Free ranging

[EngeFamilyFarms]

hi there, we are expanding our flock of 7 hens by 15 this spring. I would love to start free ranging them, but I’m worried that our hens and 3 ducks who are almost a year old and have lived their whole life in a covered run won’t come back to their coop. Any suggestions? Thank you!

 

[DobieLover]

hi there, we are expanding our flock of 7 hens by 15 this spring. I would love to start free ranging them, but I’m worried that our hens and 3 ducks who are almost a year old and have lived their whole life in a covered run won’t come back to their coop. Any suggestions? Thank you!

They will absolutely come back to their coop! That is the place they consider secure and is where they lay their eggs.
When you first start letting them out, they won't go too far. That will change though. Once they build their confidence, they go pretty darn far.

 

[sourland]

By now they are firmly imprinted on their coop as 'home', and will return with very little problem. The fact is that if you free range, and I am a proponent of free ranging, you will eventually lose birds to predation.

 

[PattyNH]

I thought this with my first flock. You will be surprised at how they go back to their coop when it rains or gets cold. Then, later, you be amazed at how they roost near but not IN their coop causing you to collect and carry them to bed LOL Gotta love em!

 

[Doc7]

I thought this with my first flock. You will be surprised at how they go back to their coop when it rains or gets cold. Then, later, you be amazed at how they roost near but not IN their coop causing you to collect and carry them to bed LOL Gotta love em!

Mine have never done this. If they did, I probably wouldn’t free range them again for several weeks to insure they were imprinted on the coop as home. That sounds irritating and also not safe for the chickens (because I ain’t getting them out of the woods and carrying them to their coop too many times!)

 

[blackdog043]

They will come back. Will you be free ranging in an open space or are you talking about a fenced in yard? A tip to get them to come back to the run, if/when needed, Put some scratch in a container, shake it and call them using a phrase or word(s). They will associate this with getting a treat and should come running. You could do this even if they are in the run, to start training them.

 

[EngeFamilyFarms]

They will come back. Will you be free ranging in an open space or are you talking about a fenced in yard? A tip to get them to come back to the run, if/when needed, Put some scratch in a container, shake it and call them using a phrase or word(s). They will associate this with getting a treat and should come running. You could do this even if they are in the run, to start training them.

Thanks for the great info everybody! They will be free to roam we have an acre of yard and an acre of woods so I’m hoping that’s enough to not let them run wild

 

[PattyNH]

Mine have never done this. If they did, I probably wouldn’t free range them again for several weeks to insure they were imprinted on the coop as home. That sounds irritating and also not safe for the chickens (because I ain’t getting them out of the woods and carrying them to their coop too many times!)

Really? Mine have always been very well aware of where their coop was. It just happens to be next to our pergola, which they love roosting on. So, on occasion, I've had to pluck them (sound asleep) off the pergola and move them a few feet to their coop. As long as I got them in their coop every night they were perfectly safe. I'd be more concerned if I was too lazy to gather them up and put them to bed... They are 3 years old and gave earned their keep, along with my affection. My newest flock is about 4mos and one night they all decided to huddle in a bush instead of coming into their coop. Instead of locking them up for days I climbed into the bush, ,call to them them, and they followed me to their coop. To each their own!!

 

[Doc7]

Really? Mine have always been very well aware of where their coop was. It just happens to be next to our pergola, which they love roosting on. So, on occasion, I've had to pluck them (sound asleep) off the pergola and move them a few feet to their coop. As long as I got them in their coop every night they were perfectly safe. I'd be more concerned if I was too lazy to gather them up and put them to bed... They are 3 years old and gave earned their keep, along with my affection. My newest flock is about 4mos and one night they all decided to huddle in a bush instead of coming into their coop. Instead of locking them up for days I climbed into the bush, ,call to them them, and they followed me to their coop. To each their own!!

Passive aggressive much? Chickens who don’t return to the coop on their own at night present a threat to themselves.

 

[Doc7]

Thanks for the great info everybody! They will be free to roam we have an acre of yard and an acre of woods so I’m hoping that’s enough to not let them run wild

They left my property of the same size after several weeks of free ranging. Now I basically can’t have them put more than 90 minutes or they are in my neighbors lawn. I had woods and he has a lawn, so they go over there for his grass. occasionally they go the other way, into the 80 acre tract of woods, but most often it’s the lawn and garden next door they are after. What I do is let them have their fill on my property and once they start flirting the property line I will lure them back into their run with some cracked corn or some such.
It’s funny watching chickens run/fly 100 yards across a property to get a snack.