Should I free range my chickens?

[ChickenOwner2313]

I have been trying to decide whether or not to start free ranging our chickens. We have a fairly large yard, but no fence, and lots of trees. I am not sure if I want to go through the process of getting a new fence or not, but this may be the best thing to do, especially with eight new pullets I am about to add to the coop. I also want to see what the majority of the chicken owners out there do.

 

[duluthralphie]

I free range have no fence around them at all. They only go a 150 ft or so, they are home bodies and afraid to be too far away in case someone throws out left overs or peelings for them.

 

[sourland]

If you free range, the question is not 'if', but 'when' you will lose birds to a predator. One option is monitored free ranging where they are watched while loose. The problem with this is that they can become quite vocal demanding their freedom.

 

[duluthralphie]

Sour is right, you will lose birds. The question then becomes do you let them live and die free or lock them up. I know I will lose some. BUT I lose them in the runs too, just not as many as outside.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

It partly depends on your neighborhood. If you have neighbors with loose dogs, no way!

I have free ranged for 6 years before my first loss. I do have fences, but that doesn't stop a few of my girls. Despite a whole acre, they wanna go see the neighbors yard. I see occasional loose dogs as I am in a neighborhood with 1 acre properties, we are close to each other.

I would consider electric sheep netting as a simple and movable solution to free range. But that won't help with aerial predators, which some have more than I do and that might change seasonally.

My Easter Eggers are the ones who won't stay within their boundaries. And the bad thing is that it's very much monkey see, chicken do in my flock.

It's a difficult decision sometimes. And I wouldn't feel guilty at all if I needed to keep my birds locked in to protect their lives. Despite some losses, the saving from free ranging and finding their own food negates the financial aspect for me. I wasn't sure I could deal with the emotional aspect of the loss. But alas after all these years, having to cull for disease or injury is a much more difficult challenge than not being sure what happened to a bird that disappeared...

Which leads to one more challenge of free ranging, hidden nests! I have had girls disappear without a trace only to find them sitting on a clutch of eggs (or I never found the eggs but saw the hens show up mid day for their quick feeding/pooing excursions they do). Boy are broody's crazy! I have tons of blackberries and it isn't any fun searching out nests. I spend time to retrain them to lay in the box, which they always do during the wet winters we have. But if they keep on hiding their nest during nice weather, then I rehome them to where it won't be an issue.

Know your predator load and don't assume because you've never seen it that it isn't there. I've never seen a raccoon near my place but had a duck scalped about a month or so ago. Thankfully she survived and full recovered. But we also have opossum, coyote, fox, owl, bear, hawk, crow, and raven... the list goes on and on. Daytime predators abound. And don't forget the newest predator added to my list, the ever annoying roof/farm rat. They will eat chicks/chickens ALIVE! I haven't seen anything from the weasel or mink family yet, but those buggers are a serious threat as well.

No matter which you decide, both have pluses and minuses. Figuring out which makes the most sense in YOUR situation is what is important.

I will also note that trees are a good place for aerial predators to watch from. Having low lying shrubs or other things close to the ground for the chooks to hide under is great. And I never underestimate the effect having my own dogs has on the predator load, noting that sadly some people have dogs do just fine for a long time (years) and suddenly one day decided to "play" with the birds. That never ends well for the birds.

Best wishes for your happy and healthy flock!