How to start letting them free range????

[workaholic90]

Afternoon chicken lovers. So we have 6 hens that are just past 12 weeks. We have a 16*16 run for them and a smaller coop inside the run. We have acres of land available for our hens to roam free but I just don't know how to start allowing them to roam. We living in the Colorado mountains and have hawks, eagles, foxes, etc.....We paid alot of money to have the extra fence for the hens and have since put some netting over the run so hawks don't get to them.

We had some grass/weeds in the run when we first moved them to it a few week ago but now we have nothing. So my question is should we allow them to come out of the run and roam around and if so how do we get them back in. We would only want them to roam free for about an hour tops bc i am guessing i would need to be out monitoring them from wildlife. Once i was ready to put them away how would i get them back into the run?

Thanks so much. I am attaching a pic of the run/coop so u can see what im working with!

Happy Holiday!!!

 

[bobbi-j]

You could let them out just before dusk. If you've had them since they were babies, they will look at the coop as home, and put themselves back in to roost for the night. My chickens free range all day, every day. We live on the prairie of MN, but still have hawks, eagles, and a plethora of land predators. Haven't had a problem for years. But, we live in a very rural area and I believe it's because there's plenty of wildlife around for the predators to eat so they don't need to come near our buildings. Or, the dog might be a deterrent. Maybe both. Anyway, if you only want them out for an hour or so, like I said, let them out just before dusk and they'll put themselves in for the night. Good luck!

 

[Mrs. K]

before you let them out, teach them to come to a call, like "here chick,chick,chick" when you have their attention, feed them.

The other tool is a long stick that you can hold in your hand, and tap the ground. Walk out around the chickens so that they are between you and the door to the coop/run. Walk slowly toward them tapping the ground, calling "hut, hut, hut" when the birds move toward the coop, stop walking until they stop, and then again walk slowly toward them. If the chickens head in a different direction, just tap the ground in front of them, and they will turn back.

Do know that when you free range, at first they won't get far from the coop, but with more time out, they will get braver and braver.

When you free range, you are taking a substantial chance that you will have a predator loss. I free range mine most days, it is better if you have a rooster, but he needs to be nearly a year old, before he is much good.

Mrs K