Thinking about letting them "loose" (aka really free range )

[Mattemma]

We have a fenced 1 acre lot,and I let them roam in the far back yard.In the fall they can go everywhere except by the house.No poo by the house! So far so good,but I know the risks.

 

[furbabymum]

I'm really unsure about doing this myself. We have 40 acres so there isn't a shortage to space and I'm not afraid of predators thanks to our dogs. (Dogs would be the only thing i'd worry about eating them). Still I can't imagine it.

 

[nuttyredhead]

I recently started free ranging mine, in the afternoon, so hopefully they keep laying in their nest! I have had a huge feather pecking problem so i hoped this would help! They are way too busy outside to peck each other!!! Ironiclly, the egg laying had cut way way down. Not sure if something is helping itself to their eggs or what!!! I was thinking of setting up my game cams in there to see what was up!

Oh...the only downfall with free ranging is the poop!

 

[n8ivetxn]

There are several benefits to free-ranging. The birds are under less stress. Fresh, clean ground cuts down on disease and increases omega 3 oils in the eggs, they also have room for the lower ranking hens to get away from the more aggressive ones. Plus, I can't tell you how much $ I save on feed costs. They just don't go to the feeder as often if they have other options. I guess my SFs are lazy

Feather pecking should stop and I wouldn't be surprised if your egg production goes back up My girls never forgot where to lay the eggs, but I know some BYCers who've had that problem....

And the fun part - when I get home from work and pull up in the driveway, they come running to greet me

 

[kateseidel]

Your hens will find their way back - they don't usually range too far (although mine have gone 1/4 mile away more or less). We lost 5 to a fox, until I started letting the dogs run the property. Now we have no foxes, and have not lost any hens in a year. They are much happier free-ranging, although i do have poop on my deck (they like to come up and see if a snack is available).

 

[n8ivetxn]

You too!! - mine love to come up on the deck and rummage through my kitchen compost pile..... Since the kitchen opens onto the deck, I put a tray out there and just open the door to set waste on the tray. Usually I forget it's out there and they come scatter it everywhere

If they see me looking out the kitchen window, they come to the door and stand around begging for something

 

[tpeila]

We only have 1/3 of an acre and my daughter lets them out of the ru. The second she goes outside! I fenced my garden so they can't get in it. And they have their wings clipped too. Everynight they put themselves to bed still

 

[n8ivetxn]

I don't clip wings because I have heavies. They can get up to about 4' - but rarely do. My garden has 8' fence to keep deer out (long legged rodents)...

 

[heybarb]

Mine are out from sun up to sun down. My son lets them out in the morning and they put themselves to bed at night. We have about 5 acres, but they always stay pretty close to the house. We also have a dog and he's out with them all day. They all get along fine and we haven't had any losses yet due to predators, but we all realize that's a possibility.

I also LOVE it when they greet me at my car!! They really make me laugh a lot!

 

[n8ivetxn]

It's funny that they actually recognize the car

- I never would've thought!

And - if they see me come out of the house with a lunch plate in my hand - oh my! They come running up, begging, thinking its for them

- of course that's our fault! So much for "foraging!"