Keeping Chickens Free Range

[Mrs. K]

I have found dark grey days can be bad days to let them out, but also high wind days. I think the wind interfers with their hearing.

My best luck is a random schedule, and the ability to keep the flock locked up. Somedays they are are out all day, sometimes past noon before they are out, and a good rooster works well for me.

MK

 

[Peeps61]

Mine are staying in tomorrow. I got NO eggs today, so the little brats are hiding them. I'll keep them in a few days so they know where to lay again.

 

[alibabba]

dpenning, IMO and from what I have read about predators, they like when it's dusk, dawn or cloudy rainy weather. They can sneak about that much better...my raccoons only come out at nite....the fox I don't see at all until it thinks no one can see it....ie...rainy, drizzly weather..(when it took my 2 girls I had just been outside so it was watching till I went back in) they are opportunists & hunters ........unless it's just passing thru and then it will lope across the treeline and it's gone.....and there are dogs that will go after in any weather....

Interesting, trying to think like a predator I didn't hear a sound last week night/morning, just pouring rain on the baby monitor and figured, "well, nothing would be hunting in this weather". Yeah, fox got my pullets.

I conclude they ARE wise to human activity, they have to be to survive. Of course they know that those stinky humans and dogs don't spend time out in the rain. And they know that their prey can't hear them or see them...

I don't begrudge the fox!! It was my fault. Now the electric is up and baited. So I'm sure they have checked back by now and got a big ole zap. Trained, no more meals here.

 

[alibabba]

BTW, Glad I found this thread.

I have nerves and guilt about letting the kids roam the yard all day. At first they were penned when we weren't home, and I let them out when I was, the yard is about 1/4 acre fenced.

I was sure any moment a blitzkrieg of predators would descend like Zombie Apocalypse, Didn't happen.

And they paced their fence, crying and whining. -Loudly --- a 100 sq. ft pen with 4 tiny bantams 2 SF. More than most ever see....

So out they go. They are so happy!
Feather picking? What is that?
Fighting? Never.
Merging 2, 9 week pullets, while free ranging, stress free. Well one dinky D'uccle grabbed feathers of a pullet already bigger than she, but never happened again.

All I could do was get a rooster to watch for the girls, they don't seem to.

ETA - if I had never let them out, they might have been more content to stay in?

 

[blkjak]

Most of my birds free range. It is stressful. Every morning when I go out I look for my animals that free range 24/7. Rabbits, geese and ducks who are stubborn. Every night I count heads but my birds are happy. I have 4 hens in a chicken tractor right now waiting for a rooster, they are still ****** at me. Give me the stink eye every time.

 

[slordaz]

It shouldn't be that stressful for you blkjak, a rooster and good dog will keep them pretty safe as long as they have plenty of hiding spots to get to safety. Even my 3 week olds can get to the lower branches of a tree and are like monkeys getting up higher.

When they first start I am watchful but the rooster duck and dog all know what they are doing and alert. we had a wild cats come around once as there are several around and haven't seen hide nor hair of them since, hens circled around the baby chicks and moved them as a group to safety while the cats while the rooster,duck and dog made em run for their lives.

One day we were out of town for the day and the chickens wanted out to free range as they were locked down in in the covered run, nothing has gotten in it so far, but the dang chickens broke out of it and went free ranging on their own all day. About half of them had but themselves back up by evening.

 

[blkjak]

Stressful isn't maybe the right word. It's like life, there is a risk to everything but I am aware of the risk and decide that free ranging works for me.

 

[slordaz]

yep, all you can do is make sure you did what you could, we'll loose some sometimes just gotta be flexible and adapt to what changes are needed

 

[katatonic123]

Successful first free range with my 7-10 wk old chicks.

 

[Debby27]

Lookin' good Katatonic!