Raising Chickens without a Coop

[skw9]

Does anyone have any experience raising chickens without a coop? I have heard that some people have free ranging chickens that roost in trees at night. I am somewhat of a minimalist, and the idea seems appealing to me. My 5-week-old chicks love my backyard which is sheltered by two large pecan trees, and I have noticed some ideal roosting places. We live in Southeast Georgia where it never gets very cold.

 

[Folly's place]

Your dogs won't be able to manage the hawks and owls, or any critter that gets up in a tree with your birds. Chickens are totally helpless at night when roosting, and will be MUCH safer having a safe coop at night, and the only eggs you will be likely to find will be in that coop that they consider home. Also, feed outside of the coop will attract other varmits, and your dogs may love it too. I started with bantams roosting in my pole barn from a neighbor, until finding body parts and piles of feathers in the mornings just became too much, and the coop was set up for night time roosting. Also, plan on carefully selected breeds; nothing large and fluffy with poor flying ability. Mary

 

[centrarchid]

I have had flocks that roosted in trees over extended periods of time. Experience sufficient to see when owls were and were not a problem. No guard animals (dogs) on ground meant at some point owl would come in and get even the biggest rooster. Good guard animals with roost site in core of property meant losses to owls seldom and selective for smaller birds in flock. Get birds immature birds to roost in more protected areas. Make so dog can get at locations where owl will grapple victims on ground. Dog will do rest. I have yet to see owl try to kill a chicken in tree. Kills and apparently first contact occurs in ground. A lot of commotion goes on prior to kill that can call dog in. Also consider constructing an open roost that can be partially surrounded by deer netting. Owls seem to avoid the netting in a big way.

 

[centrarchid]

I will provide answer as to what will be best breed for setting described and it is better than anything currently available in Europe.

AMERICAN GAMES. Those we kept for many chicken and several human generations as described above. Predator avoidance is second to none.

A second that does very well is a cross between American Dominique and American Game.

 

[skw9]

Guess it depends on your local critters, and whether you like the idea of feeding other critters their eggs (i.e. critters finding the eggs before you do) and killing them whilst they are laying / broody. Certain breeds have a higher likelihood of surviving for longer, so thats something to think about also.

Most of the acreage surrounding our property is pasture. We have a cluster of trees surrounding our house. The woods beyond our 13 acres is full of armadillos, foxes, coyotes, owls, raccoons, opossums, and hawks. We have three large guard dogs who are constantly roaming our property to ward off predators. They have been very vigilant about it, and I have never seen any wild animal near our home unless it had been killed by our dogs. Our dogs have even made a distinction between our cats and stray cats. A stray cat would never survive wandering onto our property. I do occasionally see hawks flying overhead, but the chickens are acutely aware of this and run for cover when they discern a hawk's shadow. Also, I have a rooster.

 

[SueT]

Some breeds of chickens are better at free ranging and evading predators than others. The feral chickens of Key West are just one example.
Guineas may be better at this than chickens. I once had guineas that free ranged, wouldn't go back in their coop after about 2 months of age. They roosted in a tree year round, rain, wind, snow, ice. Occasionally we'd lose one at night to a predator, and the survivors would move to another tree. Some of them lived many years but eventually we lost them all. I am not recommending tree roosting ...you'd have to be willing to accept inevitable loss.
I am raising some brown leghorn chicks now because I read here on BYC that they are better free rangers than my other heavy breeds. But they will be cooped at night for sure. And they are not going to be free ranging until they lay their first eggs-- so that they become attached to using their nest boxes. I never found those guinea eggs until it was too late. (then they'd move their nests.)
Anyway, I don't know what else to say. You will probably have a lot of criticism on your idea. But I will wish you good luck ...
Sue

 

[Kiki]

Zero ...
Humans do not catch salmonella from chicks or chickens the way you would catch a cold from your neighbor. Salmonella is food poisoning; you get it from eating infected meat or eggs.

 

[Folly's place]

You can get Salmonella infection from chicks or chickens that carry the bacteria; it's happened several times with chicks from a well-known hatchery. It's always best to wash up after handling any critters, wild or domestic, and small children aren't very good about that. On the other hand, most of us have eaten a lot of dirt in our lifetimes, and done just fine. Mary

 

[lazy gardener]

I would not attempt to keep chickens without a secure night time coop. are your dogs out in the yard 24/7? That should help.

 

[bobbi-j]

I had a flock that roosted in the trees once... The great horned owls loved them. I knew the owls had found them when I came out in the morning to find decapitated chicken bodies under the trees. Personally, I think it's kinder to your birds to keep them safe at night.