Free Ranging Risks and Rewards

[tori729]

I currently have eight hens that are 8-9 weeks old. I don't have a run made for them yet so they are in a small tractor outside that I rotate every day and a large dog cage in my garage at night. They seem to really want to free range but one day I let them out for a bit and shortly after I returned them to their tractor, a full sized red tailed hawk landed right on top! I think he was migrating b/c while we definitely have the smaller red shouldered hawks around here, we don't usually see anything bigger. This has pretty much deterred me from having them range. I've let them out before when I'm outside but we have so many mosquitos that it's not comfortable to stay outside for any length of time so I just can't stay out with them for too long.
We have named them all; they are pets. I wouldn't want to/couldn't afford to lose them at this point. We plan to have a 200 sq ft run for them with bird netting over the top but it's already mostly weeds/cleared area so not much in the way of foraging for them. We don't have a dog, we can't have a rooster. We do have some RIRs which are supposed to be good for sounding alarms/being alert. We have a lot of tree cover but do have a large clear area in the center of the yard. We have a six foot fence all around.
I could put up disco balls/shiny deterrents but really don't know what my risk is and I'm trying to figure out how to keep them happy while I wait for the run to be built (having someone else do it for us). TIA!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Now that the hawk knows they are there it will check back if it isn't migrating. I personally wouldn't put them out without a cover.

I would keep them in the tractor for safety sake. Chickens will always prefer free ranging. Hopefully your run gets finished soon. Tossing some scratch or pulled weeds into the tractor will give them something to scratch around in.

Bird netting isn't always reliable. Birds can go through it if it rips easily. So investing in some better quality netting is always a good idea.

For run enrichment we do deep litter. Adding grass clippings, pulled weeds, old mulch, hay, some food scraps, fall leaves, and whatever organic matter we have about. It takes a bit to get it going.

 

[tori729]

Now that the hawk knows they are there it will check back if it isn't migrating. I personally wouldn't put them out without a cover.

I would keep them in the tractor for safety sake. Chickens will always prefer free ranging. Hopefully your run gets finished soon. Tossing some scratch or pulled weeds into the tractor will give them something to scratch around in.

Bird netting isn't always reliable. Birds can go through it if it rips easily. So investing in some better quality netting is always a good idea.

For run enrichment we do deep litter. Adding grass clippings, pulled weeds, old mulch, hay, some food scraps, fall leaves, and whatever organic matter we have about. It takes a bit to get it going.

It came twice and we haven't seen/heard from it since but we have heard other hawks.
We keep rotating the tractor around the garden area so they are getting weeds/garden leftovers at least!
Good to know about the netting - we are putting up poles and framing of some sort so it has something to hang on. The run is mostly English Ivy right now which I know isn't something they are particularly fond of. We got a free delivery of pine chips that we will be putting in periodically, grass clippings when we mow, been feeding food scraps, will have plenty of leaves. I'm not worried about that part. I just feel bad b/c every time we herd them back to the garage for the night they just want to stop and range.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've seen people make chicken tunnels out of chicken wire so birds can travel safely between areas. Not sure if that's worth trying. You could leave the bottom open to the grass. Young birds especially always want to go out farther than they should.

 

[fluffycrow]

You say there is a lot of tree cover. Have you ever seen them retreating into it? Has any bird taken the role of lookout? Free ranging always has its risks. It's up to you to decide what level of risk you're comfortable with

 

[tori729]

You say there is a lot of tree cover. Have you ever seen them retreating into it? Has any bird taken the role of lookout? Free ranging always has its risks. It's up to you to decide what level of risk you're comfortable with

YES actually - we have a huge pine tree that they decided to dust bathe/hang out in when I let them out last time. I haven't noticed which one takes the lead yet b/c I just haven't given them enough time to roam around.

I do think eventually, I'll let them free range some. But it might not be until they are full grown, or even older when I could afford to take some losses. Maybe once they are a couple years old, I have a better grasp on predators, and we have added more young ones to the flock.

I have noticed: the run we have doesn't have a bottom and has the 1x2 wire on most of it. We keep them out in it all day when we are here and I haven't seen any ground predators yet. Don't know what that means exactly; we don't have them in it at night but I'm a little surprised I haven't seen anything else. Fenced in yard might help...

 

[fluffycrow]

YES actually - we have a huge pine tree that they decided to dust bathe/hang out in when I let them out last time. I haven't noticed which one takes the lead yet b/c I just haven't given them enough time to roam around.

I do think eventually, I'll let them free range some. But it might not be until they are full grown, or even older when I could afford to take some losses. Maybe once they are a couple years old, I have a better grasp on predators, and we have added more young ones to the flock.

I have noticed: the run we have doesn't have a bottom and has the 1x2 wire on most of it. We keep them out in it all day when we are here and I haven't seen any ground predators yet. Don't know what that means exactly; we don't have them in it at night but I'm a little surprised I haven't seen anything else. Fenced in yard might help...

Sorry, my question wasn't clear. I was more so asking if you've ever seen them quickly take cover/run towards any potential hiding place at the sound/sight of what they presume as danger. A good test for that would also be their reaction to the hawk, even though they were in their coop. At this age it's a little more tricky to spot the lookout, every bird is kind of on its own when it comes to these things, but your more aware bird is usually the one that will take that role, at least for now

 

[SueT]

I stopped letting mine free range 3 yrs ago because of hawks, and I’ve been seeing the hawks every day since. In one instance, the rooster attacked a hawk that was after a hen, and probably would have been killed himself if I hadn’t run outside. In the other, a hawk killed a hen and was eating it in front of the coop where all the others had retreated. No one even asked to go out after that, though lately, there’s one old hen who slips out now and then when the gate is left askew. I don’t worry about her too much, she’s kind of expendable at this point. Maybe she’s my canary in the coal mine. So far, she’s survived.

 

[tori729]

Sorry, my question wasn't clear. I was more so asking if you've ever seen them quickly take cover/run towards any potential hiding place at the sound/sight of what they presume as danger. A good test for that would also be their reaction to the hawk, even though they were in their coop. At this age it's a little more tricky to spot the lookout, every bird is kind of on its own when it comes to these things, but your more aware bird is usually the one that will take that role, at least for now

Ah ok. When the hawk landed on their tractor, they all freaked out and clumped together in one corner. It's not a huge tractor so they don't really have anywhere to go. They were noticeably scared and seemed to want to get out of the tractor.

 

[Hainies Hen House]

Ive only had chickens about 10weeks so and have a similar situation.

I have six pullets that stay in a coop at night but they have nearly outgrown the attached run. I have three adults that stay in a diferent coop at night, two white legorns and a black orpington. The leghorns are transfered to a separate dog run during the day or else they beat up on the orpington.

I mix whatever is hand, scratch, food scraps, bird seed and yard triming in with wood chips. Not all at the same time.

I dump the woodchips in a pile in the run and let the leghorns spread it around. After the chickens spread the chips around, once a day or so I go in with a fork and repile the chips and add mix some more of whateve is at hand.

The keeps my hyper active leghorns busy when I can't let them roam the yard under supervision.

I'm currently building a mobil coop with a moveable divider so I can separate birds if need be.