How to Recall Free Range Chickens

[Mrs. K]

I also employ the long stick tactic. Husband makes them (we call them chicken sticks) from sapling cherry canes on our property. I usually only bring it out when I have an errant goofball who for the life of her can't find the coop door. And I confess, even with the stick it sometimes turns into a chase-around-the-coop game with her overshooting the coop door and here we go 'round the coop again!

Been there! Especially teenager chickens, they just want to stay out late!

 

[Buffbrahmabantam]

These are all great ideas. Other treats that work well for us include peanuts, eggs (scrambled or hardboiled, yolk especially) and cheese - anything from hard shredded cheese to ricotta (scoop into little dishes). I feed these things only as treats in situations like this to avoid making them fat and to ensure they are highly motivated to come running. Ours range over about 1 acre of chicken paradise including a big veggie garden, orchard, berries and grapes, pasture and bushes so having good treats to entice them is a must.

Like others, I have a special call/song that I sing when I have treats. They are really smart though so if you try to fake it and call them when you don't have treats, they will quickly remember and not come running reliably to your call/song. My husband has this problem. I don't. I have treats ready before I start calling them in.

 

[Pigeony]

Feed them treats repeatedly doing the same noise, it's best if it's a little repetitive like the rooster tidbitting sound- In my case, I do
"Chick------chick-------chickens!"

Once they recognize that's the food call, they'll come to you when you make it. But make sure you actually have something, because tricking them just makes them not believe you and not come as reliably. If you make the noise while standing in the run, they will come to you with no fuss or chasing.

 

[Buffbrahmabantam]

Feed them treats repeatedly doing the same noise, it's best if it's a little repetitive like the rooster tidbitting sound- In my case, I do
"Chick------chick-------chickens!"

Once they recognize that's the food call, they'll come to you when you make it. But make sure you actually have something, because tricking them just makes them not believe you and not come as reliably. If you make the noise while standing in the run, they will come to you with no fuss or chasing.

I totally agree with this. This works for us.

 

[McChooky]

I'll call my chicken loudly "Chicky! Chicky! to get their attention and if they don't come running immediately I'll go after them. Soon as I find them most of them will run straight home(they'll test you)Those who don't I herd like cattle home calling out 'Lets Go!' while tapping my stick on the ground and waving it in front of me from left to right to block any stubborn ones(leghorns) .By blocking their path I can usually get the most stubborn ones heading home pretty quick.I had to chase a few home in the beginning-especially the leghorns! My chickens have been thru this so many times it usually only takes me 5 minutes if I need to go anywhere in the middle of the day.If I get back home early enough I'll let them back out. I feel its very important to train chickens to do this for any emergencies that come up.I could save their lives.You might need a strong drink afterwards if you have a lot of Leghorns to train lol
(my stick is a long skinny orange driveway marker)

 

[McChooky]

I just had to

When we are home, we give our chickens free range of the yard. However, when we leave, we want to put them back in their enclosure. Right now, it takes 2 of us... one to herd them towards the coop and one to stand by the door and make sure they go in (and don't take a new direction). Anyone have tricks for getting them all to run back into the enclosure when you are 1 person?

Chickens trained to run for cover from hawks lol

 

[McChooky]

Hawk training your chickens

 

[EggzactlyRight]

Building it into a habbit is what takes time, but with enough practice it is going to work 100%.

We let our chickens free-range when the weather is nice, the entire yard/garden is theirs almost all day. They usually get breakfast anyway but definitely not lunch (they wouldn't eat it anyway because they very much prefer free-ranging). By the time we go outside to put them back into the run they are done foraging for the day and willingly run back inside, especially when they see me fill up their feeder. It became so successful that now every single time they are outside and see one of us come out of the house they immediately run back to the run in hopes of getting something tasty. ​

 

[kattabelly]

They get a chance to come when called or be herded. If not, I just let the murderous demon hell-pullet out and all the younger birds from the other group leg it back to their run to escape her.