Keeping Chickens Free Range

[heiditam]

How far will chickens roam if given the freedom? Like, if you have a set coop, and they are coop trained...if you let them out for hours, how far will they go? If I do free range, I am just wondering what neighbors I need to warn-we have 11 acres and neighbors are not too close but I wonder if they will go that far before coming back to roost?

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

I free range my chickens. I don't live on property, jut a big backyard with a lot of cover. My chickens will peck and eat at bugs and such, but they always tend to eat their layer feed. I do have hawks which scares me, but honestly my chickens hate being in their run. They will squawk and throw a fit and I don't want the neighbors to get mad. During the day my chickens tend to just hang out in their favorite places out of view. They always go back to their coop to lay, I havn't had a problem yet with them laying in places. At night they just go right to bed and I lock them up. When I see hawks out I do put them in their run for a couple of hours, but for the most part they stay under cover.

How do you get them back in? I am new to chickens and I can't catch them once they are out. Herding them is not very reliable either.

 

[duluthralphie]

I have written this reply about a dozen times today, Which is why the picture is before the narrative.

I have 2 trained labs which are trained to hunt. They are very well trained. I enjoy all animals and enjoy training them. I was more than a tad nervous when I first got chickens this spring. BUT with the use of training collars an electric "wireless" fence and much time I have the dogs trained. I still watch the dogs most of the time, BUT I am not afraid to allow them to interact with the chickens.

AND has an added benefit, I have not lost a chicken to a predator that I know of. I had many hawks eyeing my chicks when I first got them. Now they do not even think about it. I live on 13 acres surrounded by a federal wildlife area with tons of fox, skunks, coons, eagles hawks etc. The dogs make a great deterrent to these nasty critters.

In addition I give my birds plenty of places to hide. If you are OCD this may not work for you, but I have a few old pickup toppers setting around with the door open and the windows out so the birds can escape if needed.

BTW the pictures were from last nights episode of Chicken TV, We enjoy Chicken TV with a corona and our dogs every night.

Just so you know, I lock my dogs up before I do any handling of the chickens that might excite the chickens and have that in turn excite the dogs. On the day my first batch of CX's went to freezer camp I had them locked in their kennel. The dog kennel is adjacent to a chicken paddock and the birds free range all around the kennel, so the dogs become use to the chickens. I do not mean to make this sound weird, but I am a retired from the criminal justice system and there were some programs that treated sex porn addicts by over exposing them to porn to making it a non-event.

I have done that with my dogs and continue to do that. The big test will be if I can get them to hunt pheasants this fall.

 

[JensChickies]

Well I first catch the one that I know while let me pick her up and put her in the run first. The other 2 will just follow normally. Or sometimes I give them their favorite treats to bribe them in. I only have 3 so it's a little easier for me. Your right hearding them is tough...they all scatter in different directions...lol. I know the feeling. Just have to "train" them with their treats. That method works the best for me.

 

[JessicaThistle]

How do you get them back in? I am new to chickens and I can't catch them once they are out. Herding them is not very reliable either.

Treats usually bring mine running. Use a really long stick or broom to herd them. Arms aren't long enough but herding with a stick is a cinch! Just guide them with it. If any go a different direction put the stick in their path. This has worked on little chicks as well as full grown chickens for me, like a charm!

 

[wigs]

We use a plastic owl, but first let me explain.

We start free ranging our chicks at about 3 weeks with a small fence made of boards about 20 inches high around their coop door, they slowly start to fly up to perch on the boards and then eventually venture outside the boards by the end of week 4. At that point we take down one side and allow them to free range. They aren't always smart enough to go in at night but they will huddle together at the door with a few smartie pants inside.

We lost a few chicks when we started this the first time to a hawk. We put up a post and stuck a plastic owl on top of it overlooking the fenced in area. Now the hawk still returned for his daily meal but waited patiently for the owl to take his meal. This gave us enough time to shoot the hawk. Since then the owl remains and we have never had any more problems with hawks.

 

[duluthralphie]

We use a plastic owl, but first let me explain.

We start free ranging our chicks at about 3 weeks with a small fence made of boards about 20 inches high around their coop door, they slowly start to fly up to perch on the boards and then eventually venture outside the boards by the end of week 4. At that point we take down one side and allow them to free range. They aren't always smart enough to go in at night but they will huddle together at the door with a few smartie pants inside.

We lost a few chicks when we started this the first time to a hawk. We put up a post and stuck a plastic owl on top of it overlooking the fenced in area. Now the hawk still returned for his daily meal but waited patiently for the owl to take his meal. This gave us enough time to shoot the hawk. Since then the owl remains and we have never had any more problems with hawks.

Shooting a bird of prey here is frowned upon to the level of jail time. I being allergic to jail time will not do that.

 

[RoosterLew]

Quote:
It is here as well, but they do allow for the exception of protecting livestock.
Michigan has passed some laws that are not very "Farmer Freindly"!!

 

[RoosterLew]

Quote:
Once they get used to their coop...That is their nesting spot and they will return to it every night, all by themselves.

 

[duluthralphie]

How much and what do you feed your free range birds?


Any Idea how to keep them out of the road ditch? I have 100 yards in front of the coop (road side) and 400 yards behind the coop, and they want to go to the road.


I feed mine in the evening on the theory, they will forage better if they are hungry......