UPDATE! YAYYYYY Anyone with free range chickens?

[smoothmule]

Mine free range, well sort of. I have a 12 by 12 coop that is inside the barn with one side open (wire) to the outside, one side open (wire) to the barn and 2 sides are solid wall. It has wire on the top as well. It has a screen door inside the barn and I prop is open, sometimes for days without closing them up and sometimes they are closed up a few days, it has to do with the weather, whether I'm home etc. We have a 70 pound chocolate Lab and a 55 pound Heeler/Aussie that guard them - killing opossums and raccoons and anything that bothers them. They even sleep in the barn when it's cold. I've only lost a couple young birds to a predator and oddly that was when they were closed up in the coop......it was a big ugly rat. Some rat killer placed in the wall where nothing else could get to it took care of him and a good number of annoying mice as well and they were all disposed of and out with the trash.

When mine are out, they rarely cover an area more than an acre, if that, and that is always close to the house and barn. We have 40 acres and the closest neighbors home is 1/4 mile away. I think they are pretty self limiting as far as roaming, more so than my guineas which pretty much cover 20 acres of area but come in the barn every night to roost. I think it would be in your best interest to have an adequate fence for them. Some will fly out but they will stay close since the majority will stay in the fenced area. I would certainly let the neighbors know they're yours and ask them to at least let you know if they become a problem. That way, the neighbors won't feel awkward about reporting problems since you asked them to let you know. The hens can be such good girls then for some reason, totally destroy a garden area, flower bed, mulched bed or whatever. I had a 25 foot by 4 foot bed of mulch around some bushes out front totally scratched out over the sidewalk one day when I got home. This bedding had been there for years with no problem till that day. Go figure.

Just remember they can be very destructive and you are responsible.......or you could make my son go put all the mulch back in the bed like I did

 

[swimchick]

My mom lets our chickens out every day while we change water and feed and at first they didn't wander too far but lately they have roamed further and my dad gets worried about them. All of our neighbors have chickens so that is less an issue and one neighbor lets his roosters go free when he doesn't want them anymore. We used to be surprised with a rooster in our woods perched in a tree. We tried to catch him but that was before we had chickens and didn't know to catch him at night.

We try to herd the chickens and if they wander too far we encourage them to go back. There is a tree they like to hang out under - some kind of spruce. Most of the time they come back to the coop because thats where the water is located. Our chickens do not like us to pick them up much so we just spread out our arms and they move away. My dad wants to add more fencing and keep them contained. I don't think he realizes they can fly but in the places where we have blocked off access to the neighbors with short fencing or old feed bags - they have stayed in on our property. We live on almost 5 acres. Most of the acerage is heavily treed woods where we play paintball.

Let them out and give them for a hour with you and give them treats like yogurt so they want to be near you. And treat them back into their coop area so they are happy to return.

Marissa

 

[FireTigeris]

Mine free range, escape under the fence and I shoo then back and block the hole- will have to clip wings soon the SLW and GLW are getting there wing mucles unde them pretty well.

The Silkie roo keeps them from leaving the are most times, but there is a 4 foot fence, 6 foot on the side where the coop it.

 

[mstricer]

Quote:
My spitzhauben pullet can fly over 150 ft with clipped wing. Mine free range everywhere but where I want them to!!!!

 

[neuchicontheblock]

I would also want to know what the town regs are even if you and your neighbors get along famously when talking about free ranging. Memories can be short at times, and chickens can bear the brunt of things.

Mine free range during the day but I think that was because my great Pyr lived right outside of their area and watched them judiciously. He recently died though, so I will have to regauge things this Spring, since the hens NEVER want to get their feet cold and wet in snow.

 

[gsim]

l have not yet done free-range. Am on 15 acres but woods all around and on property. I did a 2,000 sq ft run so that it would be as close to free range conditions as possible. I did a 6 ft fence and that keeps them in. Am thinking of doing some judiciously placed deer netting to direct them away from woods and towards back yard to see if I can let them out near dusk ONLY if I am out there too and planning to be there until they go in to coop for night.

 

[crumpet]

Mine free range over three acres. They go a little bit onto the neighbor's property where it kind of blends into ours at the edge of a field, but no big deal.

Here's a good trick. Go out every couple of hours all day and call them in and feed them a treat. Maybe slam the door when you do it. After a VERY short time (chickens are smart when it comes to food) they will associate the sound of the door slamming with a treat and will come running.

Mine have gotten so that they come running whenever anyone comes out of the house, which is many times a day. They don't even like to go out of earshot of the door, because they might miss the handful of scratch I toss into the driveway.

 

[mandelyn]

The more comfortable chickens get in their home, the farther they start to range.

Suburbs have hawks too, at some point they'll find your birds, next week or two years from now. Took a year and a half for a hawk to find mine. Strangely the fox showed up after that. Coons and Opossums have always been an issue. And I live in the city!

If you do a partial fence, they'll walk around it where it ends. If it's only 4 ft tall, clipped wings won't keep them from going over it. You'll need a 6ft fence and wing clipping.

Mine have been staying in the 6ft stockade fence ever since they learned a dog lives next door. On the back end the neighbors chickens are ranging in the woods, and they won't cross over there since it isn't their "territory". The other 2 sides are farther from the coop, and they don't bother to go over there. But I've learned if they start going somewhere, it's hard to break the habit without locking them up.

My neighbors were cool with them until the mulch started flying onto the driveway and they were dust bathing under the shrubs along the driveway back when my birds free ranged the side yard into the park and across the dead-end street on occasion. This time I've contained them to the back yard to prevent that from happening again.

Your chickens will get bolder, so if they're already going up by the road and crossing into the neighbors yard you'll have to re-evaluate your boundaries for them and fence accordingly. They don't know what you own, they only know the radious around their house.

 

[eventmerlin]

So I dropped off a dozen BEAAAAUUUTIFL eggs and a note (apologizing for wandering hens, etc, etc) at my neighbors house and guess what!!!??? Next day I get a message from her telling me to let the girls outta jail cuz she LOVES watching them in her yard and they can wander over all they want

She said they love watching them out the window pecking away and flitting about! I am THRILLED

of course this occurs right when the Northeast gets hit with a blizzard so the girls want NO part of going out of thier coop, but at least they aren't locked in.... So again thankyou all for your advice! Good things come to good eggs hehe

 

[waterpossum]

i let my group free range the last couple hours before dark. they don/t go far and it keeps the predators more at bay because of the limited time that they/re out. and i can keep my eyes on them also. haven/t lost a chicken since i started doing this. i used to free range all the time and i would lose one after another to mostly hawks. i like letting them out now knowing that they/ll go back up in a few hours at most