The Great Debate: Free-Range vs. Coop-Raised Chickens

[NameIwish]

It all depends . . .

 

[Red Mangrove]

I would never keep a bird in a cage. That feels like a terrible sin against nature. The door to my coop is always open and my flock of 70 sleep outside every single night in trees. I've been "extreme free-ranging" them for almost two years now and they're extremely prosperous

Here's a group of six babies roosting for the night. They're about 12 feet up in a water oak. These are all half Ameraucana so maybe they'll lay blue eggs

 

[wolfinator]

It really depends on your surroundings, types of predators and time you have to spend watching them. Also any regulations regarding free ranged poultry needs to be looked into. We rarely have problems with land predators because of our outside dogs. My biggest problem has been crows eating my ducks eggs laid outside in their pen which just started a couple months ago - hence scarecrow in their pen.

My chickens are in a 50'x30' open air pen - no roof. The fence varies from 3 1/2' up to 7' and they're free to come and go from the coop as it's not closed up. Only closed main coop once since built in 2018, this past Christmas due to -40 windchills and I moved all my (50) chickens into one coop, locking them up inside for 4 days until temperature was above 0°F. I also have a pair of brother dogs kenneled next to their pens for protection and so far I haven't lost any chickens to ground predators.

However, I did lose 3 ducks over a 2 year time to owls but that was my own fault for not having deterrent poles in place. They and chickens were given access to the garden for the day in between tillerings because the pen was a muddy mess from several days of heavy rain. They have access during the off season to fertilize area for next growing season but I'd pulled up all the poles I use to deter overhead predators (works great when no more than 5ft apart in all directions) and got home late at night. I forgot about the poles and didn't shoo the ducks back to the main pen. I lost 2 white Runner ducks that night. The other (another white Runner) was lost a year prior before I started using the poles, actually the reason I started using them. I've not lost any more since then. I don't "free range" them outside the pen because they're too difficult to keep up with, we have lots of woods around us and there's about 50 of them. Last time I did, took over 2 hours even though it was getting dark. Some decided to try and settle down for the night in low tree branches. I had to retrieve about 8-10 that time, usually it was 1-3. They also ignored us when we had to shoo them from out front, gave us that "yea so what" look and kept pecking - until I ran after them with an open umbrella.

I have another 5'x8' coop for broilers (now) or pullets (later) behind the big coop and another small fenced pen with coop if needed (misbehaving chicken or momma with babies). I may be putting a momma to be duck with soon to be hatchlings in there with her drake in a week or so.

This year I started free ranging my 21 ducks, only because they're a lot easier to control, especially when rounding up to go back to their pen. They were moved this week to a much smaller pen from the garden area so I try to free range them often as possible. They're only allowed out when we're home daytime for at least 3 or more hours. Us and the neighbor should have a lot less bugs in the backyards, they're not allowed in the front for safety. We have an 11 year old Pit/Boxer girl who guards them and helps us do round up in the evening (sorta, she's still leaning).

Some pros to free ranging is using less feed, cleaner coop, lots of room to run and peck, soft grass under foot instead of dirt, they typically will return to coop at dusk on their own and free *manure for lawn. They're a joy to watch being natural too.

Some cons can be predators can more easily take, not enough time needed to watch, sometimes destroy plants, tear up lawn scratching, *manure can burn lawn, and tend to wander off more easily if yard isn't fenced.

Here's some of my set up, ducks get grassy area (120'x100', some wooded) to run plus neighbor's backyard to right of them (94'x100') that's fenced on far side.

 

[Red Mangrove]

Some cons can be predators can more easily take, not enough time needed to watch, sometimes destroy plants, tear up lawn scratching, *manure can burn lawn, and tend to wander off more easily if yard isn't fenced.

Most of the time when I hear about a predator killing a large amount of chickens, it's specifically because those birds are trapped in a small, artificial area

I've had over a dozen predator attacks so far this year. At night, racoons and possums try to catch my chickens that roost in trees. However what happens is my chickens merely scream and fly away to another tree, and then I come outside and deal with the foolish predator that's sitting there empty handed

Out of the dozen attacks so far this year, only my neighbor's dog has killed any chickens. He's killed two and it's because they were in his lawn. This is merely natural selection and I like my neighbor's dog. Any bird that leaves my land behind is beyond my assistance or concern

Predators will eat the sickly and stupid, and my cunning chickens will survive and reproduce

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Most of the time when I hear about a predator killing a large amount of chickens, it's specifically because those birds are trapped in a small, artificial area

I've had over a dozen predator attacks so far this year. At night, racoons and possums try to catch my chickens that roost in trees. However what happens is my chickens merely scream and fly away to another tree, and then I come outside and deal with the foolish predator that's sitting there empty handed

Out of the dozen attacks so far this year, only my neighbor's dog has killed any chickens. He's killed two and it's because they were in his lawn. This is merely natural selection and I like my neighbor's dog. Any bird that leaves my land behind is beyond my assistance or concern

Predators will eat the sickly and stupid, and my cunning chickens will survive and reproduce

This. If tree roosting didn’t work for galliformes, red junglefowl, wild turkeys, and others would be extinct.

The biggest factor I’ve found that determines whether a tree roosting chicken gets caught is how low it roosts and on what size branch. A chicken that roosts low on a big branch is in danger of being fox caught in the middle of the night. A chicken that roosts high on a thin branch is relatively safe.

 

[Red Mangrove]

This. If tree roosting didn’t work for galliformes, red junglefowl, wild turkeys, and others would be extinct.

The biggest factor I’ve found that determines whether a tree roosting chicken gets caught is how low it roosts and on what size branch. A chicken that roosts low on a big branch is in danger of being fox caught in the middle of the night. A chicken that roosts high on a thin branch is relatively safe.

I'm very blessed to have yaupon holly as the majority of the scrub brush on my land. It usually grows thin and at crazy angles the chickens love. My main colony roosts about 20 feet above the ground in a big yaupon patch and I've never had to protect them

The chickens that do get attacked are usually on straight trees like water oak, and they're usually not very high off the ground. Less than 10 feet, but even that's enough to avoid the foxes that prowl at night here

For southerners, I believe yaupon is the ideal chicken tree. It protects against both ground and air

 

[NicholeT]

Hubby and I are debating this now. Two questions for "total" Free Rangers ..
1- Do you have a predator proof run at all?
2- Do you have someone keep watch when on vacation or leave them free ranging?

We are brand new to flock ownership. We have 7 acres, a good sized coop (12x8) with an automatic door that goes up and down with light. My hubby is of the old school farmer stock of - why do we need a run- they should free range if they are outside not confined and go in the coop at night- natural selection and all. I am of the mindset a bit of - well what about when we go on vacation or can't watch them- shouldn't they have a secure run?

Thoughts?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Hubby and I are debating this now. Two questions for "total" Free Rangers ..
1- Do you have a predator proof run at all?
2- Do you have someone keep watch when on vacation or leave them free ranging?

We are brand new to flock ownership. We have 7 acres, a good sized coop (12x8) with an automatic door that goes up and down with light. My hubby is of the old school farmer stock of - why do we need a run- they should free range if they are out and go in the coop at night- natural selection and all. I am of the mindset a bit of - well what about when we go on vacation or can't watch them- shouldn't they have a secure run?

Thoughts?

My phoenix flock are completely unrestrained when it comes to ranging. I've had losses, especially when the raccoons lost their food source last year, but almost all the losses were birds from different pens in the same locations. The phoenixes were able to get away and go where they could sleep safely. We had someone last year come and check on them 1-2x a day when we were gone

 

[Red Mangrove]

Hubby and I are debating this now. Two questions for "total" Free Rangers ..
1- Do you have a predator proof run at all?
2- Do you have someone keep watch when on vacation or leave them free ranging?

We are brand new to flock ownership. We have 7 acres, a good sized coop (12x8) with an automatic door that goes up and down with light. My hubby is of the old school farmer stock of - why do we need a run- they should free range if they are outside not confined and go in the coop at night- natural selection and all. I am of the mindset a bit of - well what about when we go on vacation or can't watch them- shouldn't they have a secure run?

Thoughts?

1- No
2- No. I would merely have a friend check on them maybe once every two days. Less if an automatic feeder is set up

My entire land has a perimeter fence and several protected gardens in the interior, along with a further variety of natural and artificial landscaping that provide protection. My chickens have full freedom of movement to choose their difficulty level

My lazy and intelligent birds sit near my house and wait for scraps. My vigorous and brave birds travel far beyond my land and into the wilderness every morning

They all choose where to go and how to live their lives, and so far they're doing absolutely fantastic. I have far more eggs than I know what to do with, and they're constantly out there making babies

Ma'am, there is absolutely zero doubt in my mind, that if all humans vanished off the face of the earth suddenly, that my chickens would still be here and on my land 10,000 years from now

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Hubby and I are debating this now. Two questions for "total" Free Rangers ..
1- Do you have a predator proof run at all?
2- Do you have someone keep watch when on vacation or leave them free ranging?

We are brand new to flock ownership. We have 7 acres, a good sized coop (12x8) with an automatic door that goes up and down with light. My hubby is of the old school farmer stock of - why do we need a run- they should free range if they are outside not confined and go in the coop at night- natural selection and all. I am of the mindset a bit of - well what about when we go on vacation or can't watch them- shouldn't they have a secure run?

Thoughts?

1. I only use coops and runs for breeding, and none are totally predator proof. The coop I let the free rangers use if they want is left open all night.

2. They free range even when we leave town and fend for themselves. The coop birds are given big feeders and waterers to last them while we’re gone. I think the free rangers are safer than the coop birds.