New Member with 5 chickens we got for free in a nice coop

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So the five chickens got out of the 10' x 5' coop yesterday some time in the morning. One of the latches is really hard to close, I have a replacement I will install today.
My roommates surrounded the openings in the back yard with some of the chicken wire we got with the coop. I'm pretty sure that at only 3' tall, this discourages them somewhat, but eventually they can fly over something like this or push thru somewhere even though they weren't that adventurous yesterday.

My roommates seem to think it's a good idea to let them wander the yard this way during the day. I'm not so sure about that, don't like the idea of bird poop all over the place, and the risk that some of them will get lost. The back yard IS pretty big, probably about an acre.

What are the opinions about doing this.

We were able to herd them back into the coop fairly easily this one time just before the sun went down.
 
Geoff Swenson said:
We were able to herd them back into the coop fairly easily this one time just before the sun went down.
Click to expand...

Well, it sounds like it all worked out for you.

FWIW, when I put my chicks out to the chicken coop and run, I left them locked up in the chicken coop for about 1 week, so they would get used to their new home. Then, when I let them out, they naturally went back into the coop at night to roost.

If you have a large 1 acre lot for them to explore, and they don't yet automatically go back to the coop to roost at night, they might find other places to roost out in the yard.

I don't let my chickens free range because of hawks and Bald Eagles overhead all the time. My chickens are confined to their chicken run with bird netting on top. But I don't have to go out searching for missing chickens at night, so that is a benefit to me.
 
Hi and welcome to BYC. You've gotten some really good advice already, especially from @DobieLover.
Geoff Swenson said:
My roommates seem to think it's a good idea to let them wander the yard this way during the day. I'm not so sure about that, don't like the idea of bird poop all over the place, and the risk that some of them will get lost.
Click to expand...
If you are concerned about what the chickens will do to your backyard, and I believe you mentioned you have 6 acres, might I suggest you put them on a different part of your property? I keep my chickens about 200' away from the house. Pick a nice high area for them if your land is not flat and give them as much space as you can afford to. Seriously, build bigger and stronger than you think you need. The coop articles will give you lots of ideas.
 

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