Why I’ll Never Free-Range My Chickens Again

[thecreekhouse]

It’s been two years since the hawk attacks that decimated my small, free-ranging flock. I’ve finally just this month bought a new coop and restocked my flock.

I respect the right of all chicken-keepers to make their own decisions regarding free-ranging, but as for me, after what we went through, I will never again free range my hens. I have invested in a top-quality and large chicken tractor that keeps them as safe as they can be made safe while still allowing them access to fresh grass and bugs.

 

[BantyChooks]

I wonder if you would also respect the right of a chicken making its own decisions regarding incarceration, or freedom.

I wouldn't, because chickens have notoriously poor risk-benefit analysis capacaties.

 

[ralleia]

If you are unable to act like Atilla the Hun, then free range chickens are not your cup of tea.

On spying a coyote or fox trotting through the horse pasture towards my chickens, I am able to sprint towards it, slip through the three-rail fence hardly knowing how I did it, and charge the furry varmint.

I love the look on their face when the notice the crazy middle-aged woman coming at them!

Does that count?

 

[BantyChooks]

I haven't lost a bird to predators in over a year, and I free range. Honestly, I'm shocked I don't lose more than a few of the stupid ones to hawks now and then. Since the last attack, I've gotten rid of the last of the dumb breeds, in an effort to have a more cohesive and intelligent flock as a whole. I have multiple roosters that watch the skies and give advance warning of all danger.

I hope that never changes, because my birds are much happier and healthier when they can be out and about, and that's not my personal thoughts being applied to birds, it's my observation on their body language, activity, and rate of illnesses or parasites.

 

[llombardo]

I agree. From the get go I knew I was not going to free range, so I built the run. We really can't say we are protecting them and free ranging in the same breath, when there is a 50/50 shot of a predator Attack. It's hard enough to keep them safe when it is secure.

 

[ralleia]

We free-range part of the time on our eleven acres. Due to past experiences, we do supervised free-ranging, but of course there are lapses in supervision when someone goes inside for something, and we would lose a chicken periodically. Of course it is usually everyone's favorite bird, and my mom, daughter and I are angry and sad.

With us it was rarely hawks once we got the main run covered. We have a fair amount of tree and brush cover, and the chickens can also run underneath the coop, so our primary issue is the local fox looking for an easy meal.

My ultimate goal is to fence in a sufficiently large area that the chickens can essentially free-range while still being protected from fox attack. I'd also like to incorporate either a rotation with a planted garden in part of it, and/or the "chicken moat" concept where chickens patrol around the exterior of gardens.

The hens are just so happy running around doing chicken stuff, and it is such bliss to watch them doing their thing. I have studied chicken tractors in the past and at one point was almost convinced to get one, but number of chickens we like to maintain is more than can be supported unless we did multiples. And they just don't provide the same kind of openness.

So for the coming year I want to implement our big fenced garden & run ideas, complete with a brand new coop.

 

[Compost King]

There are risks to free ranging, just like their are risks when I leave the house and drive in an automobile. Freedom can be dangerous but free chickens are happier. Although I pen up all the chickens I breed. When they are are pullets and cockerels or Hens that are not in the breeding rotation they get freedom. All Roosters are penned though because I do not want to risk a rooster attacking a little kid.

 

[thecreekhouse]

I agree. From the get go I knew I was not going to free range, so I built the run. We really can't say we are protecting them and free ranging in the same breath, when there is a 50/50 shot of a predator Attack. It's hard enough to keep them safe when it is secure.

I’ve never met a free-ranging chicken-keeper who doesn’t periodically lose chickens to predators.

 

[BantyChooks]

Next time one of the chickens here makes an error in judgment I’ll be sure to remind it how lucky it is to have an infallible human as it’s ‘protector’.

Not infallible... just better at remembering when there's a hungry dog in town or not.

 

[thecreekhouse]

We free-range part of the time on our eleven acres. Due to past experiences, we do supervised free-ranging, but of course there are lapses in supervision when someone goes inside for something, and we would lose a chicken periodically. Of course it is usually everyone's favorite bird, and my mom, daughter and I are angry and sad.

With us it was rarely hawks once we got the main run covered. We have a fair amount of tree and brush cover, and the chickens can also run underneath the coop, so our primary issue is the local fox looking for an easy meal.

My ultimate goal is to fence in a sufficiently large area that the chickens can essentially free-range while still being protected from fox attack. I'd also like to incorporate either a rotation with a planted garden in part of it, and/or the "chicken moat" concept where chickens patrol around the exterior of gardens.

The hens are just so happy running around doing chicken stuff, and it is such bliss to watch them doing their thing. I have studied chicken tractors in the past and at one point was almost convinced to get one, but number of chickens we like to maintain is more than can be supported unless we did multiples. And they just don't provide the same kind of openness.

So for the coming year I want to implement our big fenced garden & run ideas, complete with a brand new coop.

I definitely miss seeing the hens free-ranging and foraging. But I just couldn’t take the losses anymore. You’re right about chicken tractors not housing that many chickens. Mine is advertised as being big enough for 6 but I’ve chosen to go with 4. If you do decide you’re interested in a tractor, google “Smoky Mountain Chicken Tractors.”