How do people free-range their chickens??!!!?

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Having a good set up with lots of cover, and hiding spots can help. So does having multiple roosters for look outs. We also have donkeys that keep many predators away. Those that get by my donkeys have my hunting husband to contend with. I have lost a few birds over the years to predators but not many.

A few weeks ago a young hawk was trying to get a bird. Thankfully my chickens headed for cover and we chased the hawk off. Generally hawks don't bother my birds, there's enough mice and rabbits in the fields for them to catch.

 

[Fluffy&Cutie]

how we free range is specific for our predators, space, and life style. We only free range with supervision. however, the hawk still tries to come once in a while, supervision makes me feel better, but it is not foolproof. it's a city backyard, so my various covers are the outdoor chairs spotted across the yard while they are out. (i put them away when free range is done.) We have trees and plants in part of the yard, but not all. i am reseeding the grass where i want them to free range with clover and other yummy grasses they like near the coverage. For extra protection some use a rooster. again, city life does not allow that, so we use our dog. she basically kills anything that comes into the yard. but, when the new generation is born, she has to "retrain" them again. we try to provide a "free range" environment in the run because we can't free range from sun up to sun down on acres of land. we make our run as inviting as possible with plants they love to dig up from my garden, herbs good for chickens, and grass boxes. (grass with wire over the top) we also go over the 10 feet per bird to help with that free space feeling. it's not the same, but if our family has soccer practice and extra homework, the hens have a good place.
i love reading everyone's input. such great ideas! thanks all!

 

[FlomatonsFlocks]

Give them plenty of small shelters (built or large bushes) thtt they can hide in throughout the area they'll range in. Ours also have woods for cover. They can't get picked up if they get to cover in time. A good rooster goes a long way also

 

[jburts]

Cute

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

You have to have coverage for them. Bushes, trees, tall weeds, shrubs, buildings even or awnings. The chickens will stick to these areas naturally knowing its safe. Mine are only fenced now due to a fox that will soon die from lead poisoning - but it was rare the hawks got a hen because of all the foliage. The couple hens that died were always killed in an open area while making there way to another covered area. I have not lost a chicken to a hawk in over 2 years and I have them everywhere and some hawks here are the size of a small dog. I also have a rooster always. Roosters will alert the hens of any danger and will go to the summit of an area to get the best view of danger or possible danger. So a rooster is (to me) very helpful.

 

[cmom]

During part of the season when the garden isn't going I get nice green alfalfa and the birds will pick off the little green leaves. I can let them out to free range in our pasture but there is more shade in their pens so they may come out for a very short time but go back into their pens which they have destroyed any grass that was in them. My birds have large pens. I usually let them out but now this time of the year (90's during the day) they would rather stay in their pens, (around 20'x60', each pen) because all of the pens have nice shade trees but there are only a couple of trees in the pasture and they would rather be in the shade. All of the pens also have shade/rain tables for the birds to get under for shade or to get out of the rain. Because of the hot days most of the predators around here prowl at night. I have some game cameras up in different places on my property and most nights I see a predator on at least one of the cameras. I live on a dead end road. My road is like an interstate to the predators. They use it all of the time. I have had a fox, coyote and hawks kill some birds during the day but not in a very long time.

 

[Callender Girl]

Mine only free range when I am home, and I keep at least one window open if I am going to be inside the house. Two warning geese are on the premises, as well as a house-confined Great Pyrenees. Pearl will not allow a squirrel to cross the yard undetected. (Why my livestock guardian lives indoors is a whole other story).

We are surrounded by farm fields and a small grove of trees; the chickens believe they are confined to the south side of the property (there is a 2-foot fence that prevents the runner ducks from wandering to the north yard but could easily be overcome by any of the chickens).

The area where the chickens are free includes several trees with large canopies, an always-open coop and heavy plantings of flowering shrubs and vines. So, there are plenty of hiding places.

The area is rife with predators. I hear coyote serenades all around us at night. There has been one fatal mink attack (which is why there is now a fence. After getting into a chicken coop when I forgot to close the door, the mink went after a wandering runner duck who strayed too far from the house). Two years ago, I thought I was feeding a fairly pleasant feral cat in the hay shed; turns out a possum was sneaking in for dinner, too. He smiled at me and hissed when I discovered "Cheddar" wasn't my only diner. I had to trap a rat this summer who holed up in a tree hollow near one of the coops. And, the DNR had to remove a juvenile great horned owl. The officer suggested she had knocked herself silly on a power line when she was stalking my ducks.

Still, the chickens' and ducks' delight at hunting bugs and searching for whatever goodies, to see them play and react in a natural environment is good for all of us, I think.

Having said that, the American Buff geese spend their days in a very large tractor and their nights in a coop. Gussie and Golly, who are about five months old, are pretty tame and pleasant. However, they can and will go over the 2-foot fence. I am hoping that as they get older, they will -- as some of the hens did -- learn to play inside the lines.

After the mink attack, I was terrified to let anyone out -- ever. My solution was to beef up security with hardware cloth everywhere and more vigilance on my part. The reward is watching my ducks -- in a row -- parade across the yard or see the chickens play keep-away with worms they've pulled out of the grass.

 

[ash_en_em]

For me at least, THIS is the real question: "How do you keep dogs that will guard and not EAT the flock!??" If I were to let any one of my 3 dogs out with the chickens, I'd have no chickens. All have tremendous prey drive. The Doberman and the rat terrier actually got a squirrel last week. And the min pin, she'll kill first, ask questions later! She attacked the feed tube to a venturi pump I had set up for my gold fish pond because she heard the hissing.

I know for most dogs it's starting the training young and introducing them to chickens like you would be members of the flock. Helping to make sure they're not a toy, but something that they protect. Making sure they know commands, and show the right body language along the way.

We got lucky with my pit. It only takes me waking her to whatever animal, telling her to sit, leave it, and then let her sniff. Do that twice and she knows it's "part of the family". My chickens actually gather around her when we're all outside. I think they know she's saved their tail feathers on a few occasions.

 

[SueT]

I raise replacements every year. We have lost occasional chickens to coyotes, 2 this past year. There are many hawks here, but we haven't lost any to a hawk.
I let my oldest hens free range most of the time. They are smarter but also are more expendable, test the waters for danger, and they come when called. Theirs are the best eggs. For many months, I have let the younger members of the flock free range for 2 hours every evening, with me spending at least half that time out with them. When there has been a predator loss, no one gets to go out for a month or more.

→There is something to be said about breed choice. Some breeds are better at evading predators and some are totally inept. Many good threads can be found about this.

 

[varidgerunner]

My chickens roost in trees. My dogs stay in a kennel. Most of the older six or eight year old hens roost in trees near that kennel. If something upsets the hounds, the kennel gates get opened. If it doesn't get treed or killed it at least has to run for the next several hours. If it isn't well enough to make it to a hole, it probably had something wrong with it, which makes it a very dedicated chicken predator. If it is fit and well, it probably won't come back. Chickens just aren't calorically economical for predators here. Hawks are of little concern, would be a big mistake for one to land here, good chance he would lose an eye out of the deal. My thai and asil hens don't tolerate hawks very well. They do a pretty good job of dog training as well, if you start with a pup that is young enough and of the right temperament to learn things. I like hound dogs even more than chickens. Predators are welcome, hard to find enough to keep the hounds exercised. Nothing like a good race through the mountain sides on a cool fall night.