How to Free Range

[grandmachicken]

I got my firsst 3 hens and 1 rooster from animal control, and didn't have a clue as to how to care for them. We locked them in a little fenced yard attached to an open shed. They immediately found places to roost in the shed, and soon began flying out of the fence. So I started letting them out to free range during the day. They always returned to the shed by sundown.

I have read that chickens do not see well in the dark and their instinct is to get to their sleeping place before dark, or else they will hunker down and roost wherever they happen to be when the sun goes down, leaving them vulnerable to predators.

I now have about 19 birds, all of whom range throughout my yard, and both my neighbor's yards, and sometimes across the street in the ditch, but they are all in their places by sundown. My neighbors just laugh.

I am getting ready to move to the country soon and am concerned about how they will react to being penned up. Do chickens get depressed??

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I am not sure I understand the question. Are you talking about penning them up until they get used to their new surroundings and then free range again or are you planning on keeping them penned permanently?
Chickens don't get depressed as a human would. They do however react to changes in their routine. If they are used to free ranging and all of a sudden have to adjust to being penned full-time you can expect that some of them might react by turning to picking on their flockmates. Also, low ranking chickens that have been able to avoid their superiors will have a harder time avoiding them and may also get picked on more.
They will complain loudly when their routine is upset and you can expect laying hens to go off their laying for awhile.

 

[grandmachicken]

Thanks, gritsar. The plan is to keep them safely penned when we are not home, and to let them out to range when we are out with them. I can't wait to have them in the garden with me. Plus there are woods and a small pond that they can play in. I do have three distinct "flocks" who need to be able to escape each other when necessary. So I know I can't keep them all together in a small space. I know we have coyotes, and definitely hawks - maybe they will learn to hide in the woods, or the roos will protect them, or maybe a guard dog? They are really very self-sufficient right now. I don't like the idea of cooping them up at all, but I do want them to be safe!

 

[maryloo3]

When the chickens go in the coope at night, I will have a fully enclosed run, do I need to lock the door at night?

 

[Raz'sRoost]

This post has been a big help, since I am new to raising chickens!....But I have a couple of questions/concerns.

I live on just over 3 acres and am close to the road...should I worry about my flock (12 chickens and 2 ducks) running into the road?

Also, my only neighbor is about 1/2 mile down the road and has Geese that they keep penned up. Does anyone know if my flock will wonder that far down the way and bother them or will they pretty much keep away?

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:
I have fully enclosed runs with fencing that (so far) no predators seem to be able to get through - I do not lock up the doors at night, so that they can venture out as soon as they wake up if they so choose. I have had my chickens right about a year, and have had no problems doing this.

 

[WIfarmerboy]

Raz'sRoost :

This post has been a big help, since I am new to raising chickens!....But I have a couple of questions/concerns.

I live on just over 3 acres and am close to the road...should I worry about my flock (12 chickens and 2 ducks) running into the road?

Also, my only neighbor is about 1/2 mile down the road and has Geese that they keep penned up. Does anyone know if my flock will wonder that far down the way and bother them or will they pretty much keep away?

i don't know from experiance but what ive hears is that chickens will range between 1 and 2 hundred feet from the coop.​

 

[gritsar]

Raz'sRoost :

This post has been a big help, since I am new to raising chickens!....But I have a couple of questions/concerns.

I live on just over 3 acres and am close to the road...should I worry about my flock (12 chickens and 2 ducks) running into the road?

Also, my only neighbor is about 1/2 mile down the road and has Geese that they keep penned up. Does anyone know if my flock will wonder that far down the way and bother them or will they pretty much keep away?

I would worry about the road. I don't think they'd go as far as half a mile. On rare days my flock heads towards our pond, maybe a 1/4 mile away from their coop. Most days however they stay within the 5 acres that make up the house yard/garden area/coop area.​

 

[Raz'sRoost]

Thank you FlockMistress,

I have been worried about the road most of all! It is not very busy but people love to race up and down it