Question about free ranging and dealing with neighbors

[omelette'smom]

My chickens free range and they are always in eye-shot. I have neighbors on 2 sides and the chickens haven't come close to their yards (yet)! Guess i'm lucky. No one on my road is irrisponsible with their dogs. When we go for walks there are many dogs with the invisible fence thing going on and only 2 times in 7 years have i seen a dog in my yard. obviously escape artists!! So i feel safe having the full growners roaming, they know their cerfue (?) and the sound of the metal trash can!! TREAT TIME!! My cat is terrified when any one of them make a move towards him. He used to look at them like they were play toys but now they are too big!! Ha-Ha!

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Quote:
Wow, your house, yard, and chickens are absolutely beautiful! Our grass has gone dormant now that we're getting some frosty nights, so I've been giving mine birds MY spinach and lettuce (oh well, they give me THEIR eggs in return

).... I just can't stand the idea of them not having their greens for a whole winter.

 

[Appytaz]

My little herd free range all the time. We have 2 acres and are surrounded by subdivisions on 3 sides and a lake on the 4th side. For the most part the chickens all stay in the yard. We do have one VERY GRUMPY neighbor on one side that hates ANY AND ALL of my animals. He started out with low scrubs and a green net type fencing to keep the chickens out of his yard. And I really didn't see any going over there. Well, when I put a horse pen in the front yard I am sure he had a minor stroke immediately! He is now in the process of putting up a white plastic privacy fence between our yards. The horse pen is just a small turnout to let the horse graze some of the rich grass in the front yard. He is out a few days a week for a couple of hours. This grumpy ol' bat found the horse sooooo offensive he had to put up the new fence! Well, one of the hens hatched out 9 chicks and as Ol' bat is out tearing out his scrubs and digging holes - Ms. Hen just knew he was digging worms for her and the babies and ran over to help him. I must admit I really got a kick out of that. He shooed them off and they came right back to the house. (Just a little back ground - when I bought the house there were over 40-50 chickens running around. We rehomed all of them and started over - we only have 4 adults). This really is a neighbor you love to hate! I wave and smile everytime I see him outside and he will turn his back on me.
Anyhoo - our guys free range without bothering any of the other neighbors

 

[cmom]

I see you have been lurking around in the back ground for a few months. I did too before I became a BYC member. There is soooooo much good information on this web site.
I have several acres. Mine haven't strayed very far. I have several gardens. I had to fence in a range area. I originally let them free range but they were destroying my gardens, and spreading my mulch pile all over. I got tired of constantly raking up my mulch pile and replanting my gardens. I tried spraying them with my garden sprayer or sometime put the sprinklers on. They would run out, but when the sprinklers were off they would venture in again. The temptation! So, instead of fencing in my gardens, they got fenced in. Also, I have a lot of predators such as coyotes, fox, coons, possums, hawks, owls, etc. which I have seen on my property. I recently lost one of my big girls to a 4 legged predator, either a dog, coyote or fox. I'm not sure what got her, but I was gone for about three hours and it happened during the time I was gone 11am to 2pm. There were dog like tracks.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Fencing is good when you aren't there, as they love to explore. Although it doesn't really work to try to train them not to wander off exploring, it's very easy to train them to come to you for treats. Then, if they start to go into your neighbor's yard while you are outside with them, you can call them back over to you.

They learn to recognize food containers that they get snacks from. Ours will come running if they see a bucket, feed scoop or a baggie! The little ziplock bag has hulled sunflower seeds in it, which is their favorite. It's easy to stuff it in my pocket. I can pull it out in a hurry, if I want to lock them up in their run because a hawk is targeting them. You could try a little baggie of scratch, too.