What Age Can Chickens Free Range?

[pwog]

Hi,

I have searched the forums, but could not find an answer. My chickens are 10 weeks old - they are getting so big! They have been in their coop and attached run since they were 5 weeks old. I want to let them out of their run (when we are home and watchful). At what age can I let them free? One of my concerns is how difficult will it be to get them back in?

Thanks!
P

 

[Mamaboid]

If you are hesitant about leaving them out and having them return at night, try the guinea method. Leave about half of them out and keep half of them in. The ones that are out will want to stay close to the ones that are in and the ones that are in will watch the ones that are out and learn from them. Do this for a few days and then you can let them all out and they will return with no problem.

 

[Beekissed]

Well, with that definition, I can't imagine anyone is actually free ranging anything in the states right now....there is no free range available.

Reasonable definition of free ranging when referring to backyard chickens is birds free to come and go in a large area of pasture/grass without confinement within a run/tractor.

If the Range is confined then it isn't Free.

Unless you own thousands of acres that have no fencing, roads, boundaries, etc. then there is always confinement of one type or another. Typically, folks on here mean that their birds are not confined to a stationary run or confined to a tractor~FREE to range about in a large area.​

 

[saladin]

A good rule of thumb to follow is they can free-range once they can fly high enough to get away from ground predators and are large enough that a hawk won't take them.

 

[chicmom]

Hi pwog, chickens can free range at any age, but remember that the smaller they are, the more vulnerable they are against predators.

What I like to do, is, after they've gone from the brooder to their coop, and once they're really used to living outside (which is usually about 2 weeks), I'll let them out to free range about an hour before dusk, when I can just sit in a chair and watch them. They will normally stay pretty close to their coop and run. Sometimes they just run around it, and once it starts to get dark they will all go back to their run, so you don't even have to try and catch them.

Then after time, I will let them outside for longer periods. I have lost about one chicken a year to some unknown predator, and I'm guessing it's a hawk. It's always been a pullet or a cockerel too, or a bantam. I've never lost a full grown, large fowl chicken.

This technique has worked perfectly for me, and I've had many many batches of chicks. I do like to let them free range, because I think you get those beautiful orange yolks in the eggs, but mainly because I think they're happier....(Not just pacing in a chicken run). And it also helps cut down my feed bill in the summertime, which is a bonus.

Take care,
Sharon

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, yours are ready. I suggest you start out by letting them out about an hour before bedtime so you can be with them and gain confidence in them free ranging. That is more for your benefit than theirs. By now, they should see the coop as home and go back there for bedtime on their own. You can train them to come back to the run with treats, but you need to work on that before you start to depend on that. Sometimes getting them back in the coop and run can be a problem other than bedtime, but at bedtime they want to go home.

One thing I would watch for. Chickens do not have a real good grasp of the concept of gate. Usually when I let mine out for the first time or two, a few get stuck on the wrong side of the fence. Even if they went in and out of the gate several times, when it is bedtime they want to go to the coop so bad, they will stand next to the fence and try to get through instead of walking around to the gate. I've had to guide a few of mine around to the gate a night or two before they can find it on their own at bedtime.

 

[centrarchid]

I am doing what can be defined as free range in the strictest since. My birds can go in any direction they choose and have not been impeded by any fence in the distances they do actually go. What restricts their ranging is interest in resources such as feeder, watering hole, roost and cover. They define their range in that case.

 

[konachicks]

I'm on a little less then an acre and have let my 2 older girls out since I got them at 6 weeks. They stay right around the coop or the house and even though we DONT have a fenced yard, they've NEVER tried to "run away". My only problem is when it's bed time they don't go back to the coop, they come to my front door to be carried back

That's them waiting at the front door

I also have seven 4 week chicks I take out every day for at least and hour, and they also just stick by the house and are easily grabbed and put back in their travel box

 

[Beekissed]

Unless you have good protection from both...and then you can free range as soon as they are fully feathered. If one has an older flock, one can integrate and free range as soon as the little ones can climb the ramp into the big coop...usually 2-3 weeks.

 

[saladin]

Quote:
Unless you own thousands of acres that have no fencing, roads, boundaries, etc. then there is always confinement of one type or another. Typically, folks on here mean that their birds are not confined to a stationary run or confined to a tractor~FREE to range about in a large area.

I do indeed Free-Range all my young stags and all the ducks. They are Free to go wherever they like. The place is not fenced; neither are the neighbors places. So, free is a very reasonable word to me.

Chickens will tend to stay in a rather small area even when Free-ranged. (I've never see one range more than a 1/4 of a mile from where they are fed.

Lol. Obviously you have not been to South Carolina lately. You will seldom see a fence (except on the Interstate).