Make me feel better about penning my former free-rangers :(

[Porpie Pie]

Last year we moved out of city limits onto 2 acres and got 8 hens in December with quaint dreams of the chickens free ranging around the property while we were out working "alongside them." The coop that I built was from a design I found online and only had a small-ish (8' x 4') run.

After a couple months of free-ranging it became a headache being worried all the time about where the hens were. Moving from the suburbs, 2 acres felt gigantic. I thought chickens would be too "chicken" to venture far from their coop/home but we have neighbors on 3 sides and the hens kept wandering off into their yards and getting chased by their dogs. I also got really worried they were going to go into my one neighbor's garage while he had it open and poop everywhere (like they did in our garage - which was making me have to remember to keep the garage closed at all times, which also meant I wouldn't be able to work comfortably in the garage in the summer when it will get hot). I found myself constantly glancing out the windows to try to account for the chickens and getting worried (about them having gotten snatched or just wandering too far into a neighbor's property) if I couldn't spot all of them. We also had to wall off the deck so they couldn't get up on it and poop everywhere, and I have had to spray off the front porch every day or two. We didn't want them free-ranging when we were all gone from the house, so going anywhere with the family required a new chore of rounding up the chickens back into the run, which I felt bad about on days when we were gone all day bc the run seemed small for them.

Long story short, just yesterday I finished building a new run that attaches to the old run. I felt so bad about penning them up and hopefully made it large enough (16' x 20') that it will be comfortable. So now they have the old 8' x 4' run and the new 20' x 16' run as well as the space directly under the coop which is screened in (5' x 6'). Today is their first day not free-ranging and I would love some encouragement that I'm not ruining their lives.Hopefully in the future we can get a fence around our backyard and let them free range again "part time." Is there anything I can do to encourage more bugs in the run??

Have you ever seen those Japanese beetle traps? I've got roses that the love so I put some bags in trees away from my roses and my garden and they are SUPER attracted to the scent of the trap. They go in the bag and they can't get out. Once the bad has a good amount of beetles I drown the little stinkers inside the bag and open it up for my chickens and they LOVE them. The bags are reusable so I just get a new bait refill every year. Keeps my roses safe and provides a free snack for the chickens. As long as you give them enough to keep their interest they'll be just fine penned up

 

[TimonHens]

Today is their first day not free-ranging and I would love some encouragement that I'm not ruining their lives.Hopefully in the future we can get a fence around our backyard and let them free range again "part time." Is there anything I can do to encourage more bugs in the run??

Omgoats, all the same feels from 1 acre with neighbors on 2 sides.

Except half of my acre is fox infested woods.

Birds currently only like the east side neighbors where it gets sunny first. We give nextdoor apology eggs when we have to collect birds. (Not for when the fox grabbed our favorite hen because the woods is dense and close on that side. We also lost the better rooster. All cause I decided to use the bathroom before rounding them up)

What I can say is before you commit to alternate run location and solutions, be willing to flex until you have experienced all seasons.

I've included the view from my home office. You can see the coop in the upper left. It is elevated.The run extends off to the west 30ft or so and encloses an "orchard" (3 mature semi dwarf apples) and terminates in the fenced people garden we have yet to plant. (Hawk grabbed my favorite bantam right out of it and now it has a net roof.)
They were perfectly fine in the space at the end of summer. Had to get them out of a tree every night.

But now the back yard/patio is the favorite place to hang because it has more sun sooner. And gives access sides of the house with more gravel and flower beds for digging. With a deck for hiding!

So we're doing sloppy flex fencing. Birds are happy to hop over the pallet fence but will mostly ignore 2x4 weld. So I am envisioning a spring of more poles to try and cordon off things I want to keep the birds out of while making them feel like they are achieving different locales as the sun dictates. And hopefully also carving out a less-poo people space

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

Due to predators many chickens are in a predator proof chicken yard/run 24/7 and they are happy as can be. Here’s some things I added to their yard for stimulation and to give them a ‘free range’ experience; grazing frames with wheat grass/rye grass, deep litter compost system in the run (wood chips, leaves, grass clippings, coop bedding, etc. This brings bugs in too), plants in the run (hardy shrubs and fruit trees, I have a thread about the plants in my run!), lots of perches and things for the chickens to hang out on. I bring them buckets of weeds that I pull, any caterpillars like cabbage worms and hornworms from the garden.

 

[DLA]

Last year we moved out of city limits onto 2 acres and got 8 hens in December with quaint dreams of the chickens free ranging around the property while we were out working "alongside them." The coop that I built was from a design I found online and only had a small-ish (8' x 4') run.

After a couple months of free-ranging it became a headache being worried all the time about where the hens were. Moving from the suburbs, 2 acres felt gigantic. I thought chickens would be too "chicken" to venture far from their coop/home but we have neighbors on 3 sides and the hens kept wandering off into their yards and getting chased by their dogs. I also got really worried they were going to go into my one neighbor's garage while he had it open and poop everywhere (like they did in our garage - which was making me have to remember to keep the garage closed at all times, which also meant I wouldn't be able to work comfortably in the garage in the summer when it will get hot). I found myself constantly glancing out the windows to try to account for the chickens and getting worried (about them having gotten snatched or just wandering too far into a neighbor's property) if I couldn't spot all of them. We also had to wall off the deck so they couldn't get up on it and poop everywhere, and I have had to spray off the front porch every day or two. We didn't want them free-ranging when we were all gone from the house, so going anywhere with the family required a new chore of rounding up the chickens back into the run, which I felt bad about on days when we were gone all day bc the run seemed small for them.

Long story short, just yesterday I finished building a new run that attaches to the old run. I felt so bad about penning them up and hopefully made it large enough (16' x 20') that it will be comfortable. So now they have the old 8' x 4' run and the new 20' x 16' run as well as the space directly under the coop which is screened in (5' x 6'). Today is their first day not free-ranging and I would love some encouragement that I'm not ruining their lives.Hopefully in the future we can get a fence around our backyard and let them free range again "part time." Is there anything I can do to encourage more bugs in the run??

Don't feel guilty protecting them from threats. Better that than killed by (insert predator here) and having no chickens at all or worse, one lonely one that managed to survive. if you want bugs for them, try raising mealworms or black soldier fly. There are several different ways that are pretty inexpensive and easy, just do an internet search. I think the one with the 3 cheap plastic drawers is the best & cheapest one i've seen so far. Give them some toys and stuff to do and they'll be happy and best of all safe. You could also give them some supervised time out in a tractor or with an electric poultry fence (which doesn't protect from hawks).

 

[JamieBrock]

We pen ours up when the camps around us have tenants. Keeps everyone happy and safe. Other than that they get to range over 95% of the time. We’re in the woods with coon, cats and all the other vermin. So the ranging is limited to daylight hours and when we’re at home.

 

[Saveria]

My apologies if someone said something similar, I was only able to skim everyone's responses.

We have enough room to free range, but we use electronet fencing from Kencove. It is odd, the only times we have lost a hen to predators is in the fall where it has been too snowy to keep the fence up, but so warm that they want to come out. It seems like the fence really helps deter the foxes, etc.

I have also seen that some of them will inevitably escape the fence, but they usually stay pretty close, because the rest of the flock is still contained therein.

We try to move the fence so there is fresh grass/bugs as often as we can, but we will also give them grass clippings and some food scraps that they like in the run, too, since the coop is stationary and borders the woods, and finding enough fresh grass can be tough.

I agree that they are having a better life with you, whatever your setup. Just the fact that you care means that you will find a way to do the right thing for them. You may need to put down extra hay or shavings in their area so the dropping load isn't too high if the space is smaller. As long as their needs are being met, you should not feel bad.

 

[Cookies-Chickens2004]

Last year we moved out of city limits onto 2 acres and got 8 hens in December with quaint dreams of the chickens free ranging around the property while we were out working "alongside them." The coop that I built was from a design I found online and only had a small-ish (8' x 4') run.

After a couple months of free-ranging it became a headache being worried all the time about where the hens were. Moving from the suburbs, 2 acres felt gigantic. I thought chickens would be too "chicken" to venture far from their coop/home but we have neighbors on 3 sides and the hens kept wandering off into their yards and getting chased by their dogs. I also got really worried they were going to go into my one neighbor's garage while he had it open and poop everywhere (like they did in our garage - which was making me have to remember to keep the garage closed at all times, which also meant I wouldn't be able to work comfortably in the garage in the summer when it will get hot). I found myself constantly glancing out the windows to try to account for the chickens and getting worried (about them having gotten snatched or just wandering too far into a neighbor's property) if I couldn't spot all of them. We also had to wall off the deck so they couldn't get up on it and poop everywhere, and I have had to spray off the front porch every day or two. We didn't want them free-ranging when we were all gone from the house, so going anywhere with the family required a new chore of rounding up the chickens back into the run, which I felt bad about on days when we were gone all day bc the run seemed small for them.

Long story short, just yesterday I finished building a new run that attaches to the old run. I felt so bad about penning them up and hopefully made it large enough (16' x 20') that it will be comfortable. So now they have the old 8' x 4' run and the new 20' x 16' run as well as the space directly under the coop which is screened in (5' x 6'). Today is their first day not free-ranging and I would love some encouragement that I'm not ruining their lives.Hopefully in the future we can get a fence around our backyard and let them free range again "part time." Is there anything I can do to encourage more bugs in the run??

I had my hens free ranging all the time until we had multiple hawk attacks. I lost 3 hens and my brave Silkie rooster. It was November and all the leaves had fallen so visibility of the chickens was much better. They didn't have the leaves to help cover their location on the ground.
Since the loss of my chickens I have brought in my girls to their run, and covered their run with netting to protect them from aerial attacks. No attacks since. So consider covering their runs if they're not covered.

 

[Cookies-Chickens2004]

I'm also sprouting grain for fresh greens and feeding BSFL to supplement bugs.

 

[Chickenclaude]

Some days my girls can free range but it’s not a guarantee. I don’t feel guilty, we have predators. There are dogs. If I’m Outside, they can be too.
you don’t want them pooping in your space. Right now it’s cold here..when I refill the feeder or watered, they get 10 min outside. They are fed, have shelter and are safe..

 

[Apags18]

Last year we moved out of city limits onto 2 acres and got 8 hens in December with quaint dreams of the chickens free ranging around the property while we were out working "alongside them." The coop that I built was from a design I found online and only had a small-ish (8' x 4') run.

After a couple months of free-ranging it became a headache being worried all the time about where the hens were. Moving from the suburbs, 2 acres felt gigantic. I thought chickens would be too "chicken" to venture far from their coop/home but we have neighbors on 3 sides and the hens kept wandering off into their yards and getting chased by their dogs. I also got really worried they were going to go into my one neighbor's garage while he had it open and poop everywhere (like they did in our garage - which was making me have to remember to keep the garage closed at all times, which also meant I wouldn't be able to work comfortably in the garage in the summer when it will get hot). I found myself constantly glancing out the windows to try to account for the chickens and getting worried (about them having gotten snatched or just wandering too far into a neighbor's property) if I couldn't spot all of them. We also had to wall off the deck so they couldn't get up on it and poop everywhere, and I have had to spray off the front porch every day or two. We didn't want them free-ranging when we were all gone from the house, so going anywhere with the family required a new chore of rounding up the chickens back into the run, which I felt bad about on days when we were gone all day bc the run seemed small for them.

Long story short, just yesterday I finished building a new run that attaches to the old run. I felt so bad about penning them up and hopefully made it large enough (16' x 20') that it will be comfortable. So now they have the old 8' x 4' run and the new 20' x 16' run as well as the space directly under the coop which is screened in (5' x 6'). Today is their first day not free-ranging and I would love some encouragement that I'm not ruining their lives.Hopefully in the future we can get a fence around our backyard and let them free range again "part time." Is there anything I can do to encourage more bugs in the run??

We got 11 hens and one rooster as chicks last year and have since lost our rooster to natural causes, 2 hens to a dog attack, 2 hens got hit by a car and were killed and 1 hen was injured but survived. So ours unfortunately can’t free range like we had hoped. We just built a run and we have a huge barn they can be kept and explore on bad weather days. They don’t love the run but it keeps them safe. I feel bad too but know this is safer. But we do let them free range with supervision.