Topic of the week - Free Ranging

[sumi]

If given the choice (and space) many of us prefer to free-range our flocks, but there are pros and cons to this practice. This week I would like to hear your thoughts on free-ranging and what you did to overcome the potential problems arising. Specifically:

- What pros and cons have you experienced when deciding to free-range your flock?
- How do you keep your flock safe when out roaming?
- How do you ensure hens lay their eggs in the coop, instead of the garden/anywhere else they deem suitable?
- How do you train new rangers to return to the coop at night?

For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

 

[centrarchid]

- What pros and cons have you experienced when deciding to free range your flock?
Enough acreage present. To be truly free-range birds dictating where they will go requires a minimum of two acres even with just a couple of birds. Do I have neighbors doing same as that can set stage for range wars. Can I tolerate depredation? With brood fowl no, so they are confined. Area required will vary seasonably and sometimes with whether. Need to control adverse impacts on vegetation. No defecation on porch allowed caused me to move whole poultry operation more than a 100 yards from house making night time awareness related hearing alarm calls more difficult. Need to be able to get home quick if neighbor calls. Free-range does not mean free chicken keeping. I always keep chickens in a variety of settings and the free-range birds are decidedly healthier but also demand a larger portion of my mental effort once nutrition is taken care of. Generally, free-range birds cost less to feed but that vary with your definition of free-range, location and time of year.

- How do you keep your flock safe when out roaming?
First keep them on my property which requires first sufficient acreage. Make so areas near center of property are more attractive with the presence of cover patches and feeding stations. Cover planting I like best are dense and perennial like provided by brambles, sumac, and bamboo. Patches need to be several feet in diameter and dense enough to deny raptors the ability to come in without walking. Feeding stations are were feed / food items can be found predictably away from coop and ideally near cover patches. Perimeter fencing to keep ground predators like dogs out. Electrified fencing, especially poultry netting even better. At least one fully adult rooster. Maintain good predator awareness by checking birds on roost routinely, walking entire area birds free-range, keeping out live-traps near feeding stations, near roost and areas ground predators are likely to comb in. Setup cameras to see who visits. If you can afford them, at least one dog. During late fall to early winter be more prepared to pen birds if predator working them.

I breed free-range and a lot more comes with that.



- How do you ensure hens lay their eggs in the coop, instead of the garden/anywhere else they deem suitable?
Make so roost and nest sites are far enough apart with nest sites low. I spread my nest sites out a bit as well.



- How do you train new rangers to return to the coop at night? They need to be confined to roost site for at least three days, then released late in day on fourth day so they do not get far from roost area before coming back. Make certain roost has sufficient light on it when birds do come back to roost.

 

[Mrs. K]

I free range, but also can confine them in a run/coop set up. I have every known predator, right here close by. I do have good ground protection, but coyotes and bobcats can get them in there.

What I have found to greatly reduce, but not totally eliminate losses due to free-ranging:

• A year old + rooster. A baby cockerel really does not help with this too much until close to a year old.
• An irregular schedule, don't let them out at the same time each day, some mornings, some afternoons, sometimes not at all
• Don't let them out on high wind days or heavily cloudy days...gives the advantage to the predators
• If and when you get hit by a predator, go into lock down for several days, forcing the predator to give up the easy meal, and move on

Different breed will vary how far they roam from the coop/ generally the more you let them out, the farther they roam. However, I have had numerous breeds, let them out quite often, and really never had them real far from the coop, within 100 yards in all directions.

Mrs K

 

[centrarchid]

I totally missed boat on management of the forage base. The chickens will be eating more than the feed you put out, ideally a lot of quality stuff. Vegetative greens are very important. Grasses consumed but forbs, especially legumes are more important. I make no effort to produce a monoculture / manicured lawn look. Rather many plant species make up the lawn. Not all areas mowed at same frequency. You will see birds hit some areas harder than others. Insects can be produced on your property and come in as drift from neighboring areas. Both sources can vary greatly. Then you have detritus deposits that can come in two very productive forms; first is leaf bed in a wooded area, second is your compost heap.

If the combined forage and feed inadequate, then birds will first range further potentially taking them beyond where you can protect and increase odds egg deposition and roosting moves away from you. You can also see denuding of vegetation if birds range what is effectively an island in a forage desert as they birds will not move away from core area to feed. This happens around barn area here when feed really good and birds otherwise not motivated to forage further away.

 

[I Love Layers]

- What pros and cons have you experienced when deciding to free range your flock?
My birds use less feed, they are able to enjoy the grass and bugs like chickens should be are the pros. Cons are they can stash their eggs, but that can be fixed by locking them in a coop for a few days. I've never had an attack either, get a rooster who respects you and the hens and your problems will be solved.


- How do you keep your flock safe when out roaming?
I have 2 roosters, and when my family and I are not home our LGD goes down there and watches them. Also having bushes always helps. My birds often hide under some bushes when they do see a hawk. I don't think if you are going to free range you need fences around them so I won't comment on that.

- How do you ensure hens lay their eggs in the coop, instead of the garden/anywhere else they deem suitable?
Like I said above I lock them in for 3 days or so. Or if you see one laying an egg where its not supposed to be take it to the coop put it in a nest box and wait for it to lays it egg in there and then give it a treat or something along those lines.

- How do you train new rangers to return to the coop at night?
You lock them in the coop for anywhere from 3 days to one week. Usually for new birds I lock them in a cage for about 3 days before letting them out. If anything they come in with the other chickens or they are outside the coop and I will put them on the ramp and make them walk up.

 

[chickenhawkct]

I live in town on a 1/4 acre lot most of that is house. there are no fences between most of my neighbors. just disgusting arborvitae which I have grown to tolerate since they provide cover for chickens. I get home at 4pm let them out to roam, usually put them back 5-530pm. Because they just want to forage after being cooped up all day they don't go onto any porches. however several driveways have been pooped upon. they end up in neighbors yards sometimes two houses down. I round them up shepherd them back to the coup where fresh water and feed are waiting wish them a good night and I'm done. Neighbors get eggs so they don't complain. and the chickens can scratch their brains out around the yards. they did get into a rose bed once but that was when the wandered out the farthest. they haven't gone close to that far since. my neighbor across the street does pretty much the same thing except his chickens come back on their own. personally I'm to nervous to just let them run until they come home. they did gang up on a cat and steal his mouse once though.

 

[Teila]

-- How do you ensure hens lay their eggs in the coop, instead of the garden/anywhere else they deem suitable?
Surprisingly my hens have never laid eggs anywhere but the coop. The ladies tend to have a pretty strict routine. I have occasionally found one or two on the ground inside the coop ( maybe the coop boxes were occupied )

Howdy The Cobb Farm

I also find the occasional egg on the coop floor or in the run.

Because my gals have fluffy butts, if they linger in the nest box after laying the egg it dries and sticks to their feathers, dropping off as they exit the nest box or walk down the ramp etc. This might be what is happening with your girls.

I bailed Blondie up in the garden one day, still carrying her egg around with her, nicely fused to her fluffy butt

 

[Dottie Ferrell]

We are recent chicken owners---two years now---and have a strange routine with our very spoiled 4 chicken children. They love us as much as we love them, I believe. At daylight, we open their house door and often the gate to the outside pen as well. Never leave home with them out free ranging as this area has a lot of raccoons and cats, some of which have stocked and once hurt my RI Red, Rosie. We have a double city lot with fence or thick hedge all around, so they very seldom wander out of the yard. They especially like the large garden and compost pile for nibbles. They are not permitted in the garden when it is young and getting started in producing, but most of the other time, they are invited in. When it gets dark, they automatically head in to their house and we make a big production of giving them a little snack at bed-time (grapes cut up, corn, shredded cheese, sometimes left over rice or noodles which I think they think are night crawlers). And we close the shack door. They know the routine and give us heck if it varies. When there is something threatening in the yard, all four will make quite a ruckus so we know to go out and chase away or comfort them.
Anything new (like the unusual snow that this part of the NW states does not usually get) makes them confused and afraid. They really act strange if given a new snack food or change any situation in their area...ie pruning fruit trees in the yard and using power tools freaks them out. The first snow, they would not leave their house for two days....look out the door but went right back in.
They know when the sliding door out back opens, or the living room curtains get opened and get excited and watchful for us.
Have never had a problem with laying elsewhere but there is a fake egg in each of their box nests and when broody, those seem to give them comfort too.
As a newby, I have learned about the vent being the only opening....kept looking for 2 or 3 like in many animals; have learned about the strange behaviors of broodiness (which cost me a bunch at the vet because I did not know anything about that behavior), about how poor their vision is at night, and about how absolutely adorable they are. Never knew chickens could have such wonderful chickenalities (personalities) and how different they are from each other, I will enjoy their eggs but I could never ever eat someone I named and pet daily.
I hope more newby's will find the pleasure of these fabulous pets.

 

[Haarlem Reset]

Personally, I would be very reluctant to lock my 17 up in a coop. I think they have a better chance against two- and four-legged predators if they unconfined. So, mine are free to come and go as they please, and they all come home to roost in the coop at night with the door open, except for Iris when she is brooding and/or has a chick--she prefers being under the brush in the ruin, and Agatha chose to nest in my bedroom on on a platform I built for the cats. Bertha also brought her chick up in the ruin, and then once old enough, took her to the coop. Once her chick is old enough, I am sure Agatha will return to the coop, as will Iris.

I have plenty of bushes on my land for them to hide under when the aerial predators are around, as well as open horse stalls and a carport where they gather in the rain or if they see predators, and I am not afraid to chase the aerial predators off if I see them and tell them this not the Kentucky Fried Chicken. I have managed to develop a relationship with the crows (they worked together and got two chicks initially), and the dogs and cats are disciplined severely if they show a predator interest. Also, the three older roosters keep the hens company.

I know giving them their freedom risks their loss, which always hits me very hard, but I believe in quality over quantity. My neighbor, for fear of loss, has her three locked in a coop that cannot be more than a meter square 24 hours a day, and after seeing mine, she let them out, and they were fearful of the open space. I would rather not have chickens if I have to imprison them.

I eventually figure out where the clutches of eggs are when the hens come out squawking for a dust bath, and I follow them back to find the eggs. At the moment, I am allowing them to breed just single chicks, in other words, collecting all but one or two eggs, because the flock is proliferating beyond what the size of the coop can accommodate.

My car might have to give up the carport so that I can extend the coop if the flock becomes much bigger.

 

[JayColli]

If given the choice (and space) many of us prefer to free range our flocks, but there are pros and cons to this practice. This week I would like to hear you all's thoughts on free ranging and what you did to overcome the potential problems arising. Specifically:

- What pros and cons have you experienced when deciding to free range your flock?
- How do you keep your flock safe when out roaming?
- How do you ensure hens lay their eggs in the coop, instead of the garden/anywhere else they deem suitable?
- How do you train new rangers to return to the coop at night?

- What pros and cons have you experienced when deciding to free range your flock?
I have quite a bit of space (a few acres) of mixed lawn, old pasture and woodland for my flock to range on and they are able to find a lot of their food on their own. The yolks of their eggs are noticeably more rich and flavourful when free ranging spring til fall as compared to the winter months. Their run stays much cleaner since they spend very little time in there on a daily basis.

- How do you keep your flock safe when out roaming?
I'm relying entirely on my rooster and letting natural selection make the decisions for me. They tend to spend most of the day under the low canopies of conifers so safe (for the most part) from aerial predators and we haven't had any issues with loose dogs so attacks from primarily nocturnal predators like raccoons or coyotes are unlikely. No fox troubles yet either!

- How do you ensure hens lay their eggs in the coop, instead of the garden/anywhere else they deem suitable?
Haven't been able to figure this one out yet. Normally they'll lay for weeks in one or two spots as long as they can be convinced that they're amassing a clutch so when I find a clutch I take the eggs and leave 2 - 3 golf balls behind to keep them laying there.

- How do you train new rangers to return to the coop at night?
I keep the entire flock in their run for 2-3 days or until they've worked out their new pecking order. Once everyone knows their place and I don't have birds fleeing out of fear the more experienced birds will lead the flock back home in the evenings but I have had some strike out on their own for days at a time.