Free ranging pros and cons?

[chiengora]

I free range my chickens (all hens) in my very urban back yard. The yard is fenced with a block wall and I have only had chickens go walk-about a few times. The only predators that we have seen here have been hawks and, once, an eagle. They are fairly uncommon though.
I have areas of the yard that are fenced in with wooden slat fence with the slats far enough apart so that the chickens can get through but the dogs can't. I also garden in the dog-free/chicken-safe zone.
I have three dogs; one Bearded Collie and two Great Pyrenees. The Bearded Collie herds the hens back behind the fence. The Great Pyrenees are livestock guardian dogs and have been bonded to the chickens. The dogs guard from anything overhead and were very alert on the occasions of the hawks and eagle.
I got the chickens for bug control after we had a severe issue with ticks, the eggs are just a bonus. Since we got the chickens we have no longer had a cricket problem either.
The only negatives I have found are the droppings when they get tracked into the house or the dogs roll in them.

 

[clankeyes]

I have two German Shepherds and they don't mess with our chickens at all. We introduced them to our chicks the day we got them. We taught the dogs that the chicks were part of the family, so they don't chase or attack them at all.

We did the same thing with our Golden Doogle Luci.. BUT I must say Luci adopted the babies the day they came home. She guarded them with her life and she even slept by their brooder for 3 days straight. When we got 4 ducks 3 wks ago she was sad they did not take her her like the baby chicks did. Tomorrow we bring home 3 more 5 day old chicks and next week we will hatch 7. I am sure she will guard them as well. Our older girls are now 12 wks old and Luci spends her outside time guarding them.

 

[Silver Silkie]

Hi and welcome to the hobby of raising poultry! I started raising chickens last year, but I read tons and tons of books before I actually got the chickens. We currently live in a rural area of three acres and have a highway behind our house. I have always free-ranged my chickens here and I love it. The chickens are very happy, because they can eat all of the grasshoppers, lizards, even snakes! Predators can be a problem though. We lost a few pullets to hawks and I had another captured by a coon. This was because the chicks were white and easily spotted. I currently have twenty five chicks in my large coop, which has an attached run. The grown up hens live in a smaller coop without a run. The roosters will protect the hens from harm. My mother's dog is a Black Russian Terrier (at a whopping 130 lbs, they are the largest of the terriers). He enjoys herding the hens, but never hurts them. I remember when we had our broilers for 4-H last September, he would go and lick the little chicks till they were peeping like crazy! Our dog was never trained as a guard dog, so choosing a breed with a friendly temperament would be wise. If you are raising meat birds though you should consider confining them to the coop or at least to a run. Meat birds need to gain weight, so them running around your backyard isn't the best idea. Although I have heard from several people that they ranged their flock of meat birds and that the meat tasted much better than a confined bird. In my opinion, free-ranging your flock is the way to go, although a number of factors cab effect your descion.

 

[Tacampbell1973]

Hi BYC family,
I do freerange. I feel for myself that I would rather my birds have a varied lifestyle that they can go roam and have fun and supplement their diet rather than sit in a pen and be bored and safe. Believe me it has been a struggle. I have lost Guineas times three. I cried every time. i just recently lost a month old baby chick. I was in Arkansas and my mother in law was chicken sitting when it happened. still sucked though. I have battled in my head would i rather my chickens had an interesting life where they could roam our 52 acres and love life or be penned up and live. It sucks but i think my birds would much rather be out. Most all know to hide when arial alert is sounded. But I am a "bleeding heart" and every loss hurts me. To each there own and everyone will do what they feel is right fortheir feathered children as I do. I do not seek to influence anyones preferences and mine are my own. Everyone's walk is different and should be respected. Blessings to all of us who love these adorable animals. For myself I live with 8 Guineas down from 11

9 adult chickenst that Iove more than life itself, and 6 brand new month old baby chickies that immediately stole my heart. These are minus one named Onyx that i lost recetly. I am also a week away from hatching out three eggs from my Polish crested hen named Angel and Dad is a Gold Laced Cochin. Cant wait. Candled the eggs tonight and definitely have three embryos. Blessigs to each and every one ofyou and your bird family members. I cannot beleive it took me 40 years to find the perfect pet/friend. I am devoted for life now.

 

[Beekissed]

One thing to add....been free ranging many white birds off and on for 38 yrs now and have never had a white bird taken by a predator. I've heard that so many times, that folks think white birds are easier to spot so they are the first target, but it's simply not true. These predator's don't need a white flag waving at them to zero in on a chicken. They go for loners, stragglers, the unwary, the slow moving...this is not color specific.

A couple of years back I free ranged 54 CX birds all over three acres of meadow surrounded by thousands of acres of woodland....no predation. They were out on pasture from the age of 2 wks and ranged until 10 wks, right in the middle of the season when predators are hunting to feed their young.

White birds are no more susceptible to predation than any other color of bird, IME....but that myth keeps getting repeated over and over for some reason. I've never had a white chicken lost to a predator in all those years.

 

[jak2002003]

I now free range my chickens all day every day. But I shut them in at night.

I find the benefits for me are:

I don't have to clean out a run or coop
I hardly use any feed... because they find most of their own food.
Its nice and relaxing to watch them roaming around the property.

Its interesting that I have never had any birds killed while free ranging. BUT I have had birds killed several times when they were in coop... because a predator got in.. and the birds were trapped in there with it. Also at first I clipped their wings so they would not fly over the garden wall. Again I had a bird killed and another injured by a friends dog.. they could not fly to get away.

My chickens are all very alert and smart when it comes to danger. Any suspicious bird flying over head and they let out a call and they all go diving for cover. Any strange dog about they all go out into the open.. watching it closely. They can all fly really well and if some loud noise or strange person comes along they simply fly away, or up into the trees. I have seen them do this when a large snake was in the garden.

So I think free ranging depends on the situation are place you live. If there are lots of predators and you loose a few birds.. then keep them in a secure run and coop. If you free range them DON'T clip their wings. Having more chickens help them as more pairs of eyes are there to keep a look out for danger.

 

[bruceha2000]

If you are raising meat birds though you should consider confining them to the coop or at least to a run. Meat birds need to gain weight, so them running around your backyard isn't the best idea. Although I have heard from several people that they ranged their flock of meat birds and that the meat tasted much better than a confined bird.

I don't raise meat birds but I would think a bird that is active would be a better meal than one that sits around getting fat all day. Activity builds muscle. All the blobs of fat I find in commercially raised chickens is just wasted feed and you don't even see the fat they take out. Plus, since I prefer dark meat, there is more of it in the muscles that are used. PRESUMABLY a chicken that is using it's wings more will have darker breast meat.

I doubt my daughter will ever change her opinion of us raising animals to eat but if I had the opportunity, I'd choose a breed that didn't have the "get so heavy so fast they can't walk" issue and they would free range during the day, same as the layers. They would have a happy (if short) life, be leaner and cost less per pound to put on the table.

They can all fly really well and if some loud noise or strange person comes along they simply fly away, or up into the trees.

What breed(s) are your chickens Jason? My Cubalaya can fly well (if they want to) though I've never seen one in a tree. The Anconas are supposed to be OK flyers and the Partridge Chantecler as well though it is rare to see them do it. I don't think the others would get too far on the wing but can get to the top of a 4' fence easily enough. Again, if they want to.

 

[jak2002003]

What breed(s) are your chickens Jason? My Cubalaya can fly well (if they want to) though I've never seen one in a tree. The Anconas are supposed to be OK flyers and the Partridge Chantecler as well though it is rare to see them do it. I don't think the others would get too far on the wing but can get to the top of a 4' fence easily enough. Again, if they want to.

I have mostly Japanese Bantams and also a flock of 9 leghorn X something. I also have a few mix breed standard size chickens.

The Japanese ones are the best at flying... the hens can fly right across the garden and up into the bamboo. Even the roosters can fly vertically up to about 7 feet high up onto the back wall easily.

They get into the trees by flying about 6 feet up and then jumping up a branch at a time. They used all roost right near the top.. but after several hard storms and some getting blown down in the night I decided they were better off sleeping under some bamboo baskets (we use them over here a lot specially for chickens).

The larger breeds are not good at flying long distances.. but they can still cover a lot of ground over the yard. They also can fly / scramble up into the trees and onto the back wall with ease.

There is a lake outside our garden and 2 of my game fowl hens were on the other side. As a man walked past to go fishing they got spooked and both flew right across the water to the other side (a distance of about 23 feet).

 

[bruceha2000]

Nice looking birds, love those baskets. They are probably pretty affordable there in Thailand, would bring a fair bit here.

The farthest one of mine has flown (at least when someone was around to see) was one of the Cubalayas. She flew from the yard behind the house, around the back of the little barn to the big barn. Minimally 100' all in the air and over 3' and 4' fences. Cubalayas are game fowl based as well. Really light, especially when compared to my bigger Black Australorp. I bet Zorra weighs twice what Peep and Fae weigh and her largest eggs weigh over twice what their largest eggs weigh. Fae has laid a couple of 50g eggs, quite big for such a small bird.

 

[azahn]

Con - Predators, predators. Dogs, cats, snakes, raccoons, hawks, owls. These are problems with unsecure coops, too!

Pros: Not locked up in a coop/run all day. As long as you have grass in your yard, you will probably have bugs, too. Chickens love their bugs and weed seeds. So, don't be spraying or broadcasting a bunch of herbicides or pesticides - your chickens will be foraging out there. (For example, fire ant bait... I spread late in afternoon when chickens are back in the roost so the ants gather up everything before the chickens get out the next day). Getting fresh air, exercise, opportunity to sun/dust bathe, eat greens and bugs is good for them. They still need access to water/shade/shelter.

Not only that, but you have to 'chicken proof' the area to some extent. As I just learned the sad way, while I would have never left an open container of water for a toddler to fall into, one of my favorite roosters did just that - in a makeshift rain barrel behind the coop that I put there temporarily until I could extend my rain gutter. I should have covered it with screen, but it never crossed my mind. .

Hands down, free ranging is a good thing, but not without some risk.