To free range or to not free range? That is the question

[chickencheeper]

This is my version of free ranging… 3 of my “favorite” girls out in a 10x10 square with mealworms in the center while I watch from a lawn chair 5 feet away. I let them do this once for 10 minutes

 

[AllenK RGV]

I have only maintained my flock for 2-3 months short of a year so I am not the most experienced keeper. Thank god my chicken are smart and would slap your face for suggesting they shouldn't free range. They are a heritage breed and the hawks just keep missing, the coyotes don't even bother them, and well at night raccoons and possums can't get to them. We do have Kingfishers here but I am unfamiliar with what a fisher is so can't comment on those. I do not maintain Silkies or Polish breeds as they would be death monsters in this environment heck they would probably die just looking outside. Regardless to me breed selection is more important than the question of whether you want to free range or not.

EDIT== Also if you wan't legally dead hawks try to source some true Malay chicks. They seem likely to kill a hawk! Just my $0.02! These are not pretty birds! https://www.pinterest.co.uk/snowpetals/chicken-breeds-oriental-gamefowl/ heck I am afraid of these chicken and I have never seen one.

 

[AllenK RGV]

I started my flock out free range but neighbors down the road from me were always fighting with me because of their young kids who would feed the chickens bread and get them to follow them to their house. This went on for months before one day I came home to their dogs in my yard killing my flock. I lost over half and thanks to my yard cameras I was able to take them to court. The cams showed them bringing their dogs to my yard and letting them go.

Ever since then I keep my flock in large coops and runs for fear that something like that would happen again. I envy anyone who could let their flock run free.

Totally would have brought out my inner Rambo too! Glad you are more mature than I am.

 

[lins girrls]

What are your experiences? Predators, containing flock, behaviors, food, health, everything! We have tons of coyotes(they are actually wolf-coyote hybrids) raccoons, minks, hawks, fishers, etc.

I have a fenced in property and a dog that will watch over them so I don't have a problem can you have a dog to watch over them where you are

 

[NewchickNanna]

I was wondering the same thing, since I am new to this. I live in a large city, but we have lots of raccoons, dogs, cats, vicious little squirrels, and rats.
My plan is to let them for a couple hours when I come home from work and can watch them. And then chase them back into the run. I hope this works

 

[AllenK RGV]

I was wondering the same thing, since I am new to this. I live in a large city, but we have lots of raccoons, dogs, cats, vicious little squirrels, and rats.
My plan is to let them for a couple hours when I come home from work and can watch them. And then chase them back into the run. I hope this works

Chicken really aren't that frail. Get a real one that can survive all the predators. I keep Sumatras supposedly they lay only 120 eggs a year I get 4 eggs daily from my 5. I forgot to mention we are vegan and don't eat eggs. I also forgot to mention we= my wife I would eat an egg if I was hungry or you put on a tasty salsa verde!

 

[EggMan207]

I have free-ranged in the past, and lost a couple to neighborhood dogs that get loose, hawks, and other predators. I didn't free range during the winter...We decided to expand our flock this year, but due to fox hanging around this winter (and complaints of my chickens wandering into the neighbors yard, I have decided to try something new. I am going to give them a larger coop and fully enclosed run with daytime access to a fenced in area inside the wood line. Essentially a "pasturing" approach. Thoughts?

 

[PouleNoire]

I voted, free range because our pretty much do. We have our main coop (10x10 converted shed coop) then we have our old coop next to it (not used for much anymore) which is an old playhouse. The playhouse has the run attached. All of this is inside a small pasture the chickens have access to 24/7 except for at night when they're locked up into the main coop. This has worked wonderfully for us! We used to have just the playhouse coop and run closer to our garage but after the dog attack, we moved.

 

[JShepherd]

I free range my chickens. We live out of town though surrounded by hundreds of acres with no close neighbors. I have lost one hen to predators this year and that was when I forgot to lock the coop pen that night. Mine are allowed to free range all day and they put themselves to bed at night then I lock the gate. There are 5 cats, a male St Bernard (guards decently), and a cowdog on my property, which probably helps.

My sister has free ranged her chickens for the last 3 years and has lost several chickens. One was killed by wild turkeys, one run over (she lives next to a highway), and others by predators. She does not shut hers up at night. They go roost at their coop but she doesn't always shut the gate.

The predators around our properties include coyotes, raccoons, hawks (would have to be a huge hawk to get my large breed chickens), possums, occasional mountain lion, and several bobcats. My philosophy on free ranging is if you do it you will lose some birds, but there are steps you can take to minimize the damage. My flock right now includes 3 barred rocks, a silver laced wyandotte, and a Brahma roo....not including my grow outs that are housed else where. My Roo does his job. He scans for threats constantly and leads his girls to safe spots. He will also attach what he believes to be possible threats. My wyandotte, I swear is half coyote herself, is as alert as my roo. She is always watching for threats. I believe that is because when I bought her as a pullet she had never been in a coop. The previous owner let them free range and roost where ever. I think the ability to free range successfully lies partly on the breed and what you do to keep them safe.

 

[MichelleT]

We have a covered run AND an uncovered, but fenced, chicken yard. Over the years I have let them out into the yard for extended periods of time while I'm out gardening, etc. However, this past fall we had a hawk (on two separate occasions) swoop down at the girls while I was standing right among them. I was able to scare them off, but I won't be letting them into the chicken yard any more unless I am (or my kids are) right down there with them. I love giving them the freedom and space, but it's not worth the risk.