Free Ranging?

[amaranth320]

This is a decision we're really struggling with, too. We have 2 acres, and it's all fenced, so we don't have to worry about neighboring dogs getting our girls. We plan to lock them in the coop every night, so I don't think raccoons or possums will be an issue. Our main concern is hawks. We know there is at least one nesting nearby. We see/hear him almost every day. Our babies are only a few weeks old, so we have a while to decide. I'd love to let them have the run of the whole 2 acres every day and I know they'd be happier that way, but the kids would be heartbroken if a hawk got one of them once they're grown. We may resort to a chicken tractor, but I don't think they'd like that nearly as much as wandering free.

 

[Sara Ranch]

I have an adult owl with teenagers that is very close, if not on the property. The wingspan (according to my neighbor in the valley) is the width of the road. Owls are normally nocturnal - UNLESS they are teaching their kids to hunt. Then they hunt during daylight hours. They go after chicks and ducks.

I have eagles. I have chicken hawks. They all love chickens and ducks.

I have black buzzards fly over head. Sometimes down low...like first story low. Sometimes lower. In packs. Black buzzards have been known to take LIVE chickens, ducks, baby goats, etc if they are hungry enough. Their preferred food is already dead, but hey, hunger will cause them to go for live food.

I have foxes here too. I've seen the kits (baby foxes) run across the road or wave from the side of the road as I go by.

There are raccoons. Caught one raccoon crossing the road, holding an upright Dunkin' Donuts coffee cup!

I have bears that live on my property. There are snakes, bob cats, rodents of many types, skunks, possums, blue jays, etc. There are humans that don't respect boundaries or property.

There are a lot of "what if's" out there on my property.

The animals free range on about 18 acres. They choose to stay close to each other most of the time. I try to teach them about what to be watching for. Even the adoptees receive lessons on overhead predators! Nothing I have is 100% predator proof - but I try! I work on making things more secure and I work on expanding safe areas.

At the end of the day, I've given my animal family the best tools and the best skills I can for living free, seeking shelter, and screaming a warning. EVERYONE goes into secured housing at night. I even check it before they go in. And I walk the area that the animals will be free ranging in (including the uncovered runs) before I let them out.

*** When I first took my little guys out, it was on the deck. Then the front porch. Then a small patch of grass in the front yard, in an exercise kennel. I expanded from there. They set the pace that they learned. I watched them. Do you have children? Do you remember your younger years? You wanted more freedom, but it was doled out in small pieces? Give that to your birds. Freedom in small pieces.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Hi everyone! I want to know your opinions/experiences with free ranging. We have over 30 chickens and are debating whether or not to let them free range. We would like to, but want to make sure it's safe.

How do you keep your chickens out of the road? Can you keep them out of the road? We have a nice big yard, surrounded by the woods. However, we are also by a dirt road, on which everyone drives like idiots on

How long do you free range them during the day? Just a couple hours, or from morning to roost time? Do they always come back to roost at night?

We also have a big garden. Will they do more harm than good to the garden? The big thing is we want them to have as much room as possible, and eat as many ticks and bad garden bugs as possible.

Would love to hear your thoughts/opinions!

Maybe build a chicken tractor. You can control where they go and they will be out of their house all day!

 

[Arya28]

I have an adult owl with teenagers that is very close, if not on the property. The wingspan (according to my neighbor in the valley) is the width of the road. Owls are normally nocturnal - UNLESS they are teaching their kids to hunt. Then they hunt during daylight hours. They go after chicks and ducks.

I have eagles. I have chicken hawks. They all love chickens and ducks.

I have black buzzards fly over head. Sometimes down low...like first story low. Sometimes lower. In packs. Black buzzards have been known to take LIVE chickens, ducks, baby goats, etc if they are hungry enough. Their preferred food is already dead, but hey, hunger will cause them to go for live food.

I have foxes here too. I've seen the kits (baby foxes) run across the road or wave from the side of the road as I go by.

There are raccoons. Caught one raccoon crossing the road, holding an upright Dunkin' Donuts coffee cup!

I have bears that live on my property. There are snakes, bob cats, rodents of many types, skunks, possums, blue jays, etc. There are humans that don't respect boundaries or property.

There are a lot of "what if's" out there on my property.

The animals free range on about 18 acres. They choose to stay close to each other most of the time. I try to teach them about what to be watching for. Even the adoptees receive lessons on overhead predators! Nothing I have is 100% predator proof - but I try! I work on making things more secure and I work on expanding safe areas.

At the end of the day, I've given my animal family the best tools and the best skills I can for living free, seeking shelter, and screaming a warning. EVERYONE goes into secured housing at night. I even check it before they go in. And I walk the area that the animals will be free ranging in (including the uncovered runs) before I let them out.

*** When I first took my little guys out, it was on the deck. Then the front porch. Then a small patch of grass in the front yard, in an exercise kennel. I expanded from there. They set the pace that they learned. I watched them. Do you have children? Do you remember your younger years? You wanted more freedom, but it was doled out in small pieces? Give that to your birds. Freedom in small pieces.

We have lots on our property, too! We have about 18 1/2 acres and most of that is thick woods lol. We are debating maybe putting up poultry netting up by the road to discourage them from going that way. Right now, we have two flocks- one that is all roosters in the back, and one that is females and and males that aren't as aggressive towards the front (as they become more hormonal, they get moved to the rooster pen). They have a tunnel and have access to a big Apple tree, in which they love to climb in and eat bugs under. We are thinking, because we have fewer chickens in our rooster pen, and they are further from the road, letting them out an hour or two before nightfall first, to see how far they try to go.

 

[christwodog]

This is a decision we're really struggling with, too. We have 2 acres, and it's all fenced, so we don't have to worry about neighboring dogs getting our girls. We plan to lock them in the coop every night, so I don't think raccoons or possums will be an issue. Our main concern is hawks. We know there is at least one nesting nearby. We see/hear him almost every day. Our babies are only a few weeks old, so we have a while to decide. I'd love to let them have the run of the whole 2 acres every day and I know they'd be happier that way, but the kids would be heartbroken if a hawk got one of them once they're grown. We may resort to a chicken tractor, but I don't think they'd like that nearly as much as wandering free.

Having a good rooster is basically like an early hawk warning system for the hens, he will sound the alarm and they will RUN into the nearest bushes, I've seen it happen many times with mine. Not to say that it will prevent a loss, but every little thing helps. I let mine start free ranging at about 7-8 weeks old, but with me outside the whole time. Then as they grow, I allow short unsupervised periods, increasing as they get bigger. The hawks around me are just the red tailed variety, they aren't huge so I feel now that the chickens are full grown, maybe a hawk wouldn't want something as large as a full grown chicken. I hope. I also have a male peacock who hangs with the chickens in the yard, maybe he's a deterrent in his own colorful way!

 

[Arya28]

Yes we definitely want to keep at least 2 roosters who aren't aggressive in with the hens for that reason! And that's so cool- I want a peackock!

 

[hannahsflock]

I have always believed that free ranging is the best option for chickens. It's their natural environment, they can dust bathe/forage and obviously they love it.

I currently have separate coops and large runs for my chickens, and each breed gets a chance to free range in an even larger enclosed area the whole day. I alternate between them, so each breed has a chance to forage in the larger area at least once a week. In their individual runs they also have areas to dust bathe, and it is grassed, so they have plenty of space to forage 24/7. It's just bonus for them to be let out into the bigger area, as there is even more space/trees etc.

All this is secured far away from our dogs

Note: I did once have an issue with a hawk which took one of my smaller chickens. Since then I've only allowed my big birds to free range (not the bantams or younger chickens). My big breeds such as Orpingtons are fine to free range as a hawk would never be able to carry them off)

 

[Outdoorlover]

My pullets won't last 1 day free ranged, too many predators!

 

[hannahsflock]

My pullets won't last 1 day free ranged, too many predators!

That's the unfortunate thing about free ranging. Not many people are able to do it due to predators. We are fortunate to live in an area where there are many trees to shelter the chickens, and we also own a flock of geese. They are like our chicken guard dogs

 

[Arya28]

That's the unfortunate thing about free ranging. Not many people are able to do it due to predators. We are fortunate to live in an area where there are many trees to shelter the chickens, and we also own a flock of geese. They are like our chicken guard dogs

That's why we just got Guinea hens! They are still a bit too young to go outside but we are looking them forward to them being a chicken alarm system (and eating ticks!)