What Time Do You Let Your Chickens Out in the Morning?

[cluckadoodledoo13]

Normally open our door at 7:30 and let them come out on their own whenever they please as the only time we shut the door is during cleaning.

 

[Tre3hugger]

I let mine out at sun-up. Right now that is around .6 I basically just listen to my rooster. He lets me know when they're awake lol. I lock their coop door at dusk. They are always all in their coop already.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Thanks guys!

 

[Rammy]

I let mine out when I get up.

 

[Jennifer22388]

Whenever I get down there to let them out as well, could be 7am or 10 am. They have a big enough coop and if it’s raining or storming all day I keep them up. Also i have had a lot get eaten by red tail hawks so when I worked If I had one eaten I would keep them locked up until I got home at 3 and they had the rest of the day to free range.

 

[Erin80]

Our outdoor run is very secure from predators, so the pop door to the coop stays open all night (unless it’s bitter cold or windy). They come out around 7am these days, maybe a bit before (especially if it’s a sunny morning).

 

[Cindy in PA]

I used to let them out between 6:30 & 7 or when the sun was up. For the last 5 years I've had an auto door & it goes up at sunrise. It uses your coordinates for sunrise/ sunset times & I never have to change it! Love it. I still check them at night if I am home.

 

[Farmgirl1878]

I should clarify that mine roam around the run until I get myself together in the morning. The auto door opens around seven, they are all out in the run by about 0745, and then they get supervised free range time a few times a day. We are in the middle of 160-acres of woods, so they don’t free range except when I’m out there with them.

 

[Chicken Heel]

I am up at 5:30 AM every morning and get all my animal chores done by 6:45 AM. This topic reminds me of my Grandpa Shook who never kept any clocks in his house. He told me more than once that he was on chicken time, up at sunrise and to bed at sunset.

 

[Mrs. K]

It really doesn't matter unless your coop is too tight for the number of birds you have. And if your coop opens into a secure run, well let them decide. As for free ranging, I do not keep that on a schedule as that gives a pattern to predators.

So mine, decide the coop/run deal, and I decide the free range, but I do not let them out of the set up if it is windy or rainy, gives too much advantage to the predators. Or if I have been recently hit by a predator.