Raising Chickens without a Coop

[Sophocles]

My family kept a flock of 10-15 birds free-ranging full-time with no coop for 20 years. Mind you, we're talking suburban western europe here so the threat of predators is significantly lower than most non-urban US.

They'd roost in a large, dense holly brush of around 3m by 3m by 3m. I think the dense, prickly foliage helped their safety a lot - we never really had any losses to predators at night. Their roosting spot was only really accessible if you climbed underneath it and flew up into the branches.

Winters here get to be about -15°C / 5°F on a regular winter. I think any somewhat hardy breed can survive those conditions as long as they're sheltered from rain and wind - ultimately their holly shrub was a perfectly ventilated coop, if you like.
On that note it's probably important they roost in an evergreen tree. A pecan tree would probably not provide sufficient cover in winter. Deciduous trees don't really protect chickens from wind and rain when they drop their leaves. Your mileage may vary depending on the temperature range in your area but I can't imagine it being conductive to your chickens health.

 

[SueT]

a flock of 10-15 birds free-ranging full-time with no coop for 20 years.

Sophocles, what breed were these chickens? If you don't know the breed, what did they look like? I am interested in breeds that are good at evading predators, realizing that some are better than others and some are not good at all.
thanks,
Sue

 

[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.

 

[biophiliac]

My family kept a flock of 10-15 birds free-ranging full-time with no coop for 20 years. Mind you, we're talking suburban western europe here so the threat of predators is significantly lower than most non-urban US.

They'd roost in a large, dense holly brush of around 3m by 3m by 3m. I think the dense, prickly foliage helped their safety a lot - we never really had any losses to predators at night. Their roosting spot was only really accessible if you climbed underneath it and flew up into the branches.

Winters here get to be about -15°C / 5°F on a regular winter. I think any somewhat hardy breed can survive those conditions as long as they're sheltered from rain and wind - ultimately their holly shrub was a perfectly ventilated coop, if you like.
On that note it's probably important they roost in an evergreen tree. A pecan tree would probably not provide sufficient cover in winter. Deciduous trees don't really protect chickens from wind and rain when they drop their leaves. Your mileage may vary depending on the temperature range in your area but I can't imagine it being conductive to your chickens health.

Wow that was super interesting, thank you! I can picture how the bush you describe would be the perfect natural coop.

 

[Sophocles]

Sophocles, what breed were these chickens? If you don't know the breed, what did they look like? I am interested in breeds that are good at evading predators, realizing that some are better than others and some are not good at all.
thanks,
Sue

It was a mixed flock of bantams, very diverse so I'm afraid I wouldn't be of much help.
I'll defer to Centrarchid's judgment in this.
In my experience chickens that are kept like this are naturally more skittish than ones that have a comfy, safe coop to sleep in every night - which makes a lot of sense.

Wow that was super interesting, thank you! I can picture how the bush you describe would be the perfect natural coop.

I'm glad you liked it.
Unfortunately my parents decided to cut back on the chickens when all the kids left the house, and the ~5 that were left were forced to move into a coop after the holly was replaced with a flower garden. I've never seen chickens be as lost as those when they were trying to find their tree.