When is appropriate time to let the bird out for roam freely each day?

[off-grid hen]

I usually shake my coffee can with scratch, but I use a call no matter what treat I have. Usually it's "chick chick chiiiiiiiickeeeeeeeens!". But the other day, I yelled to my husband and son that "diiiiinnner's Ready!" And 19 chickens came hauling fluffy butt around the corner of the storage shed like race horses. They must be very familiar with my voice.

 

[janinepeters]

Usually it's "chick chick chiiiiiiiickeeeeeeeens!". But the other day, I yelled to my husband and son that "diiiiinnner's Ready!" And 19 chickens came hauling fluffy butt around the corner of the storage shed like race horses.

LOL! I use that same "chick chick chiiiickeeeeeeeens!" call, but now I have a chipmunk running into the coop along with the chickens to get some scratch! Perhaps I just need to enunciate more clearly?!?!

 

[off-grid hen]

Chip chip chiiiiiiiipmuuuuunks! Yeah, I see the similarity.

 

[bruceha2000]

Bruceha, I cannot really picture your set up, but I can tell you that if it is hard for them to see the paradise outside from their coop, it takes them a lot longer to learn to go out there on their own.

They CAN see outside from the coop - but I don't know how good their eyesight is, maybe the distance is too far for them to make anything out:


This might help visualize the setup as well. I took the picture standing between the two 4' high roosts before the birds moved in. Past the door is the barn alley which I have blocked off in front of the coop for an indoor run. There is now a chicken ramp from the floor in the alley to the left corner of the window (the chicken door). Outside that is a long ramp to the ground in the outdoor run (4' chicken wire only, no hawk cover).

They can also see outside from the window the outer chicken door is in. The plywood door replaces one pane of a ~32" x 37" 9 pane window. They will sit on the brace that supports the open door and look out the glass but not go out.

 

[blueyzjg]

My girls spent one week in their coop then I let them out, they always go back in at 8 pm and I lock them in. My girls are spoiled if they hear the back door open they come running, even running thru all the dogs if they are coming out!! I am always home so I can check up on them, my yard is fenced. If I need them back in a "here chick, chick" gets them right to me, a tasty treat throw in their coop and in they go. I use corn mostly. Hope that helps. They really love being out and are a hoot to watch. Grass, bugs, running around, a good dust bath and a rest under the shady bushes. If I am out they often come over to see what I am up to. Jackie

 

[bruceha2000]

OK, all the chickens FINALLY went outside of their own accord

The Cubalayas, one Easter Egger and the Faverolles were the first to make the trip mid week. Finally, on Friday, all the birds went out.

- Maybe it was the extra cleats I put in the outdoor ramp (they were 6" apart, now the top half has them 3" apart). It is about 4.5' ground to chicken door. Of course, some of the birds that had not voluntarily gone out before fly from the top of the ramp so I don't think the cleats were a concern for them.
- Maybe it was the weather. Still pretty hot but there was some cloud cover.
- Maybe the less brave finally figured out they were missing the fresh greens, weed seeds and bugs.

Now I have to get them trained to come in. It was looking like rain (finally) so I decided to put them to bed in the coop a bit early because I didn't want to go out in the rain later when they would normally all be up on the roosts in the coop.

I brought kitchen scraps about 8 PM. Seven birds were still outside. So I do my "I have treats; come a running" call (which I'm sure at this point means as much as anything else I say to them - nothing) from inside the coop. The birds that were already in check out the goods and 2 ran from the coop into the indoor run with their 'catch'. OK, not the plan. But I still have 7 birds outside. So I go to the window and talk to them, they aren't interested. It starts raining. The first rain they have been in. It picks up a little and Andromeda (the EE) say's "heck with this" and comes inside.

Then it started raining pretty hard. The Anconas, Cubalayas and Faverolles are too STUPID to come in. And no, they did NOT look real happy out there. They weren't even smart enough to get under the metal shade roof, which in the end was fortunate. I had to chase down and pick them up one by one and put them on the ramp near the window. I did this when the rain stopped for a short time because *I* am not a stupid chicken.

Definitely need to get them trained to the "come here NOW" call. Don't need wet chickens.

 

[bruceha2000]

But now I have a chipmunk running into the coop along with the chickens to get some scratch!

My wife had a fun time a week ago watching a chipmunk come in the indoor run from one side. The chickens were all on the other end near my wife. The chickens ran to the other side and chased it out, then came back to my wife's end. "Why did the chipmunk enter the run?" Apparently it wanted to get to the other side. This happened repeatedly until the chipmunk gave up. The chicken feed is in a big metal pot with a lid (big enough for 50 pounds of pellets) so the chippie wasn't going to a 'normal' food source. My daughter and I rescued one from the trash barrel a couple of weeks ago.

Talking rodents, I have 2 pieces of metal roof (for shade) leaning against the barn in the outdoor run. The wind (wicked yesterday, I need a wind tower!) blew the sheets to the edge of the run. I put them back up (yeah I know, I need something more permanent) and found a dead and slightly bloody rodent on the ground. Too big for a mouse, maybe a vole? I'm wondering if it was just unlucky and got whacked by the metal or if the chickens might have done it in? It was still "fresh" and the birds were all voluntarily in at the time. I have no idea how long they had been in and when the critter met its untimely demise (it was not stiff yet).

 

[bruceha2000]

You all might recall this part of a previous post.

I'm SURE I'll regret it at some point

when they finally do go out then decide they want to be on the other side of the fence .....

Well today at 8 weeks, they have decided.

They got brave (some more quickly than others) last week and started going out the window and down the ramp to the 18' x 18' outside run with 4' chicken wire fence. They would stay out awhile, then one would decide it was time to go in and they would all follow within 5 minutes. After a few days of this, they would all head up the inside ramp for the window and go out when we came to the barn. I don't know if they were going out when we weren't there or not.

On Sunday we opened the 'gate' from the outside run to the rest of the world. They had pretty much trampled everything in the run. A couple of them noticed after a while and after some time they had all trooped out and had a grand time pecking at weeds and whatever. I stayed out there ripping out thistle (we have a LOT of thistle) and as before, one decided it was time to go back to the inside run. Walk to the outside run, then fly half way up the ramp and walk the rest of the way through the window back into the barn. And, as before, the rest followed shortly.

The inside run (the barn alley) has 4' fencing as well. My wife went to close the chicken door to the coop last night and they had already put themselves to bed. The easiest way to count them is to go into a small storage room that looks into the side of the coop stall. From there she counted 11 chickens roosting in the coop, plus the one IN that room. One of the Chanteclers (not the most adventurous of our birds) had flown the 4' gate and apparently couldn't figure out how to go the opposite direction so she got as close as she could. Into the coop she goes for the night.

Today my wife went out to open the chicken door from the inside run to the outside. All the birds went out. Some then flew the fence and wandered around where I had been pulling thistles Sunday. Followed, of course by the rest of them. They flew back into the run after a bit and went back inside. She went to check them later and they decided it was time to go back outside again. This time some didn't even bother to go to the outside run, they just flew from the window to the "real world" - it is only about 6'.

So, be careful what you ask for! I hope there aren't any hawks checking out our place

Definitely need to get on that "come here all you chickens" training ASAP. And, I suppose, a "chickens can't get out" covered run for when we can't be out to watch them and don't want to take a chance on losing them to day time predators. Not that I have the TIME of course.