Meaties and Free Range terrain

[MildlyOffensiveChicken]

I am considering ordering 100 chicks late April or May. It will be my first meat birds.

These will be the $.50-1.00 heritage specials from Meyer or Cackle or ?


One corner of my property has a 10 acre section that is a small valley. Floor is probably 4 acres. It is partially forested.

I will put a long hoop house or two hoop houses along with maybe night time electric fence, but no fence during the day - free range.

Choosing this location, I am hoping for weather protection, maybe fewer winged predators and some limitation to movement - I don’t want them spending time with the layers and permanent roosters.

I am concerned about predation, but figure $150 investment in the chicks is worth the experiment. It’s Montana in the mountains. We have bears, wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, hawks and eagles. Am I a fool for not buying a larger electric fence and rotating areas?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Time will tell. Free ranging works until it doesn't. That might be overnight, it might be years.

You can look at it as a fairly low-cost gamble, realizing you can lose everything in a day if a pack of wolves or coyotes find them. You could get really lucky with no losses. You may find that something is picking off one or two every day, a slow drain. What do you do then?

 

[Ratchnick]

Yeah that seems dodgy at best. No racoons? What about weasels? They just stand out as animals that kill for sport and could wipe you out in a night.