letting chickens run free?

[chicksrocka]

"My dogs are My biggest predators"
Ha ha! thats true for me too. My big dog just leaves the chickens alone, but my little dog loves to play with the chickens and herd them around. I've gotta teach her not too

there are a few skunks and raccoons around, but I just keep my chicks in the safe pen at night.
Our biggest concern now is the chickens eating the garden, or destroying the flowers. Do you guys chickens eat the garden? or do they just leave it alone? thanks!

 

[LaSombra]

yeah, I don't know if I can trust my dogs with them or not. They're both pups, though, so maybe they'll learn to respect them.

I have a couple neighbors whose dogs got out together and killed a couple of another neighbors' chickens one day so I am a little paranoid of that kind of thing also. I'm just as far away from them as she was.

I kinda wish we had a fairly good fence around the whole perimeter of our land, or at least the yard area of it. I'd feel a little safer for the chickens' sake then.

 

[kezabel]

Quote:
LOL, thanks for putting where you're from. At first I thought you had some mighty strange chickens. Mine don't go in until after 9 pm. So, how's the weather down there?

At the moment the weather isn't very good, its the middle of winter and its cold (about 7 degree Celcius at 7am) and it won't stop raining, It gets dark at 5pm and the sun doesn't rise until 6:30 am. I can't wait till it its Summer again

But in summer I'll complain that its too hot lol

 

[DuckYouMan]

I used to let my ducks and chicken run free together unhindered in the 2 acres I have. The ducks would destroy everything but the chicken do great. I have 3 dogs and although they did kill one chicken when starting out, some training and socialization got them to where they now love them. Now, they play with the chicken like family. The ducks have their own place to stay now so they dont destroy my plants and the chicken roam free 24/7. At night, they sleep in a high roosting area under cover.

The only problem with this is that I find eggs everywhere. It's an easter egg hunt once a week which isnt too bad. The chicken however have made huge improvements to my yard. The poo they leave behind is wonderful for grass, trees and plants.

For my silkies, we have a small enclosure that they sleep in at night that gets locked up.

My advice is if you leave them out during the day, have either a high roosting area or a small enclosure to put them in at night so they dont become prey.