When do you let your hens out

[pattgal]

Quote:
they lay better when they are alive haha. I've never heard of ppl letting them out in the snow until now. Although I've heard frozen chicken makes a good stew

 

[mrsbos]

Mine get let out every day, by 9am at the latest, and are out until sunset. They don't mind the cold at all, and have been out in -10 degree temps. They HATE the snow, and when it was deep, I shoveled out a path for them (and me) from the coop to my patio door, and also shoveled out about a 50 sq. ft area, exposing the grass, where they could hang out and not be buried in white. Some days I had to shovel 2 or 3 times when the snow was coming down hard. We have a trampoline near the coop that stays relatively snow free underneath, unless it's really windy, and also provides cover for them should a rare hawk spot them in the snow.

 

[secuono]

I let mine out every single day, summer or dead of winter with 2ft of snow.

 

[PatS]

I'm in California, so our weather is fairly mild, teens to the hundred plus teens. Our chickens are let out every day, from dawn till dusk; except those rare occasions when we go out of town, then they are kept in the coop and run. We have lost one in almost 2 years to a predator.

 

[teach1rusl]

My pop door is opened first thing in the morning, every day. If we are getting a decent amount of snow, I won't let them out of the run (I do shovel them an area inside the run). If we just have a bit of snow I'll let them out of the run. They usually end up making their way into our detached garage though, which I leave open a little for them...

 

[ubumartin]

I open the coop at 6 am and they jump right out to their covered pen regardless of how cold it is. I usually let them out of the pen when I get home from work. They follow me to a dog kennel that I move around the yard. But because of all of the snow, they refuse to go too far from the coop. I usually just stay with them for a while and keep the door of the coop and pen open and they come in and out and stay right with me. They hate the snow and I am starting to agree with them. We have had several big snow storms and WE CAN"T WAIT FOR SPRING!!!!

 

[CopperCT]

I'm in CT and have had LOTS of snow and cold this winter. I let ours out everyday although I did disable the door and let them out later than usual on a few sub-zero mornings. The auto door opens at day light and it's their choice whether to go out or not. If it has freshly snowed the answer is often not but I have a tarp over the run so if it snows it's less in there than everywhere else. I put a thick layer of hay down over the winter so I just rake it and fluff it up so the snow falls through it. They will come out then and usually spend the whole day outside except to drink and lay eggs. They have gradually dug out the rest of the run where there was no hay on their own and now use almost all of it to scratch around in. If it's too cold, snowy or windy I have noticed they spend more time in the coop but they don't seem to have cabin fever yet. Tonight for the first time this winter they were all out after 5Pm clucking at us from the run as we got home from work. Spring is coming slowly but surely.

 

[chickensbythesea]

I've been getting the same weather as copperCT, and my flock is pretty hit or miss about going out this time of year. Some girls will go out even if the snow is falling, and just spend time under our porch where there's cover. A few look at me like it's my fault there's snow, more and more angrily every day. We're lucky to have a private laneway that's about 1/3 of a mile, which has to be plowed, so they have somewhere pretty expansive that's always clear to run around.

To answer your question about the time, while some might be excited to get out, no one's too cranky if I have breakfast and walk the dogs before I come let them out. If the weather takes a turn, I'll corral them back in, but otherwise I wait for the nightly parade back to the coop.

 

[ginormous chicken]

I'm with PatS. Mine our let out everyday and locked in everynight. Their run is pretty small. They are going to have to adjust though. I am going to VK for 9 days and I am worried for the housesitter to let them out. I have one that roosts in trees if not closely watched. So, they will be in the run for 9 days and are going to tough it out! I promised the girls a new home when I get back. They will move into a home fit for 20 birds!

 

[AussieChook]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, and very new to having chickens, so I'm very grateful for any advice. We have three chooks, bantams, in an enclosure. We are thinking of letting them range in the backyard, but wondering how it will work. We have heard that once you let them out to roam, they get very cranky, noisy and stressed if you don't let them out every day. I open the door for them these days and let the wander just a bit outside the immediate area of the enclosure. Now when they see me in the morning they get all excitable and probably very disappointed when i don't have time for it. I don't think we can commit to doing it everyday, so I don't want to start them on a routine that will only end up causing them distress. What do you guys reckon?

At the moment, inside their enclosure, they also take themselves up the ramp at night and put themselves to bed. If they're ranging in the garden, will they know to go pack to their coop when it gets dark? or will we be chasing chooks at twilight? Getting them to bed will be very important as we are supposed to have the highest density of foxes in the world - I've heard the rumours, but never seen one myself.

We can have hot summers here, but relatively mild winters, so it's not really a seasonal issue - they can probably go for a wander round the yard when it's the dead of winter and no colder that 10degrees celsius or so (50F).

Many thanks for any advice you can offer.