Keeping Chickens Free Range

[K Epp]

My 7-week old chicks are happy as clams in their coop and run, but I do want to start letting them free-range for a couple of hours every evening. My backyard is about 1/4 grass, 3/4 wooded:: a 6 foot chainlink fence encloses my property around the wooded area, and 4 foot picket fence around the lawn (totally open between the lawn and woods). My question: will the chickens (I have 7) totally decimate my lawn before summer is over? Should I cordon-off a particular area where I want them to free-range so they don't destroy all of the grass? Or is 7 chickens a small enough flock that the lawn will survive? (I don't know how big my lawn is... maybe 50 feet x 175 feet?

This is my first time chicken'ing and I love these funny chicks! Next up: I want a goat

Your yard should be safe with your chickens. Goats are a different story. Contrary to popular belief goats are not grazers. They aren't going yo eat enough of your grass to make a difference. They will eat every lead and tender shoot they can reach. All of your trees and shrubs will be bare as far as they can reach. Any kind if plant you don't want them to eat they will eat first. Goats are heard animals so you need at least two for them to be happy. If you only have one it will cry all the time. If one of mine gets out of sight of the others it will scream until it finds them. I love my goats, but you need to know what your going into when getting into with them so do lots of research.

 

[MLandis]

I also have a bird dog (hunt trained, bred for it, but never hunted). He is absolutely wonderful when I am out with him and the chickens are running around. He walks right through the flock (five birds), doesn't give them a second glance. I never would have dreamed he could be out with them. HOWEVER. We lost a bird a couple weeks ago and I'm pretty sure it was either him or the neighbor's dog...but most likely him. So even though he looks bullet-proof and has been out with them for HOURS, I wouldn't be comfortable leaving him unsupervised with them.

Michelle
Everson, WA

 

[wigs]

We have 9 one year old hens, one just hatched 4 chicks about 2 weeks ago, 10 hens just over 2 months old, a Canada goose the same age, one rooster and currently 37 broilers picking up another 20 day olds tomorrow morning. All our birds free range.
We have 1 acre here, surrounded by farmer fields with a single tree line on one side and a 20 foot tree line on the other. Nothing is fenced in.
I let them out at 7am and lock them up at night. The hens are great, the older ones head to the coop before it gets dark, momma hen is always first in with the baby's, then Molly (my goose) leads the younger hens in soon after. After I lock them up I wait till the broilers make their way back to their coop.
The broilers, I find are like teenagers, lay around all day....then vamped and ready to go come evening. Rounding them up is pointless because they are EVERYWHERE. When dark but still able to see without a flashlight, they are all at the coop. Most are in but a few like to sit outside the door till I shoo them in. Tonight they waited till almost 10 before turning in.
We keep all our day olds in a large dog crate that we keep inside the hen's coop. After a week and a bit, we allow them to roam the addition (basically a run that we plastic off in the winter so the hen's can hang outside when there is too much snow for them). That last for another 2 weeks and then the chickens are free to roam. The broilers will get moved to their coop and fenced in for an additional 3 days before setting them free to roam.
We have had an issue with a hawk once who got one of the small broilers last year, and this year it was a rat that took 4 baby broilers in a course of 2 hours before he ate a bullet. So far pretty good.
Tonight - sitting in the lounger, glass of red, steak on the grill and 62 chickens chasing mosquitoes.....Love it!

Wigs

 

[QueenBubbles]

Sounds idyllic!!

 

[RoosterLew]

Hi! First time chicken owner here. I've had my girls for about a week. I plan on building them a run but for right now I want to let them free range. I'm scared they will get eaten or wander off. Opinion time! Should I let them out?

Are they a week old or you've had them a week?
Week old birds I wouldn't want outside!!

If your afraid of losing one or all of them then no , you should not....if you free range chickens, sooner or later, something will happen to them.

With that said, We free range about 35 birds, a couple dozen or so we bought, a dozen or so more we hatched and right now 3 of those are sitting about 20 eggs..those babies will be born and raised free ranged.

As for definition of free range...they have a small area they are allowed to roam....just about 22 acres, lol!

Later I will be building colony coops for them. NO fences, but spread far enough that the flocks will pretty much stay separated.

 

[QueenBubbles]

I let the babies out but I do have good cover and not many predators. The nice thing about letting the babies out is they really don't wander, they sleep a lot and it is no hardship to hang out with them cause they are so cute taking their first dust bath, etc. This is my front yard, up by the house - can you even see the chicks?

They don't like open spaces, won't cross expanses of concrete and dive for cover when people walk by, cars drive by, etc. They have amazing survival instincts and good hearing & sight.
That being said, I did lose Runty the day it was 104* here (in Davis, CA). Runty had problems with heat, no keeping up / getting lost from the other two, etc. She lasted 4 weeks longer than I thought she would - and those were outside every day, with periodic checking. Usually my cats help with the babysitting but they were inside that day. So, predation does happen.
I've also discovered that they seem to bond with an area when you let them out young. My first set has the patio and my littles got put in the front yard because I was out there building the coop. I've tried introducing them to the back yard because I'm building a run around my orange tree, but the biggies aren't interested and the littles will hang for awhile, but as soon as open the gate they are headed for their comfort zone in front.
Don't know if that helped answer your questions and concerns. I'm still a newbie and learning as I go.

 

[RoosterLew]

About the time I was typing that we had a dog attack. Lost probably 1/3 of the flock.

 

[QueenBubbles]

@RoosterLew
I'm so sorry for your loss - a third is a lot!! Dog attacks are bad - was there a lot of carnage to clean up? Do dogs free range in your neighborhood? Hope the remaining ladies are ok and don't go into shock.

 

[RoosterLew]

We live in the country, but we are at a prime "drop off" location.
When people see a group of houses along a highway they think thats a good place to drop a dog....and it is, if your goal is for me to shoot your dog!!
I do not know carnage yet, I am still at work...GF called me very upset!! She referred to it as a "blood bath"

 

[bumpercarr]

About the time I was typing that we had a dog attack. Lost probably 1/3 of the flock.

I'm sorry...I know how devastating it can be. I lost all but two in February to dogs and then lost the entire rebuilt flock about three weeks ago. So sorry, keep your chin up...the ones that survived need your stewardship. Hopefully, the dog has met his/her end and the owners have been notified of your loss (and preferably their loss as well IMHO).