Keeping Chickens Free Range

[Debby27]

So sorry to hear about your losses......we lost one as well about a month ago. Got in the coop cause BF forgot to latch the door

We never saw it again, and the 3 girls left are staying close to house now...were very skittish after it happened, I guess i would be too, it came in the coop, snatched Aunt Clara right out from under there noses and ran. all I found in the morning were feathers everywhere and 3 very quiet girls. we were out every night and early early morning with a gun to see if she came back but she never did....yeah it sucks losing one or 6. My sympathies....

 

[dpenning]

We added more runs and covered them....so far so good. Chickens are out only when we're out, but we're about to add more fencing so their space is even larger. Unfortunately the foxes were great at evading traps.

Since they can't get anything here they moved on up the road and are attacking our neighbors chickens and guineas.

Till the fencing goes out. I had a problem with the energizer on my fence, sent it in to be replaced under warranty and before it came back I lost my 4 layers to a coyote I'm assuming. My pop door opens about 7:15 and between when the pop door opened and I went out to the front porch, four hens got taken. It was during one of the recent horrible storms we have had in the Dallas area lately so we didn't hear a thing. My 3 new girls were still in their crate in the coop so I don't think the predator went into the coop or they could have been gone too.

 

[gbeauvin]

Hi! My search-fu is failing me (quoted phrases don't seem to work?) so I'll just post my question here...

Do any of you guys let your chickens free-range full time? And by that I mean they have a secure coop that they can return to at night, but are left free to forage all day (no pen or run).

We are under contract to buy a home on 3 acres, sort of our own little mini-farm (the front quarter of the lot is house and yard, the back 3/4 are horse pasture with a barn), and we are looking to start a small flock of Egyptian Fayoumis (6-8 hens). I was considering building a hoop-house (8x8 or 8x12) covered with tarp, and with some sort of "huddle house" inside with nest boxes, roosts, etc. The idea would be for them to free-range full time during the day and get secured in the hoop house at night. The hoop house would hopefully be big enough for them to just stay in all day if we had to go out of town for the weekend. There will be horses in the pasture (and dogs in the yard, so hopefully the chickens would stay in the pasture!), I'm not sure how the presence of other animals effects the predation equation.

I realize that the "safest" thing is a secure coop with a secure pen and only supervised free range, but am hoping some of you might have personal experiences to share, particularly with fayoumis or some of the "flightier" birds (like leghorns).

thanks,
GB

 

[dekel18042]

Quote: I've noticed among our neighbors who have chickens who free range in pastures or yards with other animals, (horses, cows, goats) the rate of being taken by predators is minimal, almost nothing. Seems the predators won't come into an area where the other animals are and even the hawks won't come down.
The predators in our area would include, foxes, maybe a loose dog, hawks, raccoons, weasels.
Not sure how this would hold in areas with larger predators like wolves or mountain lions.
Most of the neighbors have a mixture of breeds including bantam, and large fowl, ducks, geese, guineas and peacocks.

 

[JessicaThistle]

Hi! My search-fu is failing me (quoted phrases don't seem to work?) so I'll just post my question here...

Do any of you guys let your chickens free-range full time? And by that I mean they have a secure coop that they can return to at night, but are left free to forage all day (no pen or run).

We are under contract to buy a home on 3 acres, sort of our own little mini-farm (the front quarter of the lot is house and yard, the back 3/4 are horse pasture with a barn), and we are looking to start a small flock of Egyptian Fayoumis (6-8 hens). I was considering building a hoop-house (8x8 or 8x12) covered with tarp, and with some sort of "huddle house" inside with nest boxes, roosts, etc. The idea would be for them to free-range full time during the day and get secured in the hoop house at night. The hoop house would hopefully be big enough for them to just stay in all day if we had to go out of town for the weekend. There will be horses in the pasture (and dogs in the yard, so hopefully the chickens would stay in the pasture!), I'm not sure how the presence of other animals effects the predation equation.

I realize that the "safest" thing is a secure coop with a secure pen and only supervised free range, but am hoping some of you might have personal experiences to share, particularly with fayoumis or some of the "flightier" birds (like leghorns).

thanks,
GB

Hi GB, I have a secure coop that my girls only go in at night. They free range my 1 1/2 acre all day until they are ready to go to bed. Their coop has a run attached to it but the only time that we really left them in it completely was when they were tiny chicks. I have even been away for a night or two and didn't close the pop door. They were fine. The dogs are in and out and the neighbors have horses that surround along the back of our property. We have had one hawk attack but were able to intervene and stop the attack. Both the hen and the hawk survived. Now we have a giant eagle kite on a pole that flies in the wind. It keeps predator birds away really well.

I also have an egg biz and have laying hens that are in a tarp covered open mobile unit on rented pasture. They do have 6400 sq ft of space surrounded by an electric fence just because I am not there on site all of the time and the owner of the pasture doesn't want 350 hens on their back porch. The girls do their thing all day and then hop inside at night. The unit is always open so they can come and go at will.

Your idea should be just fine. Everyone has their own experience and thus, opinion. There is a risk with everything we do in life. I feel that we should not live in fear and make the most of life. So, free ranging will make your chickens much happier and most likely healthier. You will want to keep an eye out for possible breaches in your system and fix them accordingly. For example, when we had the hawk attack, we kept the dog out all day until we got our eagle kite. I didn't keep my girls locked up in their run for even one day after that. They would have been unhappy. Yes, keeping them safe is important but you can do that by being watchful in your environment and adjust as you go. If you lose a bird to a predator, figure out what it was and how to fix that. In my opinion, the ultimate predator is illness, injury and age. I have lost tons of birds that way. Those types of things are harder to stop, but predators can be removed from the situation.

Enjoy your happy free range chickens!

 

[fancychick1]

I have a 1 acre lot that has privacy fence all the way around the back yard and I free range all day and they go in their coop at night. My dogs are kept in a kennel but I believe that their barking at things out of the norm keeps preds out of the yard. I had a cat jump the fence once but the ducks and the rooster chased him out it was pretty comical. I spot hawks from time to time but the rooster usually alerts the flock and they all run for cover.
I think if you try it you might want to have time available to monitor them at first to see how they behave while out and make sure they have plenty of areas to take cover when needed. Good luck

 

[Tikkijane]

Hi!  My search-fu is failing me (quoted phrases don't seem to work?) so I'll just post my question here...

Do any of you guys let your chickens free-range full time?  And by that I mean they have a secure coop that they can return to at night, but are left free to forage all day (no pen or run).

We are under contract to buy a home on 3 acres, sort of our own little mini-farm (the front quarter of the lot is house and yard, the back 3/4 are horse pasture with a barn), and we are looking to start a small flock of Egyptian Fayoumis (6-8 hens).  I was considering building a hoop-house (8x8 or 8x12) covered with tarp, and with some sort of "huddle house" inside with nest boxes, roosts, etc.  The idea would be for them to free-range full time during the day and get secured in the hoop house at night.  The hoop house would hopefully be big enough for them to just stay in all day if we had to go out of town for the weekend.  There will be horses in the pasture (and dogs in the yard, so hopefully the chickens would stay in the pasture!), I'm not sure how the presence of other animals effects the predation equation.

I realize that the "safest" thing is a secure coop with a secure pen and only supervised free range, but am hoping some of you might have personal experiences to share, particularly with fayoumis or some of the "flightier" birds (like leghorns).

thanks,
 GB

We do. No run at all; out all day; in a night. Predator loss here has been rare, but we are usually home. Did have a fox get a chicken IN the pasture with the horses with the kids actually outside a few feet away, but that was a one-time thing {knock on wood}.

 

[duluthralphie]

This time of the year my birds are free ranging al the time, except the "special' ones I keep locked up for breeding reasons.

I have a chicken door but have not closed in a few months. They come and go as they please. I have very high roosts so any fur bearing critter would have a hard time getting up to them. No ramps nothing they have to fly up and they do, all of them.

 

[Hannah Nichole]

My chickens free range. They absolutely love it (of course) and I enjoy watching them! The only problem is teaching them to lay inside the coop and not underneath a bush... But I've found if I close them inside the run, they learn eventually. And the dogs aren't able to go on an egg hunt and have a feast!

 

[duluthralphie]

My chickens free range. They absolutely love it (of course) and I enjoy watching them! The only problem is teaching them to lay inside the coop and not underneath a bush... But I've found if I close them inside the run, they learn eventually. And the dogs aren't able to go on an egg hunt and have a feast!

I found a HARD muzzle stops eggs feasts and poop treats...