Keeping Chickens Free Range

[earlyredrooster]

We have alot of red tail hawks. We have open spaces but also alot of wonderful cover-the woods here are full of brush and trees. Things get very overgrown in there, so much so that I have trouble trekking in. I think in woods they are safe from hawks.

We have very very rare coyotes-2 to be exact. Saw them 2x in the winder but have not seen them since. 


We set up a game camera and spotted a red fox at night. :/ My neighbor said she saw it around 5PM once. So I know that is out there. 

We have two stray cats that I see frequently on our land. :/ 

No loose dogs, and it is pretty unlikely here as we are in the city limits.

We have 11 acres, but we are sandwiched in between neighborhoods. It is like a teeny bit of country in the city. But we see plenty of rabbits and deer, and there seems  through way between us and the wild...

I WOULD love to free range like you all do here! 

To quote nike "just do it". Life happens and you will find that you will have a few losses no matter what.

 

[Tikkijane]

I am afraid I might lose some to the cold. Right now the coop is draft free, if anything it keeps too much heat in the building. We don't have enough room for all the chickens we have. Next month we are going to build an addition onto the coop. A bigger area for roosting and the area we have now for nesting and transition cages for the chicks I still have in the house.

Where do you live? Evem folks in Alaska don't need supplemental heat. There's a really good thread on here regarding that issue.

They will pack on a fat layer and fluff up to insulate. The biggest issue is making sure it's draft-free. Wide roosts are good so they can cover their feet. And deep litter will help generate some heat. Even with all bantams, if their space is sufficiently sized and bedded, it should not be an issue. I know it's worrisome, though. I make sure they can hunker down in the bedding if they need to. Many of mine head for the rafters at night, too.

I worry more about frostbite on combs....

 

[Tikkijane]

No, I may have a very general idea of where it is. 
LOL I am from southern AZ and wherever you are, I don't think I could stand those winters, it's cold enough here for me.  Last year, when what they had was  mostly a lean-to, they had a heat lamp hanging low above where they laid their eggs and they would all try to crowd under the lamps. That made me think they were cold.

They will be if you provide heat. If you let them do what they do, they build their fat layer and are just fine. I've read about folks who gave them heat only to have them die when they power for several days during a winter storm. They will acclimate and do just fine if we let them.

 

[Tikkijane]

No, I may have a very general idea of where it is. 
LOL I am from southern AZ and wherever you are, I don't think I could stand those winters, it's cold enough here for me.  Last year, when what they had was  mostly a lean-to, they had a heat lamp hanging low above where they laid their eggs and they would all try to crowd under the lamps. That made me think they were cold.

I should add- especially when we lived in the desert SW, it was important to find breeds that were heat and cold tolerant. I think most will do just fine with cold; there may be some breeds that are very cold hardy like Wyandottes, but it is more important, imo, to have heat tolerant breeds, like Andalusians or other Mediterranean breeds, in high heat climates because is far more deadly than cold.

 

[Tikkijane]

Loss to predators-

Can I get your all's input? I can handle and occassional loss. To me, that is manageable, expected, and a trade off between having fenced/cooped up birds and happy free rangers. But, what is a 'usual' loss to predators? What is the norm, during the day hours? What has that meant to you? One hen every 6 months? That sort of thing...I can handle an rare loss every so often, but I certainly don't want to come outside to find my flock of 8 missing in one day. I would love to hear about your experience regarding loss--frequency, amount lost. 

I've lost 3 guineas- one female on a nest and two males with her- and a single chicken right in the front pasture with my horses. All were daytime; spring, and all were foxes.

They key, imo is coverage {places to hide from overhead predators} and dogs to pee all over and chase off during the day.

 

[QueenBubbles]

Yeah, cats are a huge problem until the chicks get big enough to stand their ground and peck. I spent quite a lot of time convincing my cats that my chicks were not toys and not food. It took some doing but then they helped babysit when the chicks were about 4 weeks.
My EE started chasing my cats at when she was 12 weeks. She is wants to be queen of all she sees.

 

[K Epp]

My chicks are out with the hens and those Mama's rule the roost. I have to feed my cats before I turn the birds out or after I lock them up or else the cats get chased off their food.

 

[blkjak]

We free range, feed layer/chick crumble and feed scraps. Our cats like to watch the chicks but have never tried anything. The cats like to get to the scraps first to get the meat but it doesnt always work out for them.

 

[QueenBubbles]

I love that when my cat gets picky and won't eat the last bit of the canned food on her plate but insists I must feed her, I can take out the left overs to the chickens who are absolutely THRILLED with the offering. They all come running, screetching around the corner, wings flapping and careening.

 

[Sylviaanne]

How many 40 below nights did you have last year? hehehehehhee


I want my birds to snuggle....

I really don't think we had any but I wouldn't swear we didn't have one. LOL