Nervous about letting my chickens free range

[elsasmom]

I've free ranged on my 10 acre hobby farm for almost 5 years now. None of my 3 ducks have met any harm, but I lost a hen 4 years ago to a fox and just 2 weeks ago to a feral cat. My girls aren't afraid of my cats, but this feral cat just came in and jumped on my smallest and oldest bird and killed her before I could get out the door to see what was happening. Live trapped it that night.
I have a 5 foot fence around their 2000 square foot poultry yard, but ran out to see a hawk swooping over them one day too. I pounded in steel fence posts to make it dangerous for a hawk to fly in.
As I get more attached to the 6 birds I raised from young ones, I become less willing to allow them out unless I'm with them. As Spring approaches, I'll simply take a book outside and let them run with my dog and I to protect them.
I've also thought of building many low shelters for them to get under if a hawk appears.

 

[CountryCentinel]

We free range on our 10 acres, but the gang never ranged more than 50 yards from their house, they are soooo happy and I just couldn't imagine keeping them in a run, tho I understand the needs of different folks and circumstances.

The girls explore, poke around, find and discover all the ever changing things chickens find interesting around the yard, they would just be a different bunch if they didn't enjoy their liberty!

I would encourage you, if you are so inclined, to work on a local level to change whatever liberty infringing laws your local gestapo has been enforcing on you that prevents you from raising chickens etc! ;-)

Good luck!

 

[mamagardener]

If you are worried about animals getting to them, then maybe you should follow the advice of letting them out for like an hour before dark if you are out there with them. That way they will go in at dark and you wont have to worry about rounding them up if you need to leave for some reason. They wont have time to leave the yard because they wont get a chance to wander too far before it gets dark.

 

[debid]

Your girls haven't ranged before so they'd stay close to the coop at first. But, the more they are allowed to roam, the more comfortable they get and they will roam to the front of the house. We have 20 acres and the chickens explore about 5 of it on a typical outing. However, this time of year with no leaves on the trees and lots of hungry raptors is a rough time for free-ranged birds. We went a good 6 months with them ranging most of the day with minimal supervision and no incidents. And then we lost two without a trace. So, I've been supervising pretty closely because I also had a hawk attack with me 50' away working in the yard and our dog running around (she survived with only feather loss to show for the encounter).

Losses happen with ranging. Whether it's a neighbor's dog or a hawk or a cat (and yes, a cat can kill a chicken), if you range them, it will happen eventually. So really, you need to decide for yourself how much risk you are comfortable with and act accordingly.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I agree with the majority here. I have 4 fenced in acres but I only let mine out when I'm working down next to the coop or an hour before they go to roost. I give them things to do otherwise. I'll put scratch down and throw some hay over it so they have to dig and scratch around, I give them treats a couple of times a day, sometimes just grass I pull along the fence. The kids love hunting for bugs to throw into their pen and I also raise mealworms for them.

 

[debid]

I also wanted to add that you can train them to return to their run when you want/need them to. I used scratch in a plastic cup to train mine. I started with them just outside the run when they were sticking close to the coop. I'd shake the cup, call them, toss the scratch into their run so they could see it, and then close the door behind them once they were inside. It was a bit chaotic and there was herding involved at first while they learned. But, in time, they will learn the drill and it makes life so much easier to have them go back happily when you want them to.

 

[Carolyn227]

I let my hens free range this evening for the first time and it went great! It took some time for my hens all to find their way out of the coop at first. My friendliest girl had no trouble getting out. I used a little bribery and she always goes right for it and lets me hold her regularly, so she was right up there by the hen house door when I opened it. The other two aren't as friendly and stayed back. They were confused (and can chickens get jealous?) when she was pecking around outside of the hen house, though. Eventually the others found their way outside (with some help from me). My kids loved watching them and following them around. Though it was a little tricky with the 2 year old. I've decided this will be my time of day to do my gardening so I can keep an eye on them while they free range. I let them out a couple hours before dark and at first they stayed close to the hen house but started wandering off munching on all sorts of yummy treats they haven't seen in a while. They were thrilled with it, I'm sure. I'm excited that when it's summer they'll be able to keep the bug population down but I'll be able to keep an eye on my garden so they can't destroy it. When it was time to put them in for the night, they were fairy docile and let me put them back in the hen house. I'm assuming it's going to get easier the more often we let them out like this, that they'll be able to find the exit easily and happily return to their hen house when we're through. I took some pictures of my birds while I was out there, but I can't upload to my computer or else I'd share.

 

[Catfsm]

I believe the key is watching them.

If they "free range", then you need to watch for predators and dogs.

My 4 cats, 10 hens and 2 roosters go out together for a few hours every afternoon. They enjoy it so much! The chickens eat grass and bugs, take baths in the dirt, and walk around exploring. We have one acre that is garden and pasture and they move farther and farther away from their coop as the feel more comfortable being out. They go together usually in sets, but sometimes the usual groupings change. The cats move among the chickens and lie down nearby to watch them, but they never try to catch them. The roosters will attack anyone who might fluster any hen, and I am worried about the cats' safety more than that of the chickens! However, the cats are fast runners and would escape harm if a rooster attacked one! Where I live it is illlegal for dogs to be off leash so that is not a problem.

 

[Qurus]

I believe the key is watching them.

If they "free range", then you need to watch for predators and dogs.

My 4 cats, 10 hens and 2 roosters go out together for a few hours every afternoon. They enjoy it so much! The chickens eat grass and bugs, take baths in the dirt, and walk around exploring. We have one acre that is garden and pasture and they move farther and farther away from their coop as the feel more comfortable being out. They go together usually in sets, but sometimes the usual groupings change. The cats move among the chickens and lie down nearby to watch them, but they never try to catch them. The roosters will attack anyone who might fluster any hen, and I am worried about the cats' safety more than that of the chickens! However, the cats are fast runners and would escape harm if a rooster attacked one! Where I live it is illlegal for dogs to be off leash so that is not a problem.

My neighbor's rooster sends my fiance's cats up trees on a daily basis. The cats love to watch the chickens, but every once in a while, they get to close, and we commence the rooster chasing cats scene. It's hilarious every time.

 

[NACADOODLALDO]

You could build yourself a small chicken tractor or pen with atop on it. Google chicken tractors and you will find lots of ideas. I've made several out of PVC and used zip ties to hold the wire on. With just 3 birds it won't ave to be very big and light enough to move around to keep them on fresh grass.
Bill