Keeping chickens without a run... permanent free-ranging?

[gryeyes]

I started with a run built around three coops. Then I added more small coops and had to expand the run. Then I started letting the chickens range freely... My back yard is fenced but not predator proof, plus the chickens range out into the front yard, the landlady's yard on the same property. The property is fenced and is an acre. The chickens have checked it all out but mostly hang out in our two back yards or in front of my house.

I work, and the chickens were getting up after I left for work and were always back in the coops by the tome I got home from work, this winter. Now that the days are getting longer, I get to see them before I leave for work; that is, they are up and coming out of the coops.

Anyway, I decided to pull down the run fencing, but have not finished with that project. So there is effectively no run any more. Lots of tree cover, very vigilant roosters, and I do have some of those Nite Guard anti-predator lights placed in various spots. They worked when I had a run, and worked very well. I used to have nightly raccoon predation in my ponds B.C. (before chickens). The first night I put the Nite Guard lights up, after I started keeping chickens, the predation STOPPED.

I may be sorry some day. I am going to add a few more Nite Guard lights here and there. But the coops get closed up nightly and they're pretty secure (I have a couple of "iffy" ones).

 

[Beekissed]

I've never had a permanent run enclosure....had a temporary one the first spring here on this land for spring gardening protection but never again. My birds free range ad lib and I never close the coop. I've lost a total of 3 adult hens in 5 years here to raptor predation and never lost any at any other location I've had chickens. I free range a dog(s) along with the flock and the dogs stand guard at night also.

Nothing is more valuable to a free range flock than good dogs and I would never dream of free ranging without that level of protection.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
I don't have run BUT I do have a fence and I know that is what you're asking about. I will just tell about my experience without a run but have a coop.

I sure hope that there is no bashing or negative comments because what you described is kinda what I have. I have over 100 chickens and it's a perfect set-up for me.

WhiteMountainsRanch wrote: how many people have a coop for their chickens to go into at night and then just let them out during the day, all day everyday? How does it work, do you lose a lot of birds? Do they get smarter/ heartier over time and "learn" to be more self sufficient? Do they revert to become more "wild"? Does it draw predators more than if your birds were fenced in?

1. I have a coop for them to go into at night. I open up the coops at 6:00 AM every morning and go to work. They free range on about 1 acre of property. ALL DAY EVERY DAY. I close my coops up about 7:00 PM every night. No problem with them going in. They have 11 coops to chose from.

2. Believe it or not, I have NEVER lost a bird with them free ranging by day (no run) - NEVER. The only time I have lost a bird was INSIDE of the coop at night when something dug under the coop door and got 1 of my cornish. Unfortunately she slept on the ground and was too close to the door. After that, I fixed that problem and no more digging happened EVERY again.

3. As far as if get smarter/heartier over time and learn to be more self sufficient, I'm not sure because I have never had my chickens in a run or a tractor.

4. My chickens are not wild. In fact, they are VERY tame. When I go out to the chicken yard, they do not get out of my way. They walk and run between my feet. I have to "shew" them out of the way. They do not move. They are not afraid of people. They eat from my hand.

5. I live in the country and I have not had a problem with predators. I don't know if it's because I have sheep in the same area where the chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese are. I have been lucky (cross my fingers) to have never come home from work (5:00 PM) to find a massacre from an unknown predator.

The girls are definitely more alert. I have only seen a few hawks that fly over but as soon as the girls see it, they run for cover. I do a head count every night and no one has come up missing in years, years, years.

As you stated in the beginning of your post, some people may have some negative comments or bash me for that, but it works for me. Before getting chickens, I thought out what I wanted, tried it out for a long time and the end result was that it worked for me. I don't like to see chickens cooped up all day in these small coops/tractors, etc. (Please no negative comments about small coops/tractors. Be nice. Just my opinion)

It is much more difficult to have a nice set up where chickens are free to roam (1 acre) in a nice, safe, secure and healty, free ranging envrionrment where they can thrive and enjoy life as a Happy Chicken. It just takes planning and carefully building what you want.​

 

[spiritdance]

Quote:
I don't have run BUT I do have a fence and I know that is what you're asking about. I will just tell about my experience without a run but have a coop.

I sure hope that there is no bashing or negative comments because what you described is kinda what I have. I have over 100 chickens and it's a perfect set-up for me.

WhiteMountainsRanch wrote: how many people have a coop for their chickens to go into at night and then just let them out during the day, all day everyday? How does it work, do you lose a lot of birds? Do they get smarter/ heartier over time and "learn" to be more self sufficient? Do they revert to become more "wild"? Does it draw predators more than if your birds were fenced in?

1. I have a coop for them to go into at night. I open up the coops at 6:00 AM every morning and go to work. They free range on about 1 acre of property. ALL DAY EVERY DAY. I close my coops up about 7:00 PM every night. No problem with them going in. They have 11 coops to chose from.

2. Believe it or not, I have NEVER lost a bird with them free ranging by day (no run) - NEVER. The only time I have lost a bird was INSIDE of the coop at night when something dug under the coop door and got 1 of my cornish. Unfortunately she slept on the ground and was too close to the door. After that, I fixed that problem and no more digging happened EVERY again.

3. As far as if get smarter/heartier over time and learn to be more self sufficient, I'm not sure because I have never had my chickens in a run or a tractor.

4. My chickens are not wild. In fact, they are VERY tame. When I go out to the chicken yard, they do not get out of my way. They walk and run between my feet. I have to "shew" them out of the way. They do not move. They are not afraid of people. They eat from my hand.

5. I live in the country and I have not had a problem with predators. I don't know if it's because I have sheep in the same area where the chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese are. I have been lucky (cross my fingers) to have never come home from work (5:00 PM) to find a massacre from an unknown predator.

The girls are definitely more alert. I have only seen a few hawks that fly over but as soon as the girls see it, they run for cover. I do a head count every night and no one has come up missing in years, years, years.

As you stated in the beginning of your post, some people may have some negative comments or bash me for that, but it works for me. Before getting chickens, I thought out what I wanted, tried it out for a long time and the end result was that it worked for me. I don't like to see chickens cooped up all day in these small coops/tractors, etc. (Please no negative comments about small coops/tractors. Be nice. Just my opinion)

It is much more difficult to have a nice set up where chickens are free to roam (1 acre) in a nice, safe, secure and healty, free ranging envrionrment where they can thrive and enjoy life as a Happy Chicken. It just takes planning and carefully building what you want.​

That's the way it was done for years! Most old time farmers might have had a yard for their broodies or any specialty birds they had, but the main flock typically housed in the barn at night and had run of the place during the day. You may loose some chickens this way, but as you say, they live a happy life while they're here, and boy do they do a good job of getting rid of insect pests! Before humanity declared war on the environment with the current proliferation of chemical insecticides, farmers still managed to raise crops despite the insect population, and this was in large part thanks to the farm's feathered residents serving as "bug patrol".

I admit, I keep my "special" birds in runs, but I try to rotate them out into a "free range all day every day main flock". I have extra roos and hens of most varieties I want to breed as purebred, and I'll put some hens and a roo in the run for a while, then turn them out and put a different batch in. I do loose the occasional bird to predators, but in my opinion it's worth the risk to give them as much freedom as possible as often as possible. I fully appreciate the position of those who prefer to give their birds a higher level of safety. We all have to do what works for us.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Well said.

 

[greyhorsewoman]

I have a 'permanent' flock of free ranging chickens at my barn. They are bug control. The barn is their nighttime 'coop.' Most of them like the rafters in the higher part of the hayloft. We'll go for months without losing any birds, then start losing them here and there. Some of the hens manage to raise up a few chicks. If we end up with too many roosters, a few are rounded up and found a 'new' home (one way or another). Finding eggs is always a challenge. Sometimes we find eggs pretty regular in certain spots, sometimes we find nests that are months old (I don't depend on these chickens for my eggs).

We live in the country and there are a LOT of raccoon, possum, weasel, owls, hawks, foxes, bobcat that can vandalize our chickens/ducks. We once had a very persistent fox that decimated my flock down to one hen. After dispatching just that one fox, we managed to have a pretty good flock of 25+ for 3 years now. This spring it seems like we have another chicken/duck-for-lunch fox problem. I hate to lose them, but if you free range, over time, stuff happens. I know we've lost a couple to hawks, the road, and just plain getting stuck in the hay in the hayloft.

 

[donrae]

I have one acre in a rural residential area. My property is perimeter fenced with four food wire. I had a good dog that patrolled inside the fence and kept the predators down. Lost him on Thanksgiving

and the new dog just don't get it. But, no losses since then. We did have a persistant fox come through in in spring 09 and took half a dozen young pullets before I saw her (the fox) hit on the side on the road

. Other than that, not really any predator loss, maybe 2-3 over the last seven plus years. I say give it a try and be prepared for losses, you'll decide when/if you have too many. Oh, and be prepared for egg hunts!

My hens aren't "friendly", but that' more my preferance. They're not scared of me but do alarm at the new dog. The roos do a pretty good job of keeping watch. I would definately want roosters for protection.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Sorry to hear about losing your dog. Maybe the new dog will get it soon?

Be glad that your chickens are not friendly. Being too friend could be a bad thing. If someone were to come in my yard to steal my chickens, the chickens would jump in the car with them and take off without a struggle.

Not good.

 

[franklinchickens]

We have a run for our 4 hens but they NEVER go in it except at dawn when they head down the ramp from the coop. The run is very secure with hardware wire so we leave the hatch up. They are down there ready to go as soon as someone goes to let them out (usually between 6 & 7 AM). They free range in our small, urban backyard all day - we have a 6' privacy fence. At dusk, they all head back and jump in the coop (it's raised off the ground about 3 feet) or go up the ladder. They are on the roost by the time it gets dark and we lock them up.
The only time I've found them in the run is to eat or drink, and a few times this winter when it was really cold, I'm assuming to get out of the wind. We did have a few times where one of them would make a little nest up in the treeline and lay several eggs before we'd find them but usually they are pretty good about coming and using the nest boxes.
Haven't lost any and they are quite healthy and happy.
To be honest, if we had realized how they were and acted, we probably wouldn't have put so much effort into the run and just made a bigger coop with no run.

 

[noodleroo]

My backyard is fenced and I have a little playhouse coop that they sleep in. I let them out in the morning and they put themselves to bed just before dusk. I just close the door and open it in the morning...works for me...and them...