Safest times to free range?

[cmom]

Everyone's situation is different in many ways. I don't shut the pop doors on the coops at night. I have never had a predator get into a coop. The first line of defense is the electric wires that go around the coops and pens. Next would be the concrete under the gates and then the heavy duty netting that totally covers all of the pens. All due to losses due to predators in the past. Nothing like learning the hard way. Our land is primarily open pasture. Behind the pasture are some woods. The birds would have to go across the pasture to get to the woods. I have let the birds out on occasion and they may go out but not too far from the coops and don't seem to be out long then they go back into their pens. They have shade in their pens and they apparently feel more safe in them. They would actually prefer to be in their pens. They do have fairly large pens. The total area of their pens is 200 ft x 60 ft, that's 12,000 sq. ft, which is a little over a quarter of an acre. It wasn't an easy task and I put everything up myself. It may not be too pretty but it works. You just have to figure out what works best for you and your situation. Good luck...

This is our property. Not many trees.

 

[farmgrl7]

If your worried about hawks, I would free range them in the afternoon, hawks usually catch prey in the morning, so are less likely to be around to eat your chickens. That being said, you never know.

If your worried about hawks, I would free range them in the afternoon, hawks usually catch prey in the morning, so are less likely to be around to eat your chickens. That being said, you never know.

I had 5 hawks yesterday afternoon. Farmer was cutting a hay field nearby. Luckily everyone was under cover but talk about panic attack. Out of all the predators, they cause me the worst panic. I had a hawk swoop down 20 feet in front of me and snatch a chick who was 5 feet from its mom. I literally went into shock and couldn’t even comprehend what had happened.

 

[Chickenhappy8708]

I had 5 hawks yesterday afternoon. Farmer was cutting a hay field nearby. Luckily everyone was under cover but talk about panic attack. Out of all the predators, they cause me the worst panic. I had a hawk swoop down 20 feet in front of me and snatch a chick who was 5 feet from its mom. I literally went into shock and couldn’t even comprehend what had happened.

Wow, that's scary.