What Age Can Chickens Free Range?

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I just stuff them in and close the door, they just need a little direction and reassurance it's bedtime....I wonder why they do that, maybe they are calling for their mother instinctively, to me it just sounds like,,hello predators here is where we are roosting.
Oh and that photo of the chicks really cracked me up, it should be titled 'what free ranging has done for me.

 

[Rdownergarage]

no that is there safe zone.....

 

[Beekissed]

My chicks are 3 weeks old and i have a coop and a run…the coop is off the ground and the chicks love the roosting poles inside and outside. At dusk they seem really scared and huddle together peeping their lungs out….but won't go up inside the coop. I know they can get up their because they climb all over the place…is it because its dark in the coop…should I put a light on?

They just need to get used to using it for night time and will require some help understanding that's where they are supposed to be at dusk. Some folks will put a light on to lure them in there, some find it doesn't work. Mostly it just takes training them to the coop. I never have to do that because the older birds go into the coop and the young birds are monkey see, monkey do. Not having older birds to assist, you will probably have to place them here each night until they learn it's home.

 

[Duke6017]

I just recently started my first flock. I purchased one 2 year old Buff Orpington and 6 pullets (2 RIR's, 2 WL's, 2 BSL's), with the oldest being the RIR's at about 8 weeks old. The WL's and BSL's are at least 6 weeks old. I brought them all home on Saturday and they have a access to a 4x16' run. They come and go from the coop to the run all day long and each night have put themselves to bed in the coop. The only issue is they want to sleep in the nesting box and not on the roost, but that's a whole different thread! lol. How long does everyone recommend leaving them in the run to establish the coop/run as "home" before allowing them access to the back yard?

 

[Den in Penn]

The standard time to set the coop as home is a week. If you want to leave them out, then start a little before sunset. So they don't wander to far at first and keep the coop in sight. As the sun sets they will naturally head to the coop themselves.

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

My birds, when not in breeding pens are completely free range. We have barb wire fence yes. But my chickens walk right under that. 1 of my BSL girls last year followed my cows to near my neighbors side of the fence. Apparently she liked his place better because she moved into their garage/lean to. She is still there and makes the elderly lady happy as can be every morning. The rest of my birds go where they please, and traffic frequently stops for them.
I have friendly understanding neighbors and also with 6 roosters and 55 hens currently have few issue, not weather related. Except the 5-6 that think the back porch IS the place to roost and lay eggs. And our area there are a lot of Red tailed hawks and an over abundance of vultures, besides the small fury predators. Occasionally 1 will come to the coop but (knock on wood) I have only lost 1 bird (Drake that was penned with duck) this year to a predator.

 

[Steve Townsend]

Thank you guys. You answered all my questions. Tonight I will try free ranging after supper. Wish me luck.

 

[sbabeyta]

We had our six week old chicks out in our fenced backyard this afternoon and a hawk swooped down on them--but didn't get them, thank God! I was surprised because the hawk looked about the same size as our girls (larger wing-span, of course). How big do the girls need to be before they're safe from an air attack?

 

[ShockValue]

I had a temporary run set up outside the coop when they first went outside. One of them got out (the smallest squeezed through a crack in my shoddy work) and I was kinda freaked out. I just sat and watched and realized that she really didn't want to go far from the coop. She'd go out a few feet, and then look nervous and go back in. This was about 10 weeks old (Coop took longer than planned to build.)

When I first gave them free-range-no-holds-barred (12 weeks or so) I was actually a little dissapointed. I expected to see chickens all over my property eating bugs and tearing things up, but they really stuck close to the coop for the first couple of weeks.

Now we're at about 23 weeks and I'm having the opposite problem. I have 2 acres for them to roam, but as they say, the grass is always greener. So I often find myself having to "shoo" them back into my yard from down the street or the neighbors front porch.. etc..

I'm very lucky in that I'm friendly with all my neighbors and that they like the chickens. (I promise them eggs in return for putting up with some weird guy flapping his arms in their front yard...)

 

[song of joy]

We had our six week old chicks out in our fenced backyard this afternoon and a hawk swooped down on them--but didn't get them, thank God! I was surprised because the hawk looked about the same size as our girls (larger wing-span, of course). How big do the girls need to be before they're safe from an air attack?

Unfortunately, even full-sized hens are not safe from air attacks. I've had heavy-breed hens (buff orpingtons, Rhode Island reds) taken by red-tailed hawks. Even smaller hawks will attack large hens. One day, I heard loud squawking my back yard and found my Rhode Island red hen pinned to the ground by a Cooper's hawk, which was about half her size. I was able to rescue her and she had no injuries, but I was surprised this air attack was by a relatively small species of hawk and less than 10 feet from my kitchen window.