Keeping Chickens Free Range

[duluthralphie]

Plant strips about 4 feet wide in areas with better quality forage the birds otherwise do not visit during the day. For shorter term benefits I suggest a mixture of timothy and legumes. Birds will tunnel into it during hottest part of day and anchor their foraging effort around it much better than if area does not have dense low cover. If longer-term effort to be investment, then consider brambles or even Buck Brush. The scatter some grains near those areas to prime their interest in exploring.

That would work if it was not all woods around the house and coop.

I do have forage crops planted behind the barn but that requires them to walk too far to go to. (clover, rye, wheat, rutabagas, and grasses) It was an attempt to persuade the guineas to chase bugs and grass hoppers somewhere besides the road ditches. They still prefer the ditches.

 

[Tikkijane]

I had a guy pull in here yesterday and tell me  'You have some birds on the road".  Then he said " I am afraid they will get hit, I nearly hit one"...

I said, " yep some of them will".

He looked at me weirdly,  So I asked him where he was from, he said he lived in Minneapolis.  Then I explained Guineas always go to the road, they are like mosquitoes being attracted to light.

He asked what I did about them getting hit.


I told him  I bring in 30 new ones every year to replace the dumb ones that get hit.

I am thinking he did not understand me.  I was speaking "farm"  he was speaking "City".

Knock on wood, but I've not had any get hit. My biggest problem for them are the foxes living in the woods they like to exlore on the other side of the road. My woods have my dogs, so it's not usually a problem. But across the road.....

^^^ That's the aerial view of where I live.

 

[duluthralphie]

Ahh, I am on what is becoming a major county road with the influx of homes. So I lose a few each year.

I am thinking of getting a mower with a lower center of gravity so I can mow the ditches right to the road edge to help the guineas. Hopefully they would not have the long ditch grass that seems to entice them.

It is also a good justification to get the zero turn 60inch mower I want so badly!

 

[centrarchid]

That would work if it was not all woods around the house and coop.

I do have forage crops planted behind the barn but that requires them to walk too far to go to. (clover, rye, wheat, rutabagas, and grasses) It was an attempt to persuade the guineas to chase bugs and grass hoppers somewhere besides the road ditches. They still prefer the ditches. 

Some of the lack of foraging effort may not be due to laziness, rather quality and quantity of forage allows them to feed up in early morning then it takes bulk of day to deplete crop contents before they need to resume foraging later in the day. That is good.

 

[Tikkijane]

I have seen no pattern based on breed / color pattern. Birds taken are given away by movement rather than coloration. Selectivity appears to be related to size of victim with smaller birds taken preferentially. That pattern can be taken advantage of with mixed size flocks where largest birds (fully adult roosters) will target hawk attempting to take hens and juveniles.

The only birds the hawk has gotten here were both male- my white {silver tailed} silkie and my only {at the time} mille fleur d'Uccle. They were my favorite boys out of all my boys.

 

[duluthralphie]

Some of the lack of foraging effort may not be due to laziness, rather quality and quantity of forage allows them to feed up in early morning then it takes bulk of day to deplete crop contents before they need to resume foraging later in the day. That is good.

This is true. They could be finding enough stuff to stuff them right away.

I picked up Queen Elizabeth the other day at around 9am. She was upset with me because I had locked her out of her nest by accident. When I did I noticed she had a full crop already. Not the morning crop I expected to find. I at first thought there could be a problem, but decided she had just foraged hard for an hour.

 

[Tikkijane]

I think I have the worlds smartest or laziest chickens.

I stopped feeding them in the morning because they would not free range, they just laid under the lilacs all day long.

This year they seem to be smarter.  I let them out and the lay under the lilac all day long. When I come out the door they run to the deck waiting for handouts. (yep, I feed them table scraps).  A few might wander as far as the wild bird feeders to get the droppings. Most just rush to the deck when we are on it or stay under the lilacs.

In the evening they sit on the deck steps and wait for me to bring them feed. They know I will feed them at night. 

Should I send them to bed without feed a few nights to see if they will start acting like chickens again and forage?   We have a huge woods right next to the house. most years they have it wore down to nothing with their scratching and digging. This year it looks like a jungle, I doubt a bird has even ventured into it.



So how do I combat "lazy Chicken Disorder"?


Once we get that solved we need to tackle "Hidden egg syndrome".

1} You need a drill sergeant to whip them into shape. Enough push ups, and they'll be ready to get on out there!

2} Dashboard, er, forehead cams. You can set up a broad surveillance network to watch and record. In a perfect world, you'd have enough minions to watch the numerous monitors {I think you can split into even 10 cameras per screen}, and then radio another for recon/retrieval once the egg has been laid.

My chooks are smart enough to move the nest once it's been found. Although, some of them still really like the hanging horse feed buckets in the barn....

 

[Tikkijane]

Ahh, I am on what is becoming a major county road with the influx of homes.  So I lose a few each year.

I am thinking of getting a mower with a lower center of gravity so I can mow the ditches right to the road edge to help the guineas. Hopefully they would not have the long ditch grass that seems to entice them.

It is also a good justification to get the zero turn 60inch mower I want so badly!

Yes, I agree. I'm lucky that the county comes and mowes the sides pretty regularly. But pooooooor you, having to get a zero turn. I am soooooo sorry.

 

[centrarchid]

The only birds the hawk has gotten here were both male- my white {silver tailed} silkie and my only {at the time} mille fleur d'Uccle. They were my favorite boys out of all my boys.

Chickens of those types should not be free-range kept. Even as adults that are small. They are also lacking in suitable behavior and awareness.

 

[SmColorInDaPan]

Coyotes have been VERY close to the house about 6 nights out of 10. I'm Sure they smell the chickens. When my Hound dog gets crazy, I LET HER OUT! Neighbors may not like it but Had one trespassing to TAKE video of my 'MESS' so, GEE, don't think I CARE Much.

Glad the 5 girls are squeezing into the 3 hen hutch each night.
I'm pretty much the same. Hear the Hamburger Haulers go by in the Spring. The kids who think cause family owns a few acres up here they're ok to speed. I have to smile when they honk at a loose horse, steer. Free range up here, so a CRACK UP imagining what they tell their Insurance about hitting stock on a Rd they're ONLY supposed to be traveling 35 MPH on..

We feel SO SORRY FOR YOU Ralph! Enough so You can TEST run Your new Toy Here!!! LOL!!