Partial Free Ranging

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At the very beginning, when I first let mine free range, I would give them sunflower seeds (BOSS) from a small jar. Then I started shaking the jar as I walked toward the coop and I would throw a handful of BOSS on the floor of the coop. They'd run in for the seeds and I'd close the door. Now, as I walk toward the coop and shake the jar, they go running into the coop and wait for me to come and throw a handful on the floor. Chickens will do anything for treats.
 
Yep, I agree too. Chickens love treats. Ours like bread the best so that's what we use when we want them to go back in early. We have 8 month old chickens & 10 week old babies that we keep separated. The 10 week olds are just starting to free range. They won't hardly leave the pen!!!!! Our 8 month olds always go in at night before dark by themselves. We have found that they don't see very well at night.

Also, along with not heating the coop, it needs to stay dry. The coop will still need ventilation to help keep the chickens from getting sick or frostbite.

Good Luck, chickens are a lot of fun.
 
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Rich-
I am in Vermont. I have a Plymouth Barred Rock, a Buff Orpington and an Ameraucana (Similar to EE). The one thing that I would say is that from the very start my Ameraucana has been the most aggressive of my 3 birds. She has actually started bullying my chihuahua a little bit. There have not been any fights between the birds, but she has been the alpha since day one. Check out my page for photos.

I had considered a Wyandotte but couldnt get my hands on one this spring. I have friends with Brahmas and Orps who are very pleased. My Plymouth Barred Rock has the best personality of the 3 - very gentle and sweet. I have a 2 year old and all of them do quite well with her.

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I am the same as some of the other PP, my girls have a 20 x 20 run, and once my youngest daughter gets home from pre-K, then they are let out in the yard. We are on 1 acre, so they have a half acre to run around in, all fenced in. I have 14 hens & 1 roo, they break up into 2 groups, the older 10 & the younger 5, and they do stay in groups. When one of the hens needs to lay, they go back to the coop, I can always hear when one wants to lay & her favorite nest box is being used, she pitches a royal fit. I check them during the day, and as soon as they hear me come out, they come running to see if I brought out any treats. They LOVE BOSS, it is like Crack for them. They hear that cup shake & they come running from all parts of the yard.
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I tried to get winter hardy chickens, and who could also tolerate the heat. My girls made it through this summers Texas heat of 100+ temps. and they are fluffing up good right now, so I figure with all those fluffy bodies, I should not need a heat lamp in their coop. I am going to raise their nest box off the floor, and deep litter the coop for winter.

Am also going to slide some insulation between the windows & OSB board that is covering the windows (their coop is a converted green house, that has 3 almost floor to ceiling windows. So to block the glass, so my hens would not cook during the summer, I nailed OSB boards over 90% of 2 of the windows. The East window is not covered, so our roo always knows when the sun is coming up.
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The first few times I let them out to free range, I had to heard them back to the run. Now if I want them in early, I take either bread or BOSS, and they follow me like the pied piper back to their coop.
 
I don't enjoy raising chicks in the winter time, so if I was starting from scratch, I'd probably do it in the early spring. March - May is when the chick bug usually bites me.
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If your chickens have been in their coop/run all winter, they will have a very good sense of where "home" is and you shouldn't have to do anything special at all to get them back in there. Come dusk, they will naturally gravitate back to where they normally sleep at night. Regarding how far they will go, my chickens generally stay within 150 yards or so of their coop, most of the time considerably less distance than that.
 

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