How do you make free ranging successful???

[dcherry]

My family has recently taken on raising some chicks for eggs. They are just over 4 months now and although I did figure free ranging was just not going to work due to predators we gave it a try. It has been less than a month that we began free ranging and I lost a rooster two days ago. This happened during daylight hours. I always closed them back up by dusk. Not sure what got him but we live in a rural area. Could have been fox, dog, hawk, etc. So, ultimately, I guess we will not be able to free range which really sucks but I am still curious how others make this work and not lose their flock. Shoot, I see plenty of people in my area that free range and can't figure out how they do it, Maybe they just take their chances and accept losing birds every now and then. Thing is, if it's a fox we all know they'll be back on a regular basis for the rest of the flock at some point. So, what do you all do???

 

[Beer can]

I prefer, and the birds prefer free ranging. When their breeding #s are down though I can't afford it and they are confined to large runs.
Hawks are enemy #1 here, though I had a fox this spring get one after leaving them alone for yrs. Most recently a skunk actually got into two different fenced runs and ate a bunch of chicks.

Here's a excellent article on free ranging, pretty much sums it up;
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/bees-key-points-to-successful-and-safe-free-ranging.65895/

 

[centrarchid]

Welcome to BYC!

I have free-range kept chickens for quite a while and use pens as well. My approach is what you call integrated and it varies with lifestage of birds, season, lay of the land and what resources I have to through at it. My flock is closed in that all replacements are produced by my birds.

Quality discussion starts with you providing some detail about the ground you want birds to forage as well as the area around it. Part of the discussion should involve the nature of the existing plant community and fencing.

Right up front, I use fencing to protect at least part of area the birds use. Roosting sites also worth discussing.

Tell us about your setup.

 

[Howard E]

It may help to understand that the majority of the so called "free ranged" birds are not free ranged in the true sense of the word. They are yarded. That is to say, confined within an enclosure. It may be as small as a run attached to a coop, or as big as one's back yard, or it may be several acres, but they are enclosed and protected within an enclosed area. Key word is "protected".

True free range birds....no barriers at all...... existing within an area with normal predator population.......are birds that are at constant risk of death. It is a battle of attrition. A constant put and take.......you are going to lose birds. Predators will take advantage of the situation and move it for the easy meals. Unless you add to the supply at the same rate as birds are lost, eventually you will be wiped out.

I am aware of one fairly large layer operation near here, they may have 1,000 birds or more......that are truly free ranged. Open the door and let em go. But they are on a general farmstead of several acres that is isolated some distance from any woods by open crop fields and the birds just run everywhere. They may still lose some birds during the day when they are out and about, but not enough to notice or matter. In my mind, they are the exception. My guess is they also shoot any suspected predators on sight. That would include stray dogs. Shot on sight. Word gets out in the neighborhood......you wanna keep a dog, keep him at home.

So what you are left with if you want to keep birds is to establish some type of protective barrier to keep the birds and predators apart. It can be as large as the entire property or only as large as your budget will permit. If a physical barrier like a physical fence, that may stop some predators.......for others, it may not slow them down. Best barrier to slow most of them down is an electric fence, but that is going to require some effort on your part to maintain it.

 

[centrarchid]

Most free-range poultry keepers in my area (central Missouri) are doing the truely free-range variant even when fences involved. The fences have little or no impact on predator movement, with the exception of dogs. The fencing can "train" chicken movements if vegetation is well developed around the fencing or areas the chickens have access to.

 

[dcherry]

Thanks for the replies. My coop is just inside where my backyard meets the woods and we do have a lot of woods both in back and in front of the house. The coop has a small run attached so the birds can at least get out but I would like for them to have more. Their enclosure is chain link wrapped in chicken wire with livestock wire fencing over top. I inspect it daily and have not found any areas that look like predators might be trying to get in. The coop seems to get hotter than blue blazes when out temps soar (another can of worms entirely). Anyway, I guess we will need to invest in some more strong wire and maybe enclose a larger section of woods/yard for them if I want them to have more room to roam, sigh.

 

[centrarchid]

Free-range in the woods will be very difficult to sustain unless you can keep ground predators out. Fencing as in hotwire or electrified poultry netting can keep most ground predators out, most. I would be sure to keep some birds penned for backup. You might also consider getting proactive with traps. Odds are you will have to have elevated replacements rates to compensate for still some losses. If you have more than a couple acres to defend and some money to spend, then a livestock guarding dog (LGD) may make your setup much more effective. Part of my area is wooded which is tough to exclude predators from. The pasture / mowed areas are easy.

 

[dcherry]

Okay, understood. I could just bring the fencing to the back yard and not so much in the woods. I have pasture but the horses are on that and it's a bit of a distance from the coop unless I move the coop. Ugh!

 

[SueT]

And you need the right breeds...not all breeds are good at evading predators. See the article link that post #2 recommends.....it says it all.

 

[centrarchid]

In a high risk setting as I understand yours to be, I would have birds only free-range in latter part of day while supervised. Even then you may eventually get hit with a snatch and grab. What is not often indicated or even understood is that successfully free-ranging chickens is pricey. You have to be on your toes. If you go the dog route, then dogs can cost more then the chickens. My place of work has gone to considerable effort to reduce the number of LGD's since they cost so much.