Scared to let my girls free range

[Brooks_]

I let them out the last up to 3 hours of the day. There are hawks in the area-I see them daily. The flock is pretty good about staying under tree cover...mostly. They will spend some time in the open...sometimes. They have learned of a world outside the run and have their favorite spots. They had gotten out one morning and I thought I could spread treats in the run and they would go back in. Nope, they took turns going for treats. A while back I did lose one presumably to a hawk, but there was no evidence. She could've just gotten lost...something else could've gotten her. Really don't know. In the end, I just accept the risk that something can happen when they have free time. I don't know if this helps you at all @FL_chick. Sorry if it doesn't.

 

[McChooky]

Most of my neighbors chickens roost in an open shed or in trees .He's never locked his up at night and they free range all over the neighborhood(the ones he has left). My coops and runs are covered in hardware cloth and I don't ever free range mine.My neighbors wouldn't believe I had chickens even if I told them.(I don't have a rooster)

 

[cmom]

I live in FL, in the woods, and have integrated 4 week old chicks into my adult flock, where they free range a potential 4.5 acres +/- protected by electric fencing, on a property of about 30 acres left most entirely wild. We've take a loss or three each year - avian predators primarily, but my fences was defeated once after a storm dropped a tree into some of the lines, shorted it to ground. Whatever the critter was got up before I did.

Based on your emotional response, captured above, i would recommend you **NOT** follow my poultry management practices, and instead build the largest covered or netted run you can reasonably afford for them, reserving just enough on the side to make a mobile chicken tractor in the form of a hoop coop, so they can benefit from our flat ground, abundant greenery, and long growing seasons - since everything inside your run will quickly be reduced to bare sand.

I agree. My land is mostly open pasture so it's much easier for a predator to pick off a bird. A bobcat dug under a fence and killed 14 birds one night. That was when I put up the electric wires around my coops and pens. I have had some other significant losses in the past which I also addressed. I see predators on my cameras but haven't had an issue in quite awhile. I no longer have any grass in the pens but I still give them grass clipping to scratch through and other things such as flock blocks to peck at.

 

[FL_chick]

Thanks to everyone who replied!! We ended up building a chicken tractor so the girls could get out in the yard but still be protected. They love it and I've got some peace of mind!

 

[McChooky]

Thanks to everyone who replied!! We ended up building a chicken tractor so the girls could get out in the yard but still be protected. They love it and I've got some peace of mind!

My dad raised chickens the old fashioned way, he free ranged them. After a hawk flew down and grabbed his favorite hen in front of him he got rid of them all. I wouldn't have believed it was possible for a hawk to get one so fast and disappear.

 

[FL_chick]

My dad raised chickens the old fashioned way, he free ranged them. After a hawk flew down and grabbed his favorite hen in front of him he got rid of them all. I wouldn't have believed it was possible for a hawk to get one so fast and disappear.

That's awful!! The more I read, the more terrified I was of letting my girls out. We just have too many hawks that it isn't worth the risk...there was one hanging out right next to their coop yesterday and I almost ran out of the house to chase it off, ha!

 

[McChooky]

That's awful!! The more I read, the more terrified I was of letting my girls out. We just have too many hawks that it isn't worth the risk...there was one hanging out right next to their coop yesterday and I almost ran out of the house to chase it off,

That's awful!! The more I read, the more terrified I was of letting my girls out. We just have too many hawks that it isn't worth the risk...there was one hanging out right next to their coop yesterday and I almost ran out of the house to chase it off, ha!

My dads chickens were used to running loose and wouldn't have adjusted to being in a predator proof coop or run. If you start yours out in pens and chicken tractors they'll have plenty of room and will thrive.I hang cabbages to snack on, pick berries and cut up greens for them daily.I also give them apples,they love them.On cold days I give them a spill proof pan of clean water and throw a few ice cubes in there.They like pecking on the ice cubes.LOL