Does it work for you?
Why? Why not?
When I had chickens in Bluemont, VA I couldn't free range safely unless I was outside or very active between inside and out.
I lost my first chicken to a hawk and the rest to a fox or coyote. I replenished my little flock but hated having to keep them in a fort knox enclosure. They paced and paced wanting out. I eventually got lax and allowed them to free range and I lost that group as well. All were killed during the day.
To have chickens they'd have to be kept enclosed. I was in the midst of building a chicken tractor when I ditched poultry/had the house fire.
I miss having chickens and am considering getting a trio in the spring if zoning allows.
So for me free ranging was too dangerous. I now purchase eggs from those who can safely free range their chickens.
It works for me and I posted a bit about it under the free range pig post. I have a fenced acre (not that my chickens can't, and sometimes do, fly over the 5-foot fence). But they do tend to stay in most of the time. I have lots of big spruce trees and open areas. They love hanging out under the trees and scratching around.
ReplyDeleteI also have ducks which are much more easily contained. One thing about ducks, they are very predator-aware. Always an eye on the sky. They have a secure coop at night. Most of our predators around here are evening/night hunters (raccoons, coyotes, owls). I have never lost a bird to predation, luckily. I lost one chicken because it got hit by a car (it flew over the fence).
One day a huge red-tailed hawk was chasing the ducks along a fence in my open pasture area, but the fence saved them as the hawk couldn't dive with the fence there. The ducks were very young then and apparently have learned their lesson. They do not stray far into the open since then.
I agree that it just depends on your area, predators, (dogs can be predators too) and setup. I hope it works out for you, Meredith. My birds are a joy to watch and the eggs are delicious!
Duckmama
I have about 100 laying hens at any given time.
ReplyDeleteI have large vegetables gardens that the chickens would destroy should I let them free-range. There are also many packs of stray dogs in the area, fox, hawks, owls for predator problems.
What works for me: 48" electro-net fencing (look up Premier One) juiced by a solar panel & battery pack. That keeps the chickens out of the veg, and the 4-legged predators out. I do have to clip pullets' wings to get them trained to the fence. The feathers grow back, but it only takes a single clip of one wing each to get them to respect the fencing.
Enclosed coops are essential to prevent owl predation. They only hunt at night, and putting some kind of overhead netting up over a 1/2 acre of pasture is unreasonable. Out at dawn to open the coops, out at dark to close them.
I find a few roosters are invaluable in protecting against hawk predation. Hens are pretty oblivious. A good rooster (you might have to 'soup' one or two in your quest for a good one) will keep an eye on the sky, and squawk when anything larger than a crow flies overhead. On that squawk, all hens run for cover.
When I first started out, I tried a chicken tractor. I read all the books, that said chickens only need at most 2 square feet of space. Wrong. I could not keep more than two chickens in a 4'x10' tractor (that I moved 2-3 times per day) without them picking at each other.
This is what Ayrshire did. I believe it worked well for them.
DeleteI miss chickens! I've only had sweet roosters. "Romeo" the rooster where my aunt gets her eggs...gotta watch for that one!
Oh man, I have a beautiful big cochin rooster with massive spurs and although he looks huge and threatening he's a complete gentleman. My last rooster was a little Delaware and I had to literally use a trash can lid as a shield to let the chickens out in the morning. That didn't last long.
DeleteI wish I could keep a rooster! I guess the ducks will just have to do double duty. Our incorporated town does not allow roosters.
DeleteI must admit, though, they have a pretty good system for those who want to keep animals, including large livestock. The regs say you can keep certain "animal equivalency units" per acre.
Equivalency Units:
A livestock unit equals one horse, mule, donkey, burro, llama, bovine or swine. A goat or
sheep equals ½ of a livestock unit.
d. Density Requirements:
i. Large animals: Three livestock units per gross acre.
ii. Small Animals: One small animal or fowl per 2,000 square feet.
Not bad, I think. It helps that Eastern WA is an agricultural area.
Duckmama
My chickens are fenced in a half acre area. 9 chickens. Half an acre. They have plenty of grass, weeds, bugs, etc. I have still lost a couple to predation at night due to the coop not being fort Knox enough. During the day, hawks circle and I have seen foxes around. They are as safe as I could make them. Their eggs still have beautiful deep orange yolks and I have had some of my girls for four years now. Are they truly "free range" given they live behind a fence? No, I guess not. But they're a hell of a lot happier than most chickens I know of.
ReplyDeleteCompletely free range for us, no fencing at all for the chickens. We keep about 20 at any time and 5 acres they roam on. Over the 11 years we've had chickens, we have lost some to foxes. Now, I leave a radio on if I need to be in the house. It seems to work pretty well. I did see two young gray fox this summer, but they did not attack my birds. I started scaring the red fox by shooting near them with a 22. Apparently they learn it is not a safe place for them and they stay away. We have never lost any to hawks even though they nest in the woods across the road from us. We are vigilant but also lucky.
DeleteI should also say that 4 of my hens have lived to be over 10 years old and most live to be at least 7 or 8 and still lay beautiful eggs. Happy birds are healthy birds!
DeleteThank you for hosting this discussion. I have quail, chickens and ducks. The quail are obviously contained and the 7 chickens are contained in a 100 x 100 run with a secure coop locked at night. The ducks are locked up at night as well but are free to roam wherever during the day. Why? Natural behavior. We have 5 acres. The chickens, when let out, immediately run to the house and kick up all the mulch and landscape cloth. When they get bored with that they go over to the neighbors birdfeeder. The ducks on the other hand are model citizens. After their morning swim I know they are either in the orchard or out in the field. Quail and chickens get treats delivered on a daily basis. All these birds live a pretty happy life compared to 99% of the poultry in this country.
ReplyDeleteWell, I tend to err on the side of caution with my hens and have not lost one yet, but this means they are only allowed to free range when I am nearby, which means about an hour a day when I'm outside with them. They have about a 40 x 40 foot area that has deer fencing, so can't be climbed over easily, and so far (3 years) we haven't had any problems with predators. The fact that there are two noisy, protective dogs nearby helps a lot, too. The chickens also have a 12 x 14 foot coop and a run of about the same dimensions, so when I'm not nearby they are in there. I find it helps them to always have fresh hay to scratch around in in the run, so when they're in there they are still occupied and happy. So bottom line, free range all day long would not work here, as it's just a risk I'm not willing to take.
ReplyDeleteWe had chickens, no more. Everything got them. Hawks, Weasels, dogs, you name it. We could not take the carnage anymore. We put them in a coop at night, and even had coons break in.
ReplyDeletehttp://smithmeadows.com/farm/what-is-free-range-chicken/
ReplyDeleteMine used to free range - they had an insulated shed with a run surrounded by a 4' chain link fence that they could easily fly/hop over. It worked fine for years, they came and went and wandered all over our acreage. Then for whatever reason, a few years back the predator population spiraled out of control. Coyotes, fox, raccoons, the worst was the night a mink got into the coop and tore a bunch of heads off and bit necks, it was a gruesome horrible sight in the morning. The only time I've EVER been happy to see an animal hit by a car was a few days after that incident, when someone else hit the mink and I found it dead by our mailbox. Nasty animal.
ReplyDeleteNow they live in a large Fort Knox enclosure, I even buried a wire mesh "floor" under the sand/dirt of the entire pen. I try to keep it as natural as possible (I planted a tree inside, and they're given arm loads of forage, etc) but I couldn't handle the predator issues of free ranging management. I'm not willing to trap or poison, so it's a trade-off, I guess.
~A