Topic of the week - Free Ranging

[perryspatti]

We have been Free Ranging for almost 2 years. I think we may be building a bigger enclosure this year. We started out this spring with 12 new babies and 16 older 11/2 yr olds. we are now standing at 3.it has been just devastating. a raccoon got in the run and killed a 6 month old, 3 newborns and terrorized the rest including the roosters. they all took to the trees and we eventually ended up with 4, then a few weeks ago another went missing. No sign of anything, which is how it happened with most of them. I love seeing my girls run to me when I come in, just don't like seeing the numbers dwindle so drastically. We won't get more until another spot is built for our babies.
Good luck to you all..

 

[The Cobb Farm]

I free range my chickens, have since I first started this endeavor 2 years ago. I have a 60 sf coop, with a 300 sf run, completely fenced in with a netting over top of the tree in the middle of the run. They have plenty of space, but after just a month or so, there was absolutely no greenery in the run. So I started letting them out a few hours a day, usually supervised. I have a half-acre backyard that is fully fenced in with 3.5' picket fencing. It doesn't keep the smaller chickens in, or the bigger ones who fly over, but mostly it does the job.

At first, I had several dogs, a few of which weren't properly trained. This didn't work out well. The untrained dogs chased the chickens around. So we got rid of the untrained dogs (foster dogs that were adopted out). Now the trained dogs get along splendidly with the chickens, and even do a great job in watching out for them with other animals. Mostly they're great protection just by being there. I also have a pellet gun, .22 and shotgun near the back door in case I see a gutsy raccoon climbing the perimeter fence, or a vulture circling a bit too long.

Anytime I add new hens to the flock, I keep everyone locked in the coop for a few days. Then I let them out into the run for a few days. This gets the hens used to laying in the coop. I also usually don't let them out in the mornings until 9am or so, most of them have already laid by that time. Every once in a while, I'll find a chicken has laid on the ground somewhere, at which point I keep them cooped up for a few days to remind them of where they should lay. It works!

As for the new rangers, I'm working on 2 right now who don't want to come in when called. I don't wait for dusk to get them back in, for several reasons but mainly because I've forgotten too many times to go out and close the door when it's dark. I've never had an attack if I've forgotten, but I don't want to take that chance. So I go out about 4pm every afternoon and call the chickens in with the old "chick chick" yell and shaking some scratch in a cup. Those 2 holdouts are now learning that if they come in when called, they get a treat. If they don't come when called, they get corralled into the coop with water from the hose (I'm too old to chase chickens around the yard!). They're getting it, now they come right when called and eat out of my hand.

Pros: Awesome to watch
They have more freedom
Better quality protein and vitamins
Cuts down on feed cost
Cuts down on clean-up time in the coop
Less bugs in the yard (I can't really testify to this, but I do see them eating them)
I feel like my entire backyard is utilized, especially the places I don't spend a lot of time

Cons: Stepping in chicken poop in the yard
All of my plants have bald spots
Have to make sure the gate to the garden is closed every day, otherwise we have no fresh veggies
Our rooster thinks he's above my 2 year old son in the pecking order, so I'm teaching my kid rooster self-defense
Dust baths created under a lot of my ornamental grasses
Less lizards in the yard, so potentially more flying bugs
They try to eat butterflies, but rarely do they actually catch them

I really enjoy free ranging the chickens and ducks that we have. I also have 2 New Zealand rabbits in the coop who are free in the coop and run when the door's shut. When the chickens are free ranging, the bunnies are locked in their cage. They are also getting used to going to their cage when I come out in the mornings. I tell you, it's really cool to see rabbits, ducks and chickens getting along so well together in the run.

How did you introduce your chickens to the ducks and bunnies? did everything go smoothly for them to live together like this?

 

[Hotott]

I do free ranging in my back yard with a fence on property lines. I feed my chickens all kinds of goodies so it keep them in my yard plus in the winter I let them room the garden area, I built a complete cage around their custom made coup. It is use for at night to keep them a life and safe. I have color star lights around the pen plus I keep a red heat lamp in side. Look real cool at night. I have 9 different chickens. Going to put a auto door on pen this spring. I love watching the birds roam the yard.

 

[Dottie Ferrell]

I am so sorry for your loss. That is so hard when you have pets (and these chicks get to be pets quickly) that get killed by predators.
Hope that is the last of your losses for a long long time. We have raccoons around here and my neighbor who also free ranges at times, had an attack last summer on one of hers. There is also a Bobcat around here right now and I watch our babies like a hawk when they are out.

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

How did you introduce your chickens to the ducks and bunnies? did everything go smoothly for them to live together like this?

We have 3 pens that are all attached. The hens all have the large coop/run, and anything new starts in the adjoining pen until they get used to each other. I started the ducklings with a dozen chicks at the same time, so they were raised together. They started inside, eventually made their way to the adjoining pen, then incorporated into the main coop/run. All was great until we realized that one of the ducks was a drake, and he thought the chicks he grew up with were "his". He got quite rough with them at times, but otherwise treated them pretty well. There was one of "his" hens that he wouldn't let out of the run when they were free-ranging. He'd chase her back to her perch every time she tried to get out. We re-homed many of those hens, but that was just one of the reasons.

As for the rabbits, we moved them into the main coop as soon as they were too big to be happy in the dog cage we kept them in. So I moved the entire cage into the coop and placed it under the roosting bars. I added a roof (and later a tarp) to catch the droppings, so the cage became dual-purpose. I keep the rabbit food in the cage, and put a coffee can (w/ the bottom cut out) attached to the door to make a tunnel that allows rabbits in/out but keeps out the chickens. That way they have their own little place. And when I want them locked in the cage, I just put the coffee can lid on, then I let the birds out to free-range. They're really only in the cage during the day when they sleep.








The rabbits were easy to incorporate, they get along splendidly with the birds and really enjoy the extra room. The only problem is that they are male and female, and, well, they're rabbits. The cutest thing - yesterday I found several bunnies running around the coop! The parents had dug a hole behind/under the cage and birthed the litter down there. So I have no idea how many there are, and cannot figure out how to get them out to tell!! For now, I'm just going to let them do their thing and I'll worry about getting them out next week. Then I'll have to separate the buck from the doe and bunnies to keep that from happening again. Next litter will be planned.

 

[The Cobb Farm]

that is awesome! and a really great idea for the bunnies to be able to get away when they want

I am in the process of introducing my duck to my group of chickens. my duck likes all of them BUT one! lol


thanks for sharing!

 

[hawcreek chicks]

Awesome thread! We have 5 girls just headed out to the their coop. 3 Australops and 2 Easter Eggers. I am on .75 of an acre with lots of open and vegetative areas. No fence or barrier between me and my absolutely CRAZY neighbor. She would call the police (o worse) if a chicken went on her land. A hawk lives way out back by the creek (which is why I have black Australops).

I would love to free range. But how do I keep them on my property, only? Our front yard is enclosed, but that's were the son plays ball, barefoot. The back would be great for them if I can figure out how to keep them on our property.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

Awesome thread! We have 5 girls just headed out to the their coop. 3 Australops and 2 Easter Eggers. I am on .75 of an acre with lots of open and vegetative areas. No fence or barrier between me and my absolutely CRAZY neighbor. She would call the police (o worse) if a chicken went on her land. A hawk lives way out back by the creek (which is why I have black Australops).

I would love to free range. But how do I keep them on my property, only? Our front yard is enclosed, but that's were the son plays ball, barefoot. The back would be great for them if I can figure out how to keep them on our property.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

I have half an acre fenced in for my dogs and chickens - a 3.5' fence surrounds the entire backyard, but they all seem to still get out when they want to. The chickens don't wander far, but it's called "free ranging" cause they have a choice of where they want to go. I've heard of some free ranging for several hundred yards. But they will always come back to the coop at night, or for water, food, shelter, treats, etc.

 

[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.

 

[3KillerBs]

On our land we've seen raccoons, foxes, large blacksnakes, and, especially, stray dogs. We hear coyotes at night. Weasels are supposed to be in the area. Two doors down my neighbor lost over half his free-ranged flock to a stray dog.

I have 100 feet of Premier 1 electric poultry netting and hope to get more. This doesn't do anything about the hawks, which we hear constantly and see often, but that risk I accept because I couldn't provide a fully-enclosed run large enough to meet my needs.

Additionally, I'm a gardener and don't need the chickens eating the people food. Nor do I need them destroying my SIL's meticulously cared-for landscaping (we share the property).

Confined-range inside a large electric net enclosure suits my predator-loss tolerance.