Part Time Free Ranging Advice

[21hens-incharge]

My less experienced girls were raised by the bantam. You know the kind who thinks the sky is falling if a sparrow flies over. It is good for me as they listen when she screams about a hawk.

It is migration time so just keep an eye open.

 

[Mrs. K]

Unless your neighbor is several miles away, predators will find you. Try not to be predictable, as in every day at..., windy days and cloudy days don't let them out, gives advantage to the predators. I love to let mine out, but the price can be high.

 

[XanderWiFi]

We just finished a 20x25 run and still had the issue where if we did not lure the chickens back into the coop some would fly up into a nearby tree. We purchased some 50x50 aviary netting to cover the run with (be mindful our t-posts are 10 ft. tall to drape it from). Watched one goofball try to fly up, bounce of the neck and after a couple seconds of tangle flutter back to the ground. I think the netting was only $30 or so. Worth the peace of mind for aerial protection as well as preventing escapes!

 

[Birdinhand]

I'd cover the run and not let them free range, maybe expand the run instead, unless you can accept the loss of some of your hens periodically. it's just a hard fact of chicken raising, so many critters find them irresistible and will even take them right in front of you, too fast for you to respond adequately. sorry to be a downer, but it's just hard to watch so many folks lose their loved ones, over and over.

 

[Fairview01]

With a little bit if effort mine except for 2 stupid ones have learned that when I open the five gallon homer bucket down by the coop corn chops is about to be thrown. I toss a couple handfuls in the run and they race for the opening in the run wire, except for the two stupid ones. At first they would pace back and forth along the wire and I would have to apply gentle encouragement with an old straw broom in the right direction but now they just make a bee line inside the run no matter where they are at. I have to wait about 5 minutes for those two mentally challenged ones to show up every night when I start calling them in. They just march to a different cluck only they can hear I don't depend on the flock to make it back to the coop in the evening on their own. Too many inviting trees to roost in and I don't want to fight that battle

 

[EveCh]

Oh yeah, the leghorns I had were flighty as all get out. Clipped wings won't stop them once they learned they can escape. My big chunky girls barely expend the effort to get on the roost let alone hop the fence so I'm lucky there. Your girls know where home is, they will come back to lay eggs and sleep without issue UNLESS something extremely traumatic happens ie a midnight mink massacre.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

Evening 1, not too bad. I let them out at 1900 and all but 3 were back inside their run by 1930. 2 of the *Flufferbutters* became confused and ended up on the opposite side of their coop, so they couldn't find the run door. One of the *Littles* ended up on top of the Flufferbutters coop, trying to figure out how to jump the fence IN! Rounded them up easily, and they went to bed.

Gonna try letting them out around 1830 tonight.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

We just finished a 20x25 run and still had the issue where if we did not lure the chickens back into the coop some would fly up into a nearby tree. We purchased some 50x50 aviary netting to cover the run with (be mindful our t-posts are 10 ft. tall to drape it from). Watched one goofball try to fly up, bounce of the neck and after a couple seconds of tangle flutter back to the ground. I think the netting was only $30 or so. Worth the peace of mind for aerial protection as well as preventing escapes!

That's what we bought, some aviary netting. We got a 28x28 net to cover the janky 20x20 run, poles sit crooked so some might be 5.5 ft tall, others more like 7ft.

 

[lazy gardener]

My flock come on the run when they hear scratch shaking in the can. Very helpful when free ranging can't be allowed all day. Hawk season is upon us, and has been here all summer. Those buzzards are a nuisance, often showing up within 10 minutes of me letting birds out to range. Saw a huge hawk this morning. Most likely a Northern Goshawk. Had one take out 3 of my full sized birds a few years ago, before I built the covered run.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

My flock come on the run when they hear scratch shaking in the can. Very helpful when free ranging can't be allowed all day. Hawk season is upon us, and has been here all summer. Those buzzards are a nuisance, often showing up within 10 minutes of me letting birds out to range. Saw a huge hawk this morning. Most likely a Northern Goshawk. Had one take out 3 of my full sized birds a few years ago, before I built the covered run.

We're gonna try and do the shaking a can full of treats thing to call the birds. My kiddo did a good job rounding them up yesterday evening by putting out a scoop of their FF, but I don't want to do that.

Currently, we're gonna stay out with the chickies until I feel more safe about letting them range. Maybe I'm overprotective however, I can't lose one of my girls this early in the game!