Tips on free-ranging in the woods

[UrbanEnthusiast]

So here's our situation. Next month we're making our dreams come true and moving to 10 wooded, unfenced acres on an island in Puget Sound. I want to keep about 20 layers. Sadly I don't think a rooster will be possible unless he's VERY quiet. What I want is to build a very sturdy coop and just let the hens roam wherever they want during the day, but we do have all the usual daytime predators: raptors, coyotes, domestic dogs and cats. I've raised chickens before on a fenced, one-acre property in Seattle but this is new territory for me. If I get the right birds, is this possible? The breeds I've considered so far are Hamburgs, Egyptian Fayoumis, or some sort of game hen. I would like my birds to eat mostly off the land and lay in winter, with a light in the coop. I do plan to cull them and start a new flock after two to four seasons, depending on how many eggs I'm getting. It rarely freezes here and we can heat the coop when that happens, so cold tolerance isn't really a factor. I'm guessing I'm going to have to train the dog to search for eggs. Sounds crazy, but I'm serious. We're going to be getting a young herding dog after we move out there. I just really want to free-range but we can't afford a lot of fencing. I don't mind occasional predator losses but I can't be raising chicks all the time, especially without a rooster. Am I dreaming? Help!

 

[aart]

So here's our situation. Next month we're making our dreams come true and moving to 10 wooded, unfenced acres on an island in Puget Sound. I want to keep about 20 layers. Sadly I don't think a rooster will be possible unless he's VERY quiet. What I want is to build a very sturdy coop and just let the hens roam wherever they want during the day, but we do have all the usual daytime predators: raptors, coyotes, domestic dogs and cats. I've raised chickens before on a fenced, one-acre property in Seattle but this is new territory for me. If I get the right birds, is this possible? The breeds I've considered so far are Hamburgs, Egyptian Fayoumis, or some sort of game hen. I would like my birds to eat mostly off the land and lay in winter, with a light in the coop. I do plan to cull them and start a new flock after two to four seasons, depending on how many eggs I'm getting. It rarely freezes here and we can heat the coop when that happens, so cold tolerance isn't really a factor. I'm guessing I'm going to have to train the dog to search for eggs. Sounds crazy, but I'm serious. We're going to be getting a young herding dog after we move out there. I just really want to free-range but we can't afford a lot of fencing. I don't mind occasional predator losses but I can't be raising chicks all the time, especially without a rooster. Am I dreaming? Help!

Yes, but....that's often where great things start.
Are you buying this place or renting?

I'd start small with a half dozen layers in a secure coop and run in case you need it for predator protection. Then feel out the land and community to see how feasible free ranging is.....or...... just throw some chickens out there and see how it goes, adjust as necessary.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yep, nothing wrong with dreaming.

I’d suggest a pretty strong predator poof coop and lock them up at night. You can train them to sleep in the coop, go there at night on their own. I’d also suggest a pretty predator resistant run. It’s good to have a place you can keep them locked up if you need to. That just comes in so handy in so many different ways.

Start out with them locked in the coop until they learn it is home. Since you can have electricity out there, you can put your brooder in the coop to start with. Then eventually let them into that secure run during the day. Eventually you can let them out for some free ranging. I suggest you start a while before dark so you can be around when they go out the first few times so you can do whatever needs to be done. As you gain confidence (or learn otherwise) you can increase that free ranging time. A good dog trained to look after the chickens can be extremely valuable, may be the difference in success or failure in free ranging.

When they approach laying age, have the nests open and with fake eggs in them to show them where to lay. You might even keep them locked in the coop and run at this time until a couple are laying in those nests. You can still have some hiding nests in the woods but this should get most of them laying in the nests. The ones that first start laying should train most of the others where to lay.

In your climate as far as cold goes those chickens could sleep in trees and be fine. I’ve seen chickens sleep in trees with temperatures below zero Fahrenheit, or -18 C. You don’t need to heat their coop. They have a permanent down coat that thickens up in winter. Just build the coop so a direct breeze doesn’t hit them on the roosts and with plenty of ventilation over thier heads and they will be fine.

You can do it the way you mentioned, but what I do is introduce new pullets every year and eat the older hens in the fall when they molt and stop laying. I do it on a three year cycle. You said you want 20 layers, so bring in 10 pullets every year. You can bring in more and eat the excess if you wish. Overwinter the last year’s ten pullets. Let them molt so they can renew their bodies and give you nice eggs the next laying season. Remove the ten oldest hens when they start to molt. This way you have 20 hens laying the next main laying season plus the ten pullets when they start laying, you get rid of the ten older ones after their second good laying season, and you only overwinter 10 pullets and 10 hens.

There are lots of different ways to do this, but since I have a rooster and hatch my own replacements this works for me.

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Thanks for the suggestions! Please keep them coming!

aart: We are renting but the landlord is a friend and he's extremely permissive. He's an even bigger hippie than we are, haha. Most of his land is just wooded and wild. There's only one other tenant, so three households, for a total of four people, on the whole 10 acres. We will build all our structures so we can take them with us when we buy land, but that's 3-10 years down the road. We can do whatever we want with our livestock.

Ridgerunner: That's similar to what I had in mind. You outlined more of the details than I had in my head, so thank you. I was hoping to do this without having to build a big run, but it may be inevitable. Could take us a while to save up for that.

 

[lazy gardener]

I agree with PP re: the necessity of a run. You may NEVER need to keep them shut in the run, but, if you get a persistent predator, (and all predators are persistent after they learn where the buffet table is) your chickens will be sitting ducks. I am partial to electric poultry net fencing. It is easily moved, so you can let them forage one area, then move the fencing to an other area. But, it depends on the terrain of your property whether it will work. Also, if you want to train them to lay in the coop, which is extremely beneficial, a run will be a practical training aid. When they approach POL, you can keep them shut in the run until they get the hang of going into the nest box. If they're laying all over your property, you may never find their stash of eggs, and certainly won't find them while they're at their freshest.