What age to free range?

[AngieB]

Our chickens are 7 weeks old and living in their coop/run and doing great. At what age should we consider letting them free range during the day? Our back yard is fenced, but I'm not sure if that will completely contain them. We have been tapping a metal bucket every time we give treats to train them to come running, so I'm hoping that will help us get them back in the coop when we need to.

How far will chickens usually wander? Is there any fear of them going too far, getting lost, going in a busy street?

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
I would only allow supervised free ranging when they are almost as big as adult birds...maybe 16 weeks or so. They're just too easy to pick off when they're little, even just by cats. And if you start them off with only allowing them out an hour or two before dark, then that'll begin the training for them to head "back home" to safety on their own.

It depends on how much your fenced yard has to offer as to whether they'll leave it or not. I have about 3 fenced acres. They usually stay fairly close right around the house, but they will follow my fence line all the way around sometimes. They've gotten out once (the driveway gate was set up way to high...they just ducked right under it) and visited our one neighbor up on his deck (in his hot tub...lol). We've since fixed the gate issue. I've read of others who've lost chickens to cars on busy roads, so that can be an issue. I doubt they will get lost. When they first start being let out, they'll stick in pretty close, and move further and further out as they become more comfortable. So they'll know their safe zones pretty well by the time they go too far.

 

[AngieB]

Thanks! That's just what I needed to know. And what a great idea to start them off just before dusk!

One other question: Are chickens trainable? Should we even try to train them to stay off the back deck, or no?

Also, we don't have a screen door on our backdoor, so we use a hanging screen that the kids can just run through all day. I am wondering if the chickens will just walk right in the house. Which will be funny the first couple of times.

 

[MareeZoCool]

I learned that my chickens will roam quite a distance. I'm on 50+ acres. I've been amazed to learn that the chickens don't get lost !

 

[TurkeyMountainChickens]

I find that my girls don't wander that far. We have 12 acres, but they rarely use more than 4.

And yes, they are trainable to a certain extent. They will definitely learn to come running to your treat sound. You'd just better be prepared with a treat! I find a little (OK, large) bribe of scratch will get them back in the run early if needed.

My girls have the chickens doing pet tricks, too. Mostly "beg," "catch," and "jump." It's amazing what a chicken will do for a bit of toast or a noodle!

 

[gritsar]

Free ranging was something that came naturally to me and my chickens.
I started taking them out at around 2 1/2 weeks old. At first they got constant supervision and stayed close. As they got older they got less and less supervision and more and more adventurous.
Now as adult birds they wander the entire farm and I check on them a couple times a day and they put themselves to bed in the coop at night. All that's left for me to do is go out and lock them in.
Something interesting I've learned in chicken keeping - I was told by a wildlife officer that the prime time for hawks to hunt is between 10 to 11 in the morning and again between 3 and 4 in the afternoon. I don't know if this is true or not, but what I do know is that you will never see my chickens out from under cover during those times in the day. Some days I have to really hunt to find them.

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
Cool...I'm gonna really pay attention over the next couple of days I don't work to see if that's somewhat true...

 

[Tala]

Since I already free range the adult birds, I raise chicks in a tractor from a week or so on, and I start letting the kids out around 7 weeks of age. At first I leave their heat lamp in their coop/tractor on a dusk to dawn timer, and they are drawn back to the light at dusk.
They eat SOOOO much less when they can range, and at that point in their growth it seems like they're eating 50# a week (maybe they are, don't tell DH!) so I'm ALL for the ranging!!
My fence is secure-enough, and my cats are chick-proofed, and my dogs are chick-trained -- and the neighboring cats are chicken-taught by my rooster so they don't come in my yard anymore.
I take a fairly hands-off approach to chick raising, and it works for me.