When can I let them out to free range & get them to go back in the coo

[Lil'ChickFarm]

Quote:
165 degrees????? Is that meant to be 105? I just wondered how you are all staying alive, lol.

Mine LOVE to free range my back yard. I have a six foot privacy fence and I clipped wings so they can't fly up on it. They find the tomato garden a great place to hide out in. They love it under the picnic table. They now know how to go to their coop if something scares them.
I love watching them out in the yard. I am just adoring my chickens. Can't wait till they lay eggs too.

 

[SteveBaz]

I only have (3) 2 month old chicks but I have a 6' piece of bamboo and guide them in with it. Better than running around all over the place. Find the one thats highest on the pecking order and they may follow. Just a thought

 

[kareninthesun]

I hadsound advice here when I let mine out to free range: after keeping them in the coop for a week, I waited until an hour before sunset. They were afraid to leave home, but once they got used to leaving the coop, for about a week, they'd only adventure very closely around the coop. Gradually they started expanding out, but always come back before dusk.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I've been trying the "just before dusk" method for the past week or so with my 8 2-month-old pullets. I call them out of the run with "treat, treat, treat!" (they've known what that means since they were a few weeks old and come running) and a few sprinkles of oatmeal, which they love. I then sit down in the grass and watched them explore, sometimes offering them some more oatmeal to encourage them to come to me. I've been amazed that a certain squawk from one of them has all eight dashing back to the run before they do a quick threat assessment and then come venture back out. It has been no problem leading them back into the run after awhile with another chorus of "treat, treat, treat" and some more oatmeal.

I don't know if I'll ever let them out for long foraging adventures unsupervised. We live on 18 acres in the Colorado mountains adjacent to National Forrest and there are foxes and coyotes and bears and mountain lions and bob cats and raccoon and owls and hawks occasional neighbor dogs and probably some sort of weasel or martin so I think I might just get in the habit of having my nightly glass of wine out by the chicken coop and give them some play time...at least while the weather holds.

 

[Nuggets]

Great advice all, I plan on letting them out tonight about an hour before sundown so we can test what happens and all of us can be around to keep an eye on them. I am thinking I need a hug butterfly net to catch them LOL - and probably a drink afterwards. I can just see me now chasing chickens around the yard while my neighbors laugh.
Hopefully I will get some pictures of this impending fiasco!

 

[dufus]

let those girls out,, i promise you that they know exactly where they roost, and will go back in before it gets too dark. ever heard the old saying, '' the chickens have come home to roost''. in my experience, wherever they start roosting, the will come back and stay there. i have 15 hens and 1 rooster and they split between 2 roosts in the henhouse. it is the same birds on the same roosting place each night.

 

[bleith]

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Agreed. they know what to do. Mine figured it out in one day at 4 weeks old. hasn't been a problem for 7 weeks. they may be dumb but there not stupid lol

 

[Nuggets]

Ok so you guys were all right. We let them out about 2 hours before sunset. They ran around the yard scratching grass and eating every bug they could. It started getting dark and the ring leader led them all back inside. Good little ladies, we do this every night now, the minute I get home from work they go out for a few hours and always return to their house at dusk when I close up for the night.

8 ladies are now producing 3 eggs a day so far

 

[ladysfield]

When I let mine out for the first time, I left the door open to the familiar pen as a safe haven. Over several weeks as they gained confidence and size, they roamed in wider circles around "home base". They are full grown birds now and stay in the vicinity of our house (about a 1 acre area) although we have 50 acres.

They are released after the sun is fully up and slowly drift home on their own before the sun fully sets. To keep our breeds pure, we built 'bachelor's quarters' with runs for our roosters who are not allowed to free range. The hens know which rooster house they should return to spend each evening.

 

[Whimsy]

Quote:
Agreed. they know what to do. Mine figured it out in one day at 4 weeks old. hasn't been a problem for 7 weeks. they may be dumb but there not stupid lol

I let mine out after the sun is fully up...a few months back I had a owl take one of my wyndottes on a rainy early morning. Broke my heart so now I wait till the sun is fully up.