Question about free-rangeing

[McChooky]

Comment to your note that your “hens lay eggs everywhere”. They much rather lay eggs in a nest box and 6 to 8 will share a common nest. You just need to keep it clean & dry with a good fescue AstroTurf nest pad that you can get from HomeDepot. Also you need to prevent the gals from sleeping in the nest boxes by blocking the entrance in the late afternoon before it starts getting dark then unblock them first this in the morning They’ll have all of your eggs laid nicely in piles in the nest boxes by noon or just after. We have several hundref hens about the time they are old enough to lay with about 50 nests. We’ll find a few eggs here & there but the majority are in the boxes.

My original flock of 4 had a community nest box but when I added 8 pullets I added 4 more nest boxes in the run .All 4 of the older hens use one nest box. My (1) year old pullets use the other 3 and my new pullets use all 4.I've only found 2 eggs on the floor so far.

 

[McChooky]

The door to my coop is always cracked open around 6 inches. Hens go inside to lay and sit on eggs occasionally, but typically they prefer making their own nests outside

Overall I think my birds are much safer sleeping in trees than the coop. When a predator does attack they just fly away to another tree. If they were locked inside of a coop any predator attack would be a death sentence

Curious how your hens raise broody chicks on the ground with so many predators that eat them

 

[TennesseeChicken]

What time of day does everyone let their hens out. I have 5 adult hens and 9 4 month old pullts that I have been letting out a little bit at a time and they're doing well. I don't typically let anybody out until 4/5. Is that too late in the day? Should I just let them out and leave the door open? I'm literally home all day.

I let them out before sunrise and close them up when they are all in at dark. They are completely free range. Each flock has a rooster.

 

[McChooky]

My advise is build a fence to keep canines out esp if you have neighbors .Dogs kill more chickens than predators because they don't fear humans.They never stop at one,they'll kill the whole flock.

 

[Chicalina]

Our biggest issues by far are 3 fold-
-Poop where you don't want it (driveway, deck, patio, walkway)
-Foraging in our planting beds and kicking out the mulch with no real way to deter them (looking for a solution if anyone has any)
-Wandering into the road- its not often but it happens...again with no real way to deter them

Suggestions:

- Fence in or put gates across your patio, deck etc as much as you can, focussing on the really important areas. Doesn't need to be fancy or Fort Knox. Chickens are fairly easy to contain.

- Put cheap bird netting around your planters and flower beds. You won't see it from a distance and it will keep the chickens off.

- Not sure about the road unless you are prepared to fence in your entire road facing part of the property. If you can, that's ideal. If not, maybe put up a sign outside your house warning of chickens crossing the road! Apart from the obvious pun, this is a real thing!


https://www.safetysign.com/products/17913/slow-chicken-crossing-sign

 

[RebelFord81]

Amazon has signs too, chicken poo happens my husband is non too happy about it on the deck, I tell him shush and I hose it off no worse then bird poo to me the plants are a other matter mine don't bother my flower beds but I don't have mulch I have pea gravel

 

[SherylTingley]

I let my flock out of coop but still in run at dawn. I like to make sure they get plenty of feed and water and I like to make sure they lay in their nest boxes and not somewhere else in the yard. They tend to lay in the morning. At about noon, I let them into the back yard to forage and have their dirt baths.

 

[Jules089]

What time of day does everyone let their hens out. I have 5 adult hens and 9 4 month old pullts that I have been letting out a little bit at a time and they're doing well. I don't typically let anybody out until 4/5. Is that too late in the day? Should I just let them out and leave the door open? I'm literally home all day.

My auto door setter lets mine out 0630 & they're out then, until about 19-1930, the door auto locks at 2000hrs at the moment. If I spot fox etc I'm extra vigilant and sometimes let them out a bit later, or try & get them in earlier. They love pecking around on the grass, and have a great sized area all to themselves.

 

[choppedliver]

What time of day does everyone let their hens out. I have 5 adult hens and 9 4 month old pullts that I have been letting out a little bit at a time and they're doing well. I don't typically let anybody out until 4/5. Is that too late in the day? Should I just let them out and leave the door open? I'm literally home all day.

If you need a rooster to help guard your flock let me know! I’d even deliver if you’re close. I’m in east central Wisconsin

 

[bjdewell]

What time of day does everyone let their hens out. I have 5 adult hens and 9 4 month old pullts that I have been letting out a little bit at a time and they're doing well. I don't typically let anybody out until 4/5. Is that too late in the day? Should I just let them out and leave the door open? I'm literally home all day.

I have four hens, Black Australorps, who are 18 months old now. As soon as they were able to be alone outside their little henhouse, I let them run. I have a fenced backyard and a 5-year-old Australian Cattle Dog/German Shepard who was imprinted on the checks from the day I got them at a few days old. So with Charlie watching out for them, the chicks/now hens are pretty safe free-ranging in my backyard all day. I let them out of their coop in the morning, and they go to bed to roost after evening treats, and I lock them in. It's working great.