Safest times to free range?

[Kaesi2020]

Predators can come at anytime to pick off your birds. Most likely as long as you're out with them it would be less likely. I believe predators lurk and you won't see them looking for an opportunity when you least expect it. I was out painting on the coops one day and one of the birds was in one of the garden beds dust bathing. I never heard anything and when I called her and she didn't come. I knew something was wrong because she always came when I called her. I do have game cameras and moved some around and a fox was showing up during the day. I never found her but did find some feathers. I was heart broken as she was a special needs bird and my favorite. You never know. Good luck and have fun...

Thanks for all the feedback! So sorry for your loss.

 

[jeepgrrl]

The best time to let your chickens free range is when you can be out there to watch them, but even then that's no guarantee they will be safe. There are many posts on BYC where folks have been less than 10 ft away when a hawk boldly snatched a chicken right in front of them. I've lost a pullet to a hawk at 11am, another pullet was attacked by a hawk sometime between dawn and 3:30p when I got home from work, although I'm thinking it was sometime in the early afternoon because that hawk had the nerve to come back later that afternoon and sit on top of the roof-covered run, terrorizing the already traumatized hens. Another hen was attacked twice and survived, both times were late morning. Today, I lost one of my favorite hens to a fox sometime between 9a - 11a. Owls are also a concern around here at dusk. Free ranging hens is very risky, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. Mine free range from dawn to dusk. I'm in the process of adding a hot wire to my fence and am searching for a livestock guardian dog, but that will take time. Since you live in a wooded area, foxes are a threat and they will attack during the day as well as at night. Good luck with your hens, and

 

[Kaesi2020]

The best time to let your chickens free range is when you can be out there to watch them, but even then that's no guarantee they will be safe. There are many posts on BYC where folks have been less than 10 ft away when a hawk boldly snatched a chicken right in front of them. I've lost a pullet to a hawk at 11am, another pullet was attacked by a hawk sometime between dawn and 3:30p when I got home from work, although I'm thinking it was sometime in the early afternoon because that hawk had the nerve to come back later that afternoon and sit on top of the roof-covered run, terrorizing the already traumatized hens. Another hen was attacked twice and survived, both times were late morning. Today, I lost one of my favorite hens to a fox sometime between 9a - 11a. Owls are also a concern around here at dusk. Free ranging hens is very risky, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. Mine free range from dawn to dusk. I'm in the process of adding a hot wire to my fence and am searching for a livestock guardian dog, but that will take time. Since you live in a wooded area, foxes are a threat and they will attack during the day as well as at night. Good luck with your hens, and

Sorry for your losses. I too want mine to free range, supervised in our backyard. What kind of hot wire are you getting?

 

[adwil21]

I have 5 week chicks, I'm curious how you can catch if they are free ranging? I bring mine out in a plastic tub to let them have some outside time in their enclosed run every day but I have a hard time catching them in the run to bring them back in, I cant imagine if they were loose in the yard. Hopefully this becomes easier.

 

[centrarchid]

I have 5 week chicks, I'm curious how you can catch if they are free ranging? I bring mine out in a plastic tub to let them have some outside time in their enclosed run every day but I have a hard time catching them in the run to bring them back in, I cant imagine if they were loose in the yard. Hopefully this becomes easier.

Start another thread to address the issue in depth.

 

[jeepgrrl]

Sorry for your losses. I too want mine to free range, supervised in our backyard. What kind of hot wire are you getting?

Thank you! It's horrible to lose one of my girls but its the risk I've chosen to take so they can free range. I've had hens for 3 years now, and during that time I've only lost 3 hens to predators; largest flock size at one time was 12, average flock size around 9-10 hens (11 really, one turned out to be a roo so I had to find him a new home). That is actually pretty good odds, a lady who works at the vet's can't keep chickens at all because of the hawks. But this fox is a new adversary, and they are smart, cunning (and beautiful) creatures. I want to do all I can to save my remaining 8 hens and thwart any future fox attacks without harming the fox. The girls enjoy free ranging so much; in fact, they are quite vocal and downright upset if I don't let them out. I have a good sized hen yard for them (roughly 50' x 50') but thats not good enough, they want access to the whole pasture, and a few of them will just fly over that 4' fence anyway, so I open the gate for them. I'd rather have them together as a flock than a few stragglers foraging about, which makes for an easy target. Three of my more inquisitive and bolder hens have flown over another 4' fence into the huskies' area, on separate occasions. We were able to get one out before the dogs knew she was in there, another made it out alive, sans quite a few feathers, but sadly the third one didn't (a pullet). I'm actually researching hot wires/electric fences right now. I posted a thread asking for advice on electric fencing, but no replies thus far. I'm going to hit up one of the homesteading forums and hopefully find some info. I'll post when I find a good solution.

 

[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 accross 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...

 

[falconertomt]

Avian predators (and all predators really) are opportunistic, and will take prey whenever they can. Hawks start hunting at first light and will hunt until they are full, and start hunting again when they are hungry again. This can happen any time of the day. Owls are going to be evening until morning, but for hawks, they will take prey any time they get the opportunity to.

 

[Kaesi2020]

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 accross 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...

Thanks for your reply! Can you tell me more about your electric wires? Do you have them actually on the outside of the coop? I am interested in electric wiring to prevent predators. I've been told that an electric fence will not deter a raccoon but would possibly deter a bear.

 

[merrymutts]

I only let mine free range from mid-afternoon till they go back into the coop at night. Not every day and never during rain or threat of rain,

I still lose a couple every year but not so many as I think I'd lose if they free-ranged all day long.