Keeping Chickens Free Range

[jenniferlamar70]

If you don't mind slowly but surely losing all your flock, you can let them run free and roost where they please.  Of course, you won't get any eggs in your nests either as they will be tucked here and there wherever the chickens choose to lay.  I've known a lot of people who do this as they just have chickens as lawn decorations on their farm and don't really care if they get eggs or not or if the birds are picked off by predators or not. 

If you want to keep your flock, you'll have to give them a secure place to sleep at night and places to run and hide during the day, but if you don't have a good dog on guard you'll still lose your flock one by one anyway.  You have predators, have no doubts, and you'll start to see evidence of that if you get a flock of chickens. 

I'm not sure why folks waste money on chickens and feed if they don't care if they get picked off by predators, but my sister does this all the time.  When all her chickens are gone except a few, she just buys more.  She finds an egg now and again and that seems to make her happy, but she doesn't seem to care if the local predators are all feasting on her wasted money.  Funny thing about that is she calls me a murderer because I kill my chickens for food...and she isn't kidding when she says it. 

Well none of her chickens have been killed. They have 40 hens and 3 roosters. Over the last year they all are still there. They do have trouble finding the eggs though. I'm just curious to other people's experience with this. We have 5 roosters and I don't want them all in a coop together. I've grown up in the country so having a hen house was actually a new thing to me. Growing up the hens would roost high up in the barn but the doors were never closed. My best friends mom had a goat farm with others animals as well. On occasion something was picked off but never like what I've seen on here with people having their coops broken into and their whole flock eaten by a fox. Makes me wonder if they had a way to escape if it would be better or just easy targets. This is why I was hoping someone who has done this could let me know how their experience has been...

 

[duluthralphie]

Well none of her chickens have been killed. They have 40 hens and 3 roosters. Over the last year they all are still there. They do have trouble finding the eggs though. I'm just curious to other people's experience with this. We have 5 roosters and I don't want them all in a coop together. I've grown up in the country so having a hen house was actually a new thing to me. Growing up the hens would roost high up in the barn but the doors were never closed. My best friends mom had a goat farm with others animals as well. On occasion something was picked off but never like what I've seen on here with people having their coops broken into and their whole flock eaten by a fox. Makes me wonder if they had a way to escape if it would be better or just easy targets. This is why I was hoping someone who has done this could let me know how their experience has been...

A chicken cannot escape at night. It cannot see. It is nearly blind at night. They just sit there and get picked off.

Further, daytime predators can come from the air or the ground. Are you telling me you have no eagles or hawks out there?


No Weasel, mink, skunks or raccoons?

Listen to beekissed on this. Lock your birds up at night, give them a place to hide during the day. If you want them for lawn decorations that get stolen over time, just let them run around and never protect them..

I have a ton of hiding places for mine and I still lose some.

 

[bobbi-j]

Well none of her chickens have been killed. They have 40 hens and 3 roosters. Over the last year they all are still there. They do have trouble finding the eggs though. I'm just curious to other people's experience with this. We have 5 roosters and I don't want them all in a coop together. I've grown up in the country so having a hen house was actually a new thing to me. Growing up the hens would roost high up in the barn but the doors were never closed. My best friends mom had a goat farm with others animals as well. On occasion something was picked off but never like what I've seen on here with people having their coops broken into and their whole flock eaten by a fox. Makes me wonder if they had a way to escape if it would be better or just easy targets. This is why I was hoping someone who has done this could let me know how their experience has been...

None of her chickens have been killed yet. They can go for a long time, but you can bet a predator will find them sooner or later, and when it does, the flock will be gone. Many years ago, I had chickens that roosted high in the trees. That lasted for some time, then I started to find headless bodies under the trees. Turns out a Great Horned Owl had found my flock. That's what they do - pop the heads off and leave the rest of the bird. We also have raccoons, skunks and coyotes around here. One summer I was gone for 3 weeks. I started with a flock of 8 birds. Came home after the first week and found 5 birds left. Came home after the second week to no birds. DH had decided that they didn't really need to be locked up, didn't pay attention to the fact that they were disappearing. After the barn cats all disappeared, we figured it was coyotes. Suspicion confirmed when he started combining the cornfield next to the barn. A family of them ran out of the field. I also had raccoons getting into my open barn and taking my Old English Game Hens. They slept in a rabbit hutch that closed with a latch. I'd go down and find the latch open and yet another chicken or two or more missing. I'd ask the kids if they remembered to shut the door, and they assured me they had. Then it happened even after I was double-checking the hutches at night. We learned the hard way how sneaky those little bandits are. Chickens are easy targets at night. They're basically helpless in the dark. Have you ever tried to catch one at night? You can just walk up to it and pick it off the roost. Try catching that same chicken during the day. The kindest thing you can do for your chickens and protect your investment is to securely coop them at night.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

A chicken cannot escape at night. It cannot see. It is nearly blind at night. They just sit there and get picked off.

Further, daytime predators can come from the air or the ground.  Are you telling me you have no eagles or hawks out there?


No Weasel, mink,  skunks or raccoons? 

Listen to beekissed on this. Lock your birds up at night, give them a place to hide during the day.   If you want them for lawn decorations that get stolen over time, just let them run around and never protect them..

I have a ton of hiding places for mine and I still lose some.

Did you even read my first post? I said I have hawks. Geez some people. I'm not asking for opinions and I think that's where some are getting confused. I don't live in some little suburban neighborhood where I'm just starting off and I've never seen a chicken in my life. I'm just wanting other people's own experiences that have done this so I can make my own decision. Not one based off of others opinions. Furthermore not once did I say I'm going to throw my birds into the wild with no shelter. I'm pretty sure even if people don't like me, my views or anything else I don't really care. I don't respond well to snotty attitudes and people acting like they are better then others. Everyone has their own way of raising their flocks. I don't think you would like it if I got on you for slaughtering your chickens even though I think it's wrong and we are vegetarians because of that I don't push my way onto someone else. This is why I hate threads because their will always be a gang of people who all have the same view trying to push it on others because their way is the only right way. So far I haven't experienced this with byc. Hopefully this will be the last time since most the people I have met are wonderful people. I would like diversified answers of people with different experiences for me to make up my own mind. So thank you for your input. It's been heard. Now that you have said what you want maybe someone who has done it can give me some info about how it worked for them..

 

[Donna R Raybon]

When I was growing up there were no hawks, racoons, coyotes, eagles, bobcats, mink, weasels around here. They had been systematically hunted to extinction. If you had told me we would have turkey, deer, and bear here? I would have said you were crazy. But, once conservation caught on thirty years ago? We have them all, in large numbers. Predicted to have cougar in next ten years, too.

Listen to what experienced chicken keepers are telling you about protecting your flock. Different breeds and ages are vulnerable to different threats. I have some Sumatra hens, for example that are pretty Wiley and street smart. And, I have had Silkies that were so tame they were totally vulnerable.

Having a many layered approach is best. If one layer of security is breached hopefully other layers prevent/reduce losses. I know folks who have good luck with lots of cover for birds and five or sic Chinese geese preventing hawk attack. Until I had secure night time coop and a livestock guardian dog I had losses. My current coop needs quite a bit of work to make it bear proof, but we are working on it.

 

[Beekissed]

Well none of her chickens have been killed. They have 40 hens and 3 roosters. Over the last year they all are still there. They do have trouble finding the eggs though. I'm just curious to other people's experience with this. We have 5 roosters and I don't want them all in a coop together. I've grown up in the country so having a hen house was actually a new thing to me. Growing up the hens would roost high up in the barn but the doors were never closed. My best friends mom had a goat farm with others animals as well. On occasion something was picked off but never like what I've seen on here with people having their coops broken into and their whole flock eaten by a fox. Makes me wonder if they had a way to escape if it would be better or just easy targets. This is why I was hoping someone who has done this could let me know how their experience has been...

Just one year....well, that has surely stood the test of time.

No mention if she has farm dogs? If she does, their presence could be protecting them more than anything, if not, they will eventually start losing birds.

I don't lock mine in a coop at night either, but they do have a coop to sleep in and they come and go as they please...but they have two dogs on guard all the time. This still does not protect them from aerial predation when they are not near the dogs while ranging, nor would it protect them at night if they roosted outside the coop...and owl can drift in before the dogs even know they are there.

Don't know what country you grew up in, but out here in the country everyone has a henhouse and always have. Most of the places I've lived had hen houses that were 60 yrs old and older, still standing and in use. A hen house is a standard country fixture, just like a corn crib or an outhouse.

 

[AntDog33776]

Hi all my partner and I are new to the chicken world also but falling truly in love with our girls. We started with 6 and now 8. We free range our girls all day long then coop them up at night. A good treat in the morning of rice, corn, and mealworms with maybe leftovers from the night prior. It's funny because our hens have daily routines they start on one side of our yard in the morning. Bath and relax them buy evening on the other side. We also give them a snack before bed. They really love us as we love them.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

When I was growing up there were no hawks, racoons, coyotes, eagles, bobcats, mink, weasels around here. They had been systematically hunted to extinction. If you had told me we would have turkey, deer, and bear here? I would have said you were crazy. But, once conservation caught on thirty years ago? We have them all, in large numbers. Predicted to have cougar in next ten years, too.

Listen to what experienced chicken keepers are telling you about protecting your flock. Different breeds and ages are vulnerable to different threats. I have some Sumatra hens, for example that are pretty Wiley and street smart. And, I have had Silkies that were so tame they were totally vulnerable.

Having a many layered approach is best. If one layer of security is breached hopefully other layers prevent/reduce losses. I know folks who have good luck with lots of cover for birds and five or sic Chinese geese preventing hawk attack. Until I had secure night time coop and a livestock guardian dog I had losses. My current coop needs quite a bit of work to make it bear proof, but we are working on it.

Just one year....well, that has surely stood the test of time.    No mention if she has farm dogs?  If she does, their presence could be protecting them more than anything, if not, they will eventually start losing birds. 

I don't lock mine in a coop at night either, but they do have a coop to sleep in and they come and go as they please...but they have two dogs on guard all the time.  This still does not protect them from aerial predation when they are not near the dogs while ranging, nor would it protect them at night if they roosted outside the coop...and owl can drift in before the dogs even know they are there. 

Don't know what country you grew up in, but out here in the country everyone has a henhouse and always have.  Most of the places I've lived had hen houses that were 60 yrs old and older, still standing and in use.  A hen house is a standard country fixture, just like a corn crib or an outhouse. 

Ok obviously people only hear what they want too. Unfortunately you won't get a fight from me since I can't tolerate people who can't see anything but what they want. It's funny you don't lock your hens up at night yet still put others down who choose to do that. Not to mention this is supposed to be at place for different views and discussions so everyone can help each other out but no go on with your sarcasm. Your definitely better then everyone else here because you know everything. Unfortunately for you I'm image grown adult capable of doing my own research without people pushing their personal views on me. Thanks but no thanks. I can find the information I was originally looking for somewhere else. I won't be back to this thread so your welcome to preach to your hearts content....

 

[duluthralphie]

Ok obviously people only hear what they want too. Unfortunately you won't get a fight from me since I can't tolerate people who can't see anything but what they want. It's funny you don't lock your hens up at night yet still put others down who choose to do that. Not to mention this is supposed to be at place for different views and discussions so everyone can help each other out but no go on with your sarcasm. Your definitely better then everyone else here because you know everything. Unfortunately for you I'm image grown adult capable of doing my own research without people pushing their personal views on me. Thanks but no thanks. I can find the information I was originally looking for somewhere else. I won't be back to this thread so your welcome to preach to your hearts content....

A) Go ahead and let your birds stay in trees. They are your birds. We told you our experiences.

A-1) I did say I lock mine up at night and still lose some, is that not a personal experience like you asked about?

B) sorry my memory is so short I forgot you said you have hawks. I read a lot of posts in a day.

C) No one is pushing anything at you we are telling you what we have had happen. I did not know you just wanted us to tell you it would be fine.

D) Please be a little more civil. thanks

Have a good day.

 

[Beekissed]

Ok obviously people only hear what they want too. Unfortunately you won't get a fight from me since I can't tolerate people who can't see anything but what they want. It's funny you don't lock your hens up at night yet still put others down who choose to do that. Not to mention this is supposed to be at place for different views and discussions so everyone can help each other out but no go on with your sarcasm. Your definitely better then everyone else here because you know everything. Unfortunately for you I'm image grown adult capable of doing my own research without people pushing their personal views on me. Thanks but no thanks. I can find the information I was originally looking for somewhere else. I won't be back to this thread so your welcome to preach to your hearts content....

No one wants a fight, you asked for advice on if anyone knows or has experience with such a practice and you were told of it....and I don't lock up my hens at night because I have two dogs sleeping right outside their coop all night, so nothing can get to them.....or didn't you read that part?

The problem seems to be that you wanted approval, not advice, and when you didn't get it you got defensive. I can't really help with that, but several people took time out of their lives to try and help you with your question here. We said, go ahead and do it if you wish.... but you'll soon see loss of life due to predators...that's nothing more than the truth. It's not disapproval of the practice, it's just plain ol' truth. It will happen eventually, even for your neighbor.

Yes, we've all known of people who do this and they always lose their flocks and we told you that but you only hear what you want to hear, it seems. Doesn't matter if you think we don't approve or not, the truth is still the truth.

I surely don't know everything but I do know that chicken is on the menu for everything else and that's all you really need to know to realize that your chickens will eventually disappear if you don't provide them some kind of protection from predators. Pretty sure everyone knows that, especially people who were raised in the country.