off and on when eggs are collected-Ive had 1 casualty-my beautiful full black crested polish! My 6 month old cocker spaniel got her when my girls let him out and never bothered to bring him back in from his potty break-mine are very good at hiding-but they always know when its bedtime and they all walk into their cages and coops so lock up and hrad count is a pisce of cake--I am always worried everyday when I get home though Ill be missing some:-(