Free ranging vs Predators; How cautious should I be?

[groovy_chicken_girl]

Hi everyone!
My five sapphire gem hens (14-weeks) have been staying in their coop and run during the day and night, and when I can be out there with them I let them out to free range in our backyard. We don’t live on a multi acre farm- but a 0.5 acre ish backyard with some tall grass, lots of trees, bushes and leaves in the suburbs of PA. They enjoy it very much because they have basically eaten most of the greenery where their run and coop are. Inside the run they have shade and sun, and a medium amount of space for a run (5’ by 9’ with another 2’ by 6’ space attached) but I still want them to have access to new ground and more fresh greens.
My concern with free ranging more unattended is about the predators we have around our neighborhood. I don’t think foxes, raccoons or animals like that will be out it the daytime but the HAWKS I worry about. We’ve had a neighbour recently have a fox attack and they have had hawk attacks in the past. We see them circling around other parts of our neighborhood throughout the year. I’ve heard of methods such as fishing line and CDs or netting through the trees ( we have a general coverage of tree canopy about our yard but maybe they would sit sit in the trees anyway) though I’ve heard mixed things about each solution!
Sorry, I don’t exactly have a story board for this post, lol but thank you for your patience!
Does anyone have suggestions about hawks or info about how bold they are; ie do they swoop down if here is a human out there with the chickens and will they be a big issue if I left my chickens out alone?
Any ideas, advice or help would be much appreciated and I am grateful for the support of this community through my many questions on this new mama hen journey!
Thanks y’all
-Groovy Chicken Girl

 

[Sally PB]

do they swoop down if here is a human out there with the chickens

I have heard that they do.

 

[ziggymoon]

I had a similar situation with where we used to live! We had an acre of fenced backyard that I let the chickens free range, and we lived in a subdivision with lots of close neighbors so there wasn't a lot of wildlife. I think it just depends on what you're comfortable with. There's lots of people who allow their chickens to free range all the time with no issue and others who keep them confined to a run all the time. I've done both.

At my old house, I didn't let my hens out until they were pretty good size. Probably wishful thinking but I thought with them being bigger it might deter some of the juvenile hawks. We had a few hawks that I spotted while I was outside with them and they never bothered us while I was out, they flew on by. I will say we had a lot of small birds in our neighborhood so they may have just preferred to go after the smaller birds instead of wrestling with my 5-10lb girls lol. The boldness of the hawk probably depends on how hungry they are, but we've never had one swoop in on our girls.

At our new place we have 10 acres in the woods, lots of predators of all kinds so they are no longer able to free range freely, but we have a very large run for them.
That was a long post to just say use your discretion and see what works for you! If you notice hawks hanging around, I'd say put them up until they are older and try again when they are bigger.

 

[StinkyAcres]

I don’t think foxes, raccoons or animals like that will be out it the daytime

You bet they are!

Crows are your friends! They will let you know when there is danger - mammalian or avian. As long as the crows have lived here, I've never had a hawk problem.

 

[tsperry88]

Foxes and hawks both attach with humans nearby. Twice I have have chased a fox down and gotten it to drop a chicken. Once I ran a Hawk off that was trying to fly off with a chicken. You will have losses if you free range at all.

 

[wamtazlady]

Foxes can and do hunt during the day, especially if they have young to feed. If you free range you will eventually lose birds to predators. I could sometimes go for nearly a year without losing birds. However, that never lasted for long. It was safest when I used electric poultry netting. Never lost a bird to a predator when using the netting. Unfortunately a deer decided to rub his antlers on the netting, got his antlers caught in the netting and ruined it. It was too expensive to repurchase knowing that another deer might ruin it again.

 

[Callender Girl]

Basic truth of chicken raising: EVERYTHING wants to eat your chickens. And, they will happily do so at any time of day.

My birds "free-range" only when I am home and all are within sight of the house. While neither of my geese would truly care if something ate every chicken and duck on the place, they are excellent at sounding an alarm when something is amiss. For example, eagles from a nearby nesting spot sometimes soar overhead, and the Buffs let everyone know to take cover.

Also, there are a lot of shade trees in the coop/run area that provide cover from overhead threats. Here, those would include the aforementioned eagles, as well as owls and hawks. A hawk once landed on the garden shed and showed no fear until I was extremely close to it. I have since gotten a fake owl; it may or may not discourage a hawk. Even if it's pure coincidence that I've never seen a hawk land in the yard again, it has made me feel better.

Have I ever lost birds to predators? Yes, I have. But with one exception it was because of my own neglect -- I forgot to close a coop door one night. The one that wasn't directly a result of my negligence was a duck, who wandered away from the poultry area to go for a swim. At that time, free-ranging allowed the birds to go into the back portion of the property; I couldn't see or hear what was happening. There is now fencing to keep everyone much closer.

 

[Chinachik]

I have heard that they do.

Yes they do

 

[StinkyAcres]

Foxes and hawks both attach with humans nearby. Twice I have have chased a fox down and gotten it to drop a chicken. Once I ran a Hawk off that was trying to fly off with a chicken. You will have losses if you free range at all.

Yep, there is always that risk. I've chased a fox with a guinea hen in its mouth!

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I don’t think foxes, raccoons or animals like that will be out it the daytime

I had a coyote snatch up one of my ladies in the middle of the day with me, my husband, and both my little dogs outside...they will, and they do