Needing advice! Thinking about letting our girls free range...

[Imp]

Yes, if they want they can easily get over 4 ft., but large breed heavy adults will probably not want to. They can slide through surprising small spaces, but I have found they are more likely to flatten out and slide under. Younger birds are more likely to go over. My chickens are all getting older 3-5 yo. At this point they don't even leave the yard if I leave the gate open.

Here's a pix of my 4 ft gate. They do get up on the garbage can, but don't go over. (Yet)

When they hear me drive into the gravel driveway they gather at the gate to start screaming for scratch.

Imp- do they have me trained or what?

 

[calista]

Quote:
I second this. It sounds as if you have a situation where supervision is a given, which is different from free-ranging on unfenced acreage. On the 110-acre farm where I grew up, our five dozen heavy breed heritage birds free-ranged all day up to a half-mile from the barn before returning at night.

My Dad considered any predation "acceptable losses" for our family to concentrate on other chores. Of course, this is not an option where your birds are probably beloved pets and part of the family.

 

[MaKettle]

I can't say much about the free ranging because I only did it a couple of times & the birds were supervised...however, we stopped this when our leghorn started flying & I had to grab her by the legs when she flew to the top of our 6ft high run. This was going to be her starting point for her flying adventures

Regarding heavier birds, my buff orpington will fly up onto my shoulder when I'm standing up in the run and I'm 5'8" and more like 5'10" with my Danskos on! So yes, they CAN fly! If its a concern, you could clip their wings but then you remove part of their chances of getting away if they were to be attacked by a predator.

 

[annie3001]

freerange within your comfort zone. period.
i freerange, only when i am home. no exceptions, ever.

 

[swimmer]

I free range a few hours while I'm home also. We've got a six foot fence and have never had a problem so far. But have only had them a few months. A four foot fence I'd worry about. Might be a little bit too temping for them to get over.

 

[jathall]

I let mine free range at about 5:00 in the evening. I found it's easier this way.. They never go far from the comfort of their coop..I leave the door open so they can go back into the coop anytime they want. As soon as the sun starts to go down they go in their coop on their own. So about 7:00 their in the coop and all I have to do is lock the door.. I never worry about predators ,I have a Rottweiler that protects his flock.

 

[hallerlake]

I was letting mine free range all day until I had to rescue one from an eagle. Now I only let them free range when I'm around. If I had dozens of nameless chickens, I might feel differently.

 

[gritsar]

I have 14 beloved adult chickens, all named and about half of them come to their names, that free range all day, every day. Locked up in a predator proof coop at night.
My little ones (16 weeks old), also all named except for the few CXs that I can't tell apart, are just starting to free range. They love it and practically beat the door down when they know it's getting close to time to be let out.
The little ones get more supervision than the adults do. It's been a natural progression for me and my birds. The older they get, the braver they are, and the less supervision I give them.
I know my predators - bobcats, raccoons, opossums, eagles, hawks, coyotes, probably others. We rarely see a stray dog, maybe once a year. A bear recently tore apart a beehive kept on our property by a neighbor. I also know that most of these predators, with the exception of the birds of prey, are more of a problem at night; thus the reason for the predator proof coop. Our yard and the surrounding gardens are full of mature, large trees that my chickens have enough sense to use for cover. There has been a pack of coyotes living on this farm as far back as anyone can remember. They live at the other end of the farm and have NEVER been spotted less than a quarter of a mile away; at the old homestead.
I strongly disagree with those that say free range only the birds you wouldn't mind losing or don't care about. I love and care for each and every one of my chickens; probably more than I care for most people. I can't put someone I care about in a cage to keep them safe, I won't do that to my chickens either.
When I lose some, which I know will happen sooner or later, I will grieve for them, but take comfort in the knowledge that they have had the best life I could provide for them.

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
Ditto.

Mine range freely from 7 a.m. to dusk daily. I worked up to that, originally just letting them out of the bird-netting covered run when I was home, but now they go where they want when they want.

Lots of cover trees, no wings clipped, and four roosters all alerting to anything untoward. (Charlie the bantam Buff Brahma has finally stopped alerting to the BIG hunkin' dragonflies, but he still chases the local blue jays, rushing them in full battle fluff.)

 

[TigerLilly]

Quote:
I work an odd schedule, but on my nights off, I do the same thing as far as letting my birds free-range. Letting them out of their run toward the end of the day ensures they'll be back in & on their roosts come dusk. Works great as far as saving a little on the feed bill & they get a change of scenery.