Hi,
I'm a newbie and have a few questions about free ranging. Our chickens are nearly 6-7 weeks old, there are 77. We also have 9 llamas, 4 goats and 3 sheep. They have all done well with wild geese and pheasants on our other pasture. So I believe they will be accepting of the chickens.
We plan to fence a large area for a few of the llamas and put the coop and run IN the fenced area. This would be added security for the chickens. We want the chickens to be able to free range outside of the coop and run on the 20 acres we have when they get a little bigger. There will also be a hot wire going around this fence. We will expand the fence till eventually it will encompass 15 of our 20 acres. This is wooded and yes, we have predators here in the MT wilderness.
How do we get them back in at night? Treats at bedtime, then lock them down till morning?
Do they come back on their own and put themselves to bed?
The hubby says they all "know" to come back, I disagree.
I am going to put some brighter solar lights out by the coop too. The llamas don't have great night vision despite their large eyes. So having lights around the area will hopefully help them see what's going on to defend their feathered friends.
Any ideas or links, pros/cons you can share will be greatly appreciated!!
I'm a newbie and have a few questions about free ranging. Our chickens are nearly 6-7 weeks old, there are 77. We also have 9 llamas, 4 goats and 3 sheep. They have all done well with wild geese and pheasants on our other pasture. So I believe they will be accepting of the chickens.
We plan to fence a large area for a few of the llamas and put the coop and run IN the fenced area. This would be added security for the chickens. We want the chickens to be able to free range outside of the coop and run on the 20 acres we have when they get a little bigger. There will also be a hot wire going around this fence. We will expand the fence till eventually it will encompass 15 of our 20 acres. This is wooded and yes, we have predators here in the MT wilderness.

How do we get them back in at night? Treats at bedtime, then lock them down till morning?

Do they come back on their own and put themselves to bed?

I am going to put some brighter solar lights out by the coop too. The llamas don't have great night vision despite their large eyes. So having lights around the area will hopefully help them see what's going on to defend their feathered friends.

Any ideas or links, pros/cons you can share will be greatly appreciated!!
