frustrated with free-ranging

[crossgirl]

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Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, this may explain the lack of predators around our place and the chickens desire to hang out in my guy's workshop!

 

[Beekissed]

I can sympathize with the predators!

 

[bucolic beauty]

Thank you all so much for your feedback. I so appreciate it and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond - we were away all day yesterday. Someone asked about our acreage. I don't really know exactly how to describe it. We live out in the country on a plot with a lot of old, rusted and mangled fence that doesn't keep squat in or out. The chickens could roam for miles and miles if they wanted to but they stay close to home. Oh, and just to make it clear, even though we have no real fencing, both their coop and run are built securely to keep predators from breaking in. Our garden is fenced in to keep the chickens and deer out, which it does, but my frustration lies with the fact that I failed to realize that I wouldn't be able to have any sort of flowers and plants outside the protection of the fenced-in garden. Chickens don't care that I spent $30 on peonies.

And the poop! They have the whole wide world as their bathroom but they prefer our carport and the front and back porch. We do have a dog(she's half shepherd and half pitbull)but she'll just lie there, watching them eat and drink her food, only getting excited and chasing them after I shoo them off.

We've only had them since March so I'm still learning the ins and outs and am incredibly grateful for all you chicken gurus. I don't think I could actually bear to keep them cooped up. It wouldn't be fair to them just because I don't want poop on my porch when it really just takes a minute to hose it off. They do such a wonderful job at foraging, too. I'm amazed at the difference of the amount of food they eat when we've had to keep them cooped up in comparison to free-ranging. It's amazing.

 

[mulewagon]

Honey, just watch your doormat carefully when you step on it! All else is negligible...

 

[Fred's Hens]

We aren't big flower bed people, but yes, the chickens could care less about what we aim for in our care of them. They also dig dust bath holes around the house, barn, shop, etc. It CAN be frustrating if you want to have those places look nice. I won't even discuss the special skill the chicken has to wait until they are on the sidewalk, the deck or patio before letting rip a giant poop.

With that all said, flock reduction sometimes IS an answer. With a smaller flock, the run or runs take less abuse and it is easier to contain the flock in manageable pastures. My advice would be that. You gave yourself permission to grow your flock to over 20 members and you can also give yourself permission to reduce you flock to a household egg producing size of 4-6 hens. It's quite alright.

 

[mishellez]

We leave ours in their run for most of the day, letting them out to free-range in the early evening. That tends to reduce the wandering of the younger ones and the conjoined efforts of the older to destroy everything within a fifty-foot radius of our back door, since that's where they like to hang out. There's a compost heap around back of their run and thanks to hubby's regular habit of joining the girls to dig for worms, that is where they concentrate the majority of their efforts once they're let out, whether he's there or not. I've also heard other advice that suggests creating 'feeding stations' around your property, little feed here, BOSS there, cracked corn here, etc. It encourages them to forage and rewards them for concentrating on specific locations that you have chosen, distracting them from foraging in areas where maybe you don't want them to be.

 

[bucolic beauty]

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[bucolic beauty]

Fred's Hens :

I won't even discuss the special skill the chicken has to wait until they are on the sidewalk, the deck or patio before letting rip a giant poop.

I think I scare it out of them...literally. Every time I run out to shoo them off, they leave me a parting gift.

 

[bucolic beauty]

Thank you, everyone! You're the best.

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
Yep! Chickens will eat just about anything or at least strip a plant tasting it. Flower beds are great to dust in and as mentioned chickens like to look inside to see what you're doing ... while standing on the door mat.

The greatest threat to free ranging is of course predators. We've had skunks, racoons, coyotes and hawks probing the yard even in an urban environment.

We never let our birds out unless we are out with them doing yard and garden work.