Freeranging unsupervised?

[Trux]

If your going to free range your birds accept the fact your going to lose some. It isn't the predators fault your offering them a meal, their just doing what comes naturally. We as humans, should be smarter than, say a silly ole marsupial, especially a Possum. Kill one and you just saved the lives of thousands of ticks and other pesky bugs and things they eat. Same goes for other predators, there is always consequence in the balance when you kill them.

 

[RWise]

I too free range my birds all day. I can accept loses from wild predators, that's just mother nature, but dogs and cats really tic me off. BTW any of these predators can and will come in your yard while you are home, I guarantee it! (BTW we have no feral cats here, we have coyotes)
Dogs will form a pack (2 or more) come over the fence into the yard and kill your birds! Here the dogs dont go for whats free ranging, but the Roo's in bachelor pads, the dogs will beat on the cage until it gives up, go in and kill the Rooster. I cant be here all the time, when I am I stop these attacks with a bang.
House cats will come in anytime of the day as well, take chicks or even kill an adult bird.
Dont think for 1 moment that just because you are there these critters will not come after your birds!

 

[lalalindsay]

Mine free range all day (usually open the coop around daylight) and then go in about dusk. We've lost one to a neighbor's dog who got out and didn't eat her, but more just played with her until she died We just lost a chick last week and we assume that was to a cat, but we aren't sure because we literally lost her, came home and no baby (we had one egg hatch from a broody hen). There is almost always one of us home and we just look out on them as we can. We also spend a lot of time outside. Eventually we want to get all of our acreage fenced.

 

[Igofastandwin]

I free range mine through the day and when they're ready they will all go back in and i lock the door at night. There is always a threat of predators. They are less likely to attack if you are home. You don't need to keep a constant eye on them. I just scan out the window as I walk by.[/QUOte

We have 4 girls that are pets, all are less than 6 months old. We have let them free range in our backyard (which is quite big) and has a 7' block wall all the way around the property. On Valentine's day we had a coyote come over the wall and got one of my girls! I heard a little commotion going on, went outside to find one of them in the coyotes mouth, when he saw me he dropped her and took off running and cleared the wall with NO ISSUES! Like someone said, "it can happen real quick"!!

 

[Lazy Farmer]

This is just my experience, not a recommendation.
We have about 2 fenced acres (it's chain link, thank the previous owners!) and my birds are out on it from sunrise (or as soon as I can get out there) to when they put themselves to bed at dusk. (My breeding pens have to rotate days, but everybody else is out.) They have lots of large bushes under which to hide and two pretty faithful dogs that roam the yard with them. We -once in a great while - will lose a bird to a hawk. It's one of those things we have learned to accept might happen as a result of our choice; but we have had many happy, healthy birds live out their lives enjoying the ability to roam free.
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[Ljc01]

Mine free range from early AM until dusk. I have only lost one bird in 4 years.
They seem so much happier being free.

 

[jthornton]

Mine were inside a fence and I lost the entire flock in seconds to dog... your luck may vary. I did notice when a dog was attacking my neighbors chickens that there were so many going in all directions the dog only killed 2 before he died.

JT

 

[sourland]

I've raised chickens all my life and had them free-ranged for as long as I can remember,
unsupervised, And not once have I lost my birds from predators during the day while they're out foraging. At around 7:30 PM is when I put them away and I let them out at 7:00 AM. I've got a few dogs and a Bernese for protection, But I also have lots of different fowls, My turkeys and guineas seem to keep the hawks at bay. I've ordered some African geese as well to serve as flock protection for my ducks, chickens, and pheasants.. And every now and then i'll set some traps out for foxes and raccoons to prevent any losses.

I could say the same thing for many years, and then a dog arrived and killed 40 + birds.

 

[LaurEliz]

I let my chickens out as soon as I wake up until it just begins to get dark, when all of my birds will go back in on their own. I've started training them to go in the coop when I do because they know that's when they get fed, so if they haven't started to go in on their own, it isn't hard to get them to.

There definitely is a predator risk. I have fake owls and hawks out and I move them daily to try and deter the hawks and owls that live here. If you don't move them often, the predators start to realize that they're not real and not a real threat. I also have CDs hanging from tree branches and a pretty good rooster that warns the flock to take cover if he sees a predator.

Since managing my flock this way for about a year, I have had eight predator-related casualties. I lost one to a hawk first. Then a few months later another "went missing" and one of my other birds had two injuries on her back (she survived), definitely from a hawk, so I assume that's what happened to the "missing" one. Another one went missing with no trace after that. Then, we had a pretty uneventful few months until a few weeks ago something (I'm guessing a neighbor's dog) took five in one day. I think the hawk-casualties were mostly before my chickens fully matured and got better at hiding from them, and before the rooster decided to take on the job of guarding the flock, however, even a mature chicken can't always escape a hawk or take cover fast enough, and definitely is no match for a dog.

With that being said, I still free range. I've never seen happier chickens than free-ranging chickens. It is fun to watch them explore and search around for bugs and different plants to eat, and it saves a lot on feed too. I lock them up at night to prevent the nocturnal predators from getting them and have had no issues with night-attacks.

In the past, I have just had a pretty secure run with a coop too, not free ranging. What I have found happens in that situation is that we have an uneventful year or so and then something manages to get into the run eventually and the chickens are trapped inside and it's a 100% casualty rate from one attack. I figure, yes, there is a little risk every day when I let the chickens out to free-range, but when I keep them in the run IF something gets in (and something always inevitably has, despite burying wire around the run to prevent digging, double fencing, extra latches, etc.) every single chicken in that run is doomed. I'd rather my chickens take a small risk every day and be happy doing it than be confined to a run and then be trapped if a predator makes his/her way in.

That is just my experience and my opinion, however. Different things work for different people.

 

[Erin80]

We free range when we are at home.....usually just in the evenings. I let them out around 4 and they go back in by themselves around 7:30 these days with the longer days. They used to free range all day every day but my neighbour got a new dog that runs loose, so now only when we are home. They strongly dislike this new arrangement! Lol
So far we haven’t lost anyone, but there is a hawk that flies by often so I check on them frequently and go out off and on with our dog.