Letting my Chickens into my yard.

[Bukrub66]

I have 6 chickens that were 3 months old on Jan 17. I keep them in a 4x8 coop with an 8x12 run. They have been going into the coop at night on there own for about 2 weeks with out me having to corner them and physically put them there.

I would like to start releasing them into the yard, but am concerned about them going back in the coop. I live on 3/4 of an acre in the country and they could easily get away from me. I was thinking about opening the coop door about 30 minutes to an hour before dark and just seeing but. I'm a nervous reck about it. We have lots of preditors and as hard as it is to catch them in the run, I can't imagine how I would catch them in the yard.

Any advise would be great. Do you think they would go back to the coop on their own yet?

 

[HighStreetCoop]

They will go into the coop at dusk just like they do now. If you're really concerned, get a net fence or some snow fencing and make them an extended run. I was concerned too, but mine (same age) go into the run to hang and chill even when the door is open to the yard and they put themselves to bed in the coop about 30 min before it gets dark with no problem at all.

Good luck!

 

[Bukrub66]

It went off without a hitch. I opened the run door at 5:15. They messed around, ate some weeds and at 6:05 they single filed into the coop. Thanks for the info.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Yea!