Keeping chickens without a coop

[Tropical Chook]

Here in Thailand nobody really uses coops for their chickens apart from those who want to collect eggs for selling. I myself have a coop, or at least a run which is fully enclosed, along with roosts and nest boxes. I do however leave the door open 24/7 so they can come and go as they please. With that said, they will all be getting confined to their run once I'm finished doing the extension, but only until the rai season arrives again next year. Apart from stray dogs and cats, we have no real predators here, and my own two dogs make darn sure no strays pay us a visit. I'm also starting to feed the chickens again as there's not really enough greenery about at the moment to sustain them. Come the rain season, and they'll once again be on their own.

 

[TrystInn]

While both rural and urban chickens have their predators, I'd like to make the warning that should someone choose not to coop your birds and something happens to them (i.e. they get loose in the neighborhood, predators, attract loose dogs, etc.) you could be endangering the rights of your neighbors to have chickens.

Unfortunately, given the way the laws are working it only takes one chicken "incident" to ruin it for others.

 

[junglebird]

I'd love to create safe, quasi-natural night time, open shelter for my chickens. My first coop was built at the base of 2 trees, and it looked more like an aviary. It was beautiful - except for the heavy wire box I built around it to protect the chickens. I know chickens aren't wild birds, but when I admire the wild turkeys, healthy, robust, procreatin' like crazy, then I look at Fort Lockdown where my chickens live ... I think, "there's gotta be a better way."

I'm planning kind of elaborate predator protection on my property: I envision an outer fenced zone for dogs, a middle ring for goats and guard donkeys, then inner rings for fowl and gardens. The goat/donkey perimeter will have electric fence, as will the chicken area. It would be one stubborn predator that would get through all these layers: fence, dogs, electric fence, donkeys, and another electric fence. If it proves to be as bomber a system as I imagine, I'll definitely experiment with an open un-coop.

 

[jen1les]

I have six hens in my back yard. They free range all day on their own and roost in their coop at night. I leave the door on my coop open all day and night. Ive had these birds for two years with no problem. I treat them very well, ie oat meal every other morning, other week or so pomogranites and so on. When I am allowed I will post some pics. they are extremely healthy.(( if you have dogs they can be very helpful with predator control, that is if they can tolerate the chickens ))I have two dogs, one Lab and Beagle Russell mix and I leave them out all day as well. My Lab is great for Hawks. The second he sees a large birds he starts after it. My only problem is I can not keep the chickens out of my flower gardens. If anyone could advise me on that issue that would be awesome. I hope this helped.

Les

 

[jen1les]

Oh, by the way, the chicken poop build up concern......add it to your compost pile. If you don't have one now seems like a good opportunity. You will see a drastic difference in your plants.

Les

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Good dogs on guard 24/7 can take care of most predators, but even they can't protect against a great horned owl flying silently in the night. I've had them fly past me only a few feet away and didn't hear a thing.

If you don't like cleaning a coop, maybe go with a tractor that gets moved every day, instead.

My chickens enjoy being out free ranging and they look really happy. They also seem to really enjoy their coop. Sometimes they just choose to go in there. Chickens enjoy the security of hidden areas and cover. I think that's part of the appeal of a coop. I know mine feel safe in there. Out in the yard, they have to be careful and often hide under things, to rest. When the weather is bad, they absolutely prefer their coop to the outdoors.