Keeping chickens without a coop

[NMbirds]

Ours free range all over our 6 acres, lots of bushes in different places but they seem to prefer just a few and they even fly over the fence to the neighbors thickets. However, they all come in at night on their own and some of them roost outside in an open front shed and one or two hide away. if you have lots of property I think it's possible without a coop as they can fly up and roost away from most predators at night. However, most folks I know have some kind of shelter and preferably, predator proofed if possible. Good luck!

 

[matimeo]

Quote:
Maybe I implied that I was currently in the process of tearing down my coop, which I am not. I was simply asking IF and HOW it could be done. You pose some good questions that would need to be resolved in my mind before I would ever do such a thing.

I suppose that not having shelter would be the least of my worries, as I have lots of trees and areas where the chickens could roost and places they can hide. Probably not quite as comfy, but certainly as good as anything a wild chicken would find, and I live in a relatively mild climate.

Predators would be the biggest issue. I suppose some losses would be inevitable, which I'm probably not willing to consider since the chickens are also my kid's pets.

 

[matimeo]

Quote:
No worries about how you sound. I never said that is what I do, or even that I am planning on doing it. Only curious if others have and if so, how. If you could see my coop you would know that my girl's security is of top notch importance. I just thought it was kind of cool (if possible) to consider having chickens live au natural.

I'm sure the eventual answer is that, yes it could be done, but now without certain risks. Thanks for pointing out some of the challenges inherent.

I read a post, or an article somewhere about somebody that keeps his chickens without a coop. They were of a breed that made it easier and he had a lot more land than I do. I suppose doing it on 1/5 acre lot is a little bit harder.

 

[mulewagon]

I know someone whose chickens don't have a coop. He has a Great Pyranees to guard them. He says he finds the nests easily because he's out working in the barnyard all day, anyway.

You might be able to keep them fairly well, coopless, if you had a high fence, and if your trees weren't near enough to the fence for the chickens to launch themselves into the next yard. And if you kept American Game Chickens, which are quite hardy and roost way up high.

If the only problem is a poopy coop, you could try the deep litter method. Just keep scattering litter on top, and twice a year put on a dust mask and shovel it all into the compost pile. It's easier doing it all at once!

 

[kathyinmo]

There is an old man that lives about 5 miles from me .... out in the country on 40 acres. He has chickens, geese, ducks, peacocks, turkeys, etc. He has old (very very old) buildings around his place. No real coops or housing for his fowl, but it is shelter. He does have a Great Pyrenees dog that works the area all night. The old man claims he has had very few losses, if any, and has done this for years. He rarely feeds these animals, but throws them a bit of scratch each day. Honestly, I don't know how or why they survive, but they do.

On the other hand, my coops are like Fort Knox. I have padlocks on every pop door and every people door, hardware cloth skirts around fenced in runs, and even netting over my runs. Crazy extreme cases the two of us are .....

There is no right way and wrong way to raise chickens ...... just sayin' ......

Good luck!

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

I wouldn't do it, the wild chickens may be fine but the chickens we raise are domesticated animals now and need shelter. They are defensless against predators, stray cats/dogs, racoons, hawks etc etc.

 

[Tala]

Well I don't rightly have a "proper coop" at the moment ----- but I do have a relatively predator proofed PEN for the birds, and a tarp to keep the ran out of their feed. They roost where they please, they have several options in the pen. They roost out in the rain - they don't care about that (course, it's not freezing on them or anything). I call it a coop, but really it's a pen not a building.
It works fine in the summertime, but I'm in the process of building them a 3-sided coop (roosting area really) to keep the wind off in the winter.

If the birds are completely free ranged/non-penned, you will have to figure some way of keeping the raccoons away!! One of my neighbors used to have completely free range chickens - emphasis on the USED-to-have. Something got them eventually. They roosted in a big cedar tree, which cut a lot of the elements, but not the preds.

 

[TK Poultry]

I would say maybe depending on what you had in mind.

I don't have any coops so to speak. I have one dog pen that is six feet tall, eight feet tall, and sixteen feet long. It's split in half making 2 eight by eight pens. I also have a tarp on the top to keep it from raining in. I have chicken wire across the bottom except on the einds where its up against another pen. They all get dog houses inside that have either shavings in the summer or straw in the fall.

For my ducks they have a 16ft pen that is 5ft tall. it also has an in ground pool and two dog houses.

In the winter (now) I put a tarp on the north and south end of one 8x8 pen and a tarp on top. I also put skids on the west side to cut on drafts as well and keep the east side open. I put between 10-20 bantams in here to make sure they all stay warm.

So I really don't have a coop either but my chickens still thrive!

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

Well, it depends.

Would you keep them inside your house or garage? If not then I'd say no. Chickens need a place to live so that predators-not just night predators, eagles and hawks too- won't get them. They also need shelter for weather such as snow and rain and things.


A chicken who doesn't have a place to stay has a lot smaller chance of living to a ripe old age. I guess it's not impossible, but extremely unlikely.

 

[kimb]

the domestic "chicken" doesn't exist in the wild ... most of our home kept chickens are far too large to even try to fly up into any tree. . . but trees aren't safe like they used to be ... raccoons, opossums, porcupines, weasels, fisher cats, hawks, owls, and yes even FOX can climb trees ... so these safe "trees" you speak of really aren't.

if they hide in under brush (which I would believe is scarce in an urban area) ... they are just as prone to all those same predators.

other than the predators - chickens aren't "waterproof" - they need some place dry and draft free where they can go when they get wet and it's cold/breezy out - and they can get frost bite if you live in <freezing weather and/or snow.

So I guess to answer the question... it's not advisable if you really want to keep them alive and healthy.

... IMO it's just not worth the risk. . .