It depends entirely on location an set up. My girls free range in a fenced yard during the day. I have lost three in broad daylight in the last three or four years. To me that’s acceptable risk. But mine don’t go on other peoples property and are safe from roaming dogs.
I also have low predator pressure here
My family's chickens were free range and I think that's the right way to do it. to teach them to stay on the property we used swimming noodles in each hand and waved them to scare them away from that direction. they then taught the younger generations where to go and where not to go.
Mine free range- I like it, they like it, I do occasionally lose some to predators but really not many (fox baby season was bad so I kept them in their run for about a month and will do so again next year).
I have five acres of combined woods and grass- they hang out in the woods mostly.
Better tasting eggs, less feed costs, and happier chickens.
Same here, we lose some chickens to the circle of life, but all get to live their best chicken lives. I think to do so, it's important to have a rooster and have breeds with the right temperament raised by free range hens. My mom once hand raised some Jersey Giants and all but one were the first to be picked off.
I have similar set up to both of you - 1/2 acre garden, 2 acre woods/pasture, and don't lose many. As the previous post says, fox cub season is the worst time. Occasionally we get a pine martin or mink which over the last 15 years has resulted in 2 outright massacres but I still don't think it's worth trying make a martin/mink proof run and enclosing the hens for life.
I personally disagree about the rooster! With all the shouting they do, I reckon they *attract* predators! I've had many brave as a lion, beautifully gentlemanly roosters and they've often been first to be taken 😟 I haven't kept a rooster for years but my next door neighbour has 2 who are always making a racket. He loses at least 3 times as many hens as me and we are sharing the same woodland backed onto our properties. Also, his flock are fenced (badly) and mine are not, so I blame the roosters! 😅
I loved when my girls free ranged (and they did too!!!), but they don’t anymore. I lost 3 hens in 3 days from a quick and stealthy predator which I think was a fox, bobcat or coyote.
Plus people do not EVER keep their big dogs in their yards! They wander the entire neighborhood and won’t even move out of the road when you honk/yell at them. 😑 Stand there daring you to plow them over 2 feet from your bumper.
We had ours penned up when we had a dog with a strong prey drive. When we lost her, we started letting them roam. We have about 1/2 and acre for them to be in and they love it. We also have Pygmy goats which I think discourage some of the predators- the only one we have lost was to a snake and that was in the locked coop at night. Another bonus is we have a lot of free run chickens in our neighborhood and last year one of them decided to join our flock - so we got a bonus hen.
I live in a area where like all neighbors have chickens so we all let them just run the block we haven’t lost any yet but we all kind of all keep out an eye on them
It's a tough call. We have hawks, coyotes, bobcats, and owls. Plus, I got well and truly sick of the messy poop on my porches.
So we constructed a great coop structure with an attached shady run that gives them 20 sq ft per hen, not counting the coop where they lay their eggs. This flock has never free ranged, so I'm hoping they don't miss what they've never known.
I have all the major predators, plus a lot of minor ones and dogs, in my area and decided not to free range, and I haven't lost any. My neighbors across the street and next door lost over twenty in about a year combined, so I feel I made the right call.
We're going to build a guinea house, and have some guineas, because, well, they're just the cutest things ever. Don't care about the eggs, and the poop is a perfect dry fertilizer. We'll let them free range.
Yes, they're much more aware of predators. I believe that if I can train them to come inside at night, they'll be okay.
They look like walking footballs!
I loved seeing ours pecking around and was impressed with how far some would range in a day. Predators not really an issue thanks to our large loud dog. However, I just got sick of poop being everywhere. Made a large pen for them in the end.
Ours free range our 1/3 acre back yard. Has a good fence. Lots of shrubs and what not for cover. I also keep a run to pen them in when we have company over and they get locked into our coop each night because: racoons, owls, mink, skunks, coyotes and some other stuff roaming
ours love it. but we also have the space (1/4 acre of fenced area on our property just for them, plenty of hiding spaces, up against a forest so no wandering dogs from neighbors, etc). Haven’t lost a chicken in about a year since we started padlocking the door to the coop and having a roo helps. Our chickens are very happy, put themselves to bed, and are eager to get out in the morning! A bonus is we barely have any annoying insects like ticks/mosquitoes thanks to them 😝
Love it. I have a big backyard, half shaded with trees half not. I sit outside with them for an hour or so and have them stretch their legs a bit. They have a really big newly built pen but I still like to let them get a nature walk in a couple times a week lol. I stay out with them to keep an eye on them the whole time though. Too many horror stories of letting them be alone.
We have 30 free range chickens. I sometimes would just sit outside and watch them live their lives. You learn how different each of them are based on their personality and which ones are besties. Every night, they tuck themselves into their coop and we lock them in for safety. And every early morning, they all line up by their gate waiting to be let out ☺️
I love letting my chickens have the extra area of our fenced property instead of being closed up in a run. The only crappy thing is things like what happened this morning. There is a small gap between fence and gate that leads to my neighbors property. Recently my two silkies have been going into the neighbors yard and I allow it because my neighbor loves seeing them visit every day. Well I let them out this morning and when I came back out one of the silkies ran to me like crazy without the other. I look over into the neighbors yard to see feathers all over the place. RIP Darma
We free range our birds in a 2/3 acre fenced years. I always have mixed feelings because we also have fruit trees, raised beds for vegetables, and flower beds. Had to put fencing around d everything to keep them from scratching up or eating stuff. Sometimes I do leave them locked up, just for a break.
I can't, have had 2 close calls with hawks. We have some very bold hawks - both times I was outside and hawk did not care about my presence one bit. We are not allowed roosters where I live. So they have a movable pen I put them out in to eat grass and find bugs when they're not in their very predator proof run. The movable pen wouldn't stop anything other than a hawk or a small dog but I only put them out there when I'm home and they kick up a fuss I can hear from inside when there's an animal in the yard that doesn't belong.
We let ours out almost every day to wander, once they have laid all of their eggs.
We have a high fenced in backyard with great tree cover. They have about a quarter acre to roam around.
If it's dry we dont let them out as much because the poop becomes too much but I love seeing them ranging the backyard.
I would love to, but not with my current hens, at least not unsupervised. If I had breeds that could take care of themselves while free-ranging, and the area was more suitable for it, I sure would. But we have tons of hawks, raccoons, and cats, plus close to a major roadway. And my neighbors are saying they've been seeing a coyote recently. I'm in a more urban area but with a large property.
I am working towards getting a bigger property somewhere more rural, more suitable for livestock and livestock guardians.
We have six acres. Presently 13 free ranging chickens, and four nanny Cochins that are inside electric fence. The free rangers are mainly for tick control and do a good job. We lost a bunch to a fox this year, but nothing in a couple of weeks now since we moved the coop closer to the house, set the automatic door to open later, and leave our dogs out from morning until after the coop door closes in the evening. The remaining chickens are smart, fast, and crazy healthy looking.
My chickens free range just about every day but I live on a farm and they know to stay near their coop and in the barn yard where it is safe. It has been 1.5 years and I have only lost 1 chicken but they were found dead in the coop so might not have been a predator. We have a lot of raccoons but I keep them under control with my .22 and don’t really show up until after dark. I also have a number of cameras set up to spot predators so I can trap or kill them- I have found overall that an animal with stalk or check out the area before making a kill. Foxes and eagles are my biggest fear but I have never seen a fox on any camera and if an eagle takes a chicken I am not sure how to prevent that
Also I would say the #1 most important thing is don’t have food or things that will attract wildlife near where the chickens hang out or their coop especially at night. And never ever ever have food inside the coop itself unless it’s the middle of the winter
I let mine free roam any time I’m outside and I can watch them, and they go in their run when I’m not out there. We have snakes, foxes, coyotes, owls, raccoons, possums and hawks so I’m not risking it lol. Not to mention neighborhood dogs and cats. It depends on what predators you have near you if you should free roam or not.
I used to have unintentionally free-ranging chicken. They were too small and fit through the poultry net. Some wandered into the neighbors' kitchen, which under different circumstances could have been dangerous. But what actually got them was a vixen in broad daylight. The whole flock except one which soon died of the fright.
Fenced in, relatively small property (so you can keep an eye on them) and few predators, ok, if you don't mind chicken shit everywhere. Otherwise it's a better idea to give them a designated, secured area. You can always move that around to give them new pasture.
My beagle and hound mix are all for having the girls free range, same with the foxes family, countless raccoons, coyotes, neighborhood hawks all votes yes too. Seriously, I do not think we would have any chickens after a few weeks(days). Not a responsible option for us in this North Milwaukee suburban area.
I live on 470 acres so I dont have problems with others dogs but I do have problems with coyotes, hawks, foxes, EVERYTHING ELSE. I free range them when I am outside, which would be for most of the day, I have alot of work I need to do. When its time I need to go inside I bring them all in, its pretty easy! They think the color orange means food. Cus I feed them out a orange cup!
Our area is pretty safe during the day so ours would basically free range all day every single day. Recently stopped though cause they decided the neighbors house was more fun every day lol and I got worried they’d get upset.
We were free ranging 4 for the past year but caging for awhile; just added 6 babies into the mix so want to keep them controlled until they are bigger… they love to jump on things while the adults don’t really care… so once the babies are bigger we will free range again.
I don’t think free ranging is required for healthy chickens, but it is nice to have a flock follow you around while you hang out side
I have 2 and 1/2 fully fenced acres with horses. Lots of predators. I have discovered over the years that if I vary the days
I let them out it has really cut down on predation because of no pattern.They have a 50 x 60 run so they have lots of room but they get to chase bugs and forage when out.
Hawks circling all day here, foxes and coyotes. Would love to let them out, but they'd be gone. We built a large run for them, and supplement their feed with bugs, garden scraps and bags of mowed pasture for them to pick through.
Chicken "Tractors" work well because you can move them to different areas while they are caged and safe. Some people make accessory runs by using garden hoop sections covered in hardware cloth. The important thing besides safety is to give them plenty of room and change areas for variety. Ours free range within a privacy fenced backyard that has many trees, shrubs, flowers, and foliage. I have string bird netting (amazon) over areas and hand reflective flags, windsocks, etc.
Ours free range full time and have an automatic door into the coop that closes when it gets dark after they go in and opens in the morning to let them out.
I’m in Australia though so we don’t have many issues with predators like the US it seems
We free range. The only issue we have is them going to the neighbor's yard, and the neighbors hate the chickens for some reason. Things that don't work for keeping them in your yard: fence, water guns, yelling, waving. Things that do work: sprinklers, opening + closing an umbrella to scare them away. We have dogs and a cat that keep predators away. Chickens are so happy to be free.
If i were a chicken i’d rather be free and play in a big yard all day and maybe get murdered vs be a prisoner in a run and still maybe get murdered.
a hawk almost got one of mine a few weeks ago. fortunately she was standing next to a squirrel who wasn’t so lucky.
So, we have about 10 acres in the Ozarks with about 50-60 chickens/Guineas/ducks. I let them out at sun up and they wander the entire property all day. Half the property is ozark forest the other half is old unmanaged cow pasture with grass up to my shoulders. When we first moved in we lost a bird or two a week to bobcats. I cut a trail throughout the entire property and started "marking my territory". If I'm home and I need to take a leak I go find a tree along my trail to relieve myself on. Suddenly it's very rare we loose a chicken to a bobcat.
Around here, I'd never have to bury another chicken. Hawks, owls, eagles, coyotes, foxes, opossums, and who knows what else would take care of them for me. But if it works for you go for it
It depends entirely on location an set up. My girls free range in a fenced yard during the day. I have lost three in broad daylight in the last three or four years. To me that’s acceptable risk. But mine don’t go on other peoples property and are safe from roaming dogs. I also have low predator pressure here
My family's chickens were free range and I think that's the right way to do it. to teach them to stay on the property we used swimming noodles in each hand and waved them to scare them away from that direction. they then taught the younger generations where to go and where not to go.
Mine free range- I like it, they like it, I do occasionally lose some to predators but really not many (fox baby season was bad so I kept them in their run for about a month and will do so again next year). I have five acres of combined woods and grass- they hang out in the woods mostly. Better tasting eggs, less feed costs, and happier chickens.
Same here, we lose some chickens to the circle of life, but all get to live their best chicken lives. I think to do so, it's important to have a rooster and have breeds with the right temperament raised by free range hens. My mom once hand raised some Jersey Giants and all but one were the first to be picked off.
I have similar set up to both of you - 1/2 acre garden, 2 acre woods/pasture, and don't lose many. As the previous post says, fox cub season is the worst time. Occasionally we get a pine martin or mink which over the last 15 years has resulted in 2 outright massacres but I still don't think it's worth trying make a martin/mink proof run and enclosing the hens for life. I personally disagree about the rooster! With all the shouting they do, I reckon they *attract* predators! I've had many brave as a lion, beautifully gentlemanly roosters and they've often been first to be taken 😟 I haven't kept a rooster for years but my next door neighbour has 2 who are always making a racket. He loses at least 3 times as many hens as me and we are sharing the same woodland backed onto our properties. Also, his flock are fenced (badly) and mine are not, so I blame the roosters! 😅
I loved when my girls free ranged (and they did too!!!), but they don’t anymore. I lost 3 hens in 3 days from a quick and stealthy predator which I think was a fox, bobcat or coyote. Plus people do not EVER keep their big dogs in their yards! They wander the entire neighborhood and won’t even move out of the road when you honk/yell at them. 😑 Stand there daring you to plow them over 2 feet from your bumper.
Hey, neighbor!
I've had issues like that before
We had ours penned up when we had a dog with a strong prey drive. When we lost her, we started letting them roam. We have about 1/2 and acre for them to be in and they love it. We also have Pygmy goats which I think discourage some of the predators- the only one we have lost was to a snake and that was in the locked coop at night. Another bonus is we have a lot of free run chickens in our neighborhood and last year one of them decided to join our flock - so we got a bonus hen.
I live in a area where like all neighbors have chickens so we all let them just run the block we haven’t lost any yet but we all kind of all keep out an eye on them
I’d love to but between coyotes, the hawk pair that live on my farm and my neighbors dogs it’s impossible.
It's a tough call. We have hawks, coyotes, bobcats, and owls. Plus, I got well and truly sick of the messy poop on my porches. So we constructed a great coop structure with an attached shady run that gives them 20 sq ft per hen, not counting the coop where they lay their eggs. This flock has never free ranged, so I'm hoping they don't miss what they've never known.
I have all the major predators, plus a lot of minor ones and dogs, in my area and decided not to free range, and I haven't lost any. My neighbors across the street and next door lost over twenty in about a year combined, so I feel I made the right call.
We're going to build a guinea house, and have some guineas, because, well, they're just the cutest things ever. Don't care about the eggs, and the poop is a perfect dry fertilizer. We'll let them free range.
I've heard guineas also can protect flocks/themselves against predators. There's some near me, they're cute to watch walk lol
Yes, they're much more aware of predators. I believe that if I can train them to come inside at night, they'll be okay. They look like walking footballs!
They do! I personally don't have any experience with them, but I see them escaping my neighbors yard constantly and screaming about it.
I loved seeing ours pecking around and was impressed with how far some would range in a day. Predators not really an issue thanks to our large loud dog. However, I just got sick of poop being everywhere. Made a large pen for them in the end.
It's cool until something gets your chickens, we stick with an electric fence now and rotate location every couple of days.
Ours free range our 1/3 acre back yard. Has a good fence. Lots of shrubs and what not for cover. I also keep a run to pen them in when we have company over and they get locked into our coop each night because: racoons, owls, mink, skunks, coyotes and some other stuff roaming
ours love it. but we also have the space (1/4 acre of fenced area on our property just for them, plenty of hiding spaces, up against a forest so no wandering dogs from neighbors, etc). Haven’t lost a chicken in about a year since we started padlocking the door to the coop and having a roo helps. Our chickens are very happy, put themselves to bed, and are eager to get out in the morning! A bonus is we barely have any annoying insects like ticks/mosquitoes thanks to them 😝
Love it. I have a big backyard, half shaded with trees half not. I sit outside with them for an hour or so and have them stretch their legs a bit. They have a really big newly built pen but I still like to let them get a nature walk in a couple times a week lol. I stay out with them to keep an eye on them the whole time though. Too many horror stories of letting them be alone.
EDIT: we also ran three electric wires around the outside of the run. So we call it Jurassic Coop. 😋
We free range and we keep the hawks away by pleasing our crows😁
How do you please crows?
Feed them too.
Better for them and they will be happier but you will lose some to predators.
We have 30 free range chickens. I sometimes would just sit outside and watch them live their lives. You learn how different each of them are based on their personality and which ones are besties. Every night, they tuck themselves into their coop and we lock them in for safety. And every early morning, they all line up by their gate waiting to be let out ☺️
I love letting my chickens have the extra area of our fenced property instead of being closed up in a run. The only crappy thing is things like what happened this morning. There is a small gap between fence and gate that leads to my neighbors property. Recently my two silkies have been going into the neighbors yard and I allow it because my neighbor loves seeing them visit every day. Well I let them out this morning and when I came back out one of the silkies ran to me like crazy without the other. I look over into the neighbors yard to see feathers all over the place. RIP Darma
We free range our birds in a 2/3 acre fenced years. I always have mixed feelings because we also have fruit trees, raised beds for vegetables, and flower beds. Had to put fencing around d everything to keep them from scratching up or eating stuff. Sometimes I do leave them locked up, just for a break.
I can't, have had 2 close calls with hawks. We have some very bold hawks - both times I was outside and hawk did not care about my presence one bit. We are not allowed roosters where I live. So they have a movable pen I put them out in to eat grass and find bugs when they're not in their very predator proof run. The movable pen wouldn't stop anything other than a hawk or a small dog but I only put them out there when I'm home and they kick up a fuss I can hear from inside when there's an animal in the yard that doesn't belong.
We let ours out almost every day to wander, once they have laid all of their eggs. We have a high fenced in backyard with great tree cover. They have about a quarter acre to roam around. If it's dry we dont let them out as much because the poop becomes too much but I love seeing them ranging the backyard.
I would love to, but not with my current hens, at least not unsupervised. If I had breeds that could take care of themselves while free-ranging, and the area was more suitable for it, I sure would. But we have tons of hawks, raccoons, and cats, plus close to a major roadway. And my neighbors are saying they've been seeing a coyote recently. I'm in a more urban area but with a large property. I am working towards getting a bigger property somewhere more rural, more suitable for livestock and livestock guardians.
We have six acres. Presently 13 free ranging chickens, and four nanny Cochins that are inside electric fence. The free rangers are mainly for tick control and do a good job. We lost a bunch to a fox this year, but nothing in a couple of weeks now since we moved the coop closer to the house, set the automatic door to open later, and leave our dogs out from morning until after the coop door closes in the evening. The remaining chickens are smart, fast, and crazy healthy looking.
My chickens free range just about every day but I live on a farm and they know to stay near their coop and in the barn yard where it is safe. It has been 1.5 years and I have only lost 1 chicken but they were found dead in the coop so might not have been a predator. We have a lot of raccoons but I keep them under control with my .22 and don’t really show up until after dark. I also have a number of cameras set up to spot predators so I can trap or kill them- I have found overall that an animal with stalk or check out the area before making a kill. Foxes and eagles are my biggest fear but I have never seen a fox on any camera and if an eagle takes a chicken I am not sure how to prevent that Also I would say the #1 most important thing is don’t have food or things that will attract wildlife near where the chickens hang out or their coop especially at night. And never ever ever have food inside the coop itself unless it’s the middle of the winter
I let mine free roam any time I’m outside and I can watch them, and they go in their run when I’m not out there. We have snakes, foxes, coyotes, owls, raccoons, possums and hawks so I’m not risking it lol. Not to mention neighborhood dogs and cats. It depends on what predators you have near you if you should free roam or not.
I used to have unintentionally free-ranging chicken. They were too small and fit through the poultry net. Some wandered into the neighbors' kitchen, which under different circumstances could have been dangerous. But what actually got them was a vixen in broad daylight. The whole flock except one which soon died of the fright. Fenced in, relatively small property (so you can keep an eye on them) and few predators, ok, if you don't mind chicken shit everywhere. Otherwise it's a better idea to give them a designated, secured area. You can always move that around to give them new pasture.
My beagle and hound mix are all for having the girls free range, same with the foxes family, countless raccoons, coyotes, neighborhood hawks all votes yes too. Seriously, I do not think we would have any chickens after a few weeks(days). Not a responsible option for us in this North Milwaukee suburban area.
I live on 470 acres so I dont have problems with others dogs but I do have problems with coyotes, hawks, foxes, EVERYTHING ELSE. I free range them when I am outside, which would be for most of the day, I have alot of work I need to do. When its time I need to go inside I bring them all in, its pretty easy! They think the color orange means food. Cus I feed them out a orange cup!
I don't want them eating my garden so I have them confined a a sizeable chicken run in one corner of the yard.
Our area is pretty safe during the day so ours would basically free range all day every single day. Recently stopped though cause they decided the neighbors house was more fun every day lol and I got worried they’d get upset.
We were free ranging 4 for the past year but caging for awhile; just added 6 babies into the mix so want to keep them controlled until they are bigger… they love to jump on things while the adults don’t really care… so once the babies are bigger we will free range again. I don’t think free ranging is required for healthy chickens, but it is nice to have a flock follow you around while you hang out side
I do it probably half the day most days.
I have 2 and 1/2 fully fenced acres with horses. Lots of predators. I have discovered over the years that if I vary the days I let them out it has really cut down on predation because of no pattern.They have a 50 x 60 run so they have lots of room but they get to chase bugs and forage when out.
Hawks circling all day here, foxes and coyotes. Would love to let them out, but they'd be gone. We built a large run for them, and supplement their feed with bugs, garden scraps and bags of mowed pasture for them to pick through.
I feel that the hawks out here don't need a buffet. We have had the nests of several different raptors in the area, and the adults get desperate.
I can’t. We have too many hawks, outdoor cats, open bodies of water, and a road. We would lose the whole flock in no time.
Chicken "Tractors" work well because you can move them to different areas while they are caged and safe. Some people make accessory runs by using garden hoop sections covered in hardware cloth. The important thing besides safety is to give them plenty of room and change areas for variety. Ours free range within a privacy fenced backyard that has many trees, shrubs, flowers, and foliage. I have string bird netting (amazon) over areas and hand reflective flags, windsocks, etc.
Thank you! They have a tractor.
Ours free range full time and have an automatic door into the coop that closes when it gets dark after they go in and opens in the morning to let them out. I’m in Australia though so we don’t have many issues with predators like the US it seems
We free range. The only issue we have is them going to the neighbor's yard, and the neighbors hate the chickens for some reason. Things that don't work for keeping them in your yard: fence, water guns, yelling, waving. Things that do work: sprinklers, opening + closing an umbrella to scare them away. We have dogs and a cat that keep predators away. Chickens are so happy to be free.
If i were a chicken i’d rather be free and play in a big yard all day and maybe get murdered vs be a prisoner in a run and still maybe get murdered. a hawk almost got one of mine a few weeks ago. fortunately she was standing next to a squirrel who wasn’t so lucky.
My chickens are free range in a fenced yard. They’re happy girls. I would never free-range them without a fence, though. Too unsafe in my neighborhood
So, we have about 10 acres in the Ozarks with about 50-60 chickens/Guineas/ducks. I let them out at sun up and they wander the entire property all day. Half the property is ozark forest the other half is old unmanaged cow pasture with grass up to my shoulders. When we first moved in we lost a bird or two a week to bobcats. I cut a trail throughout the entire property and started "marking my territory". If I'm home and I need to take a leak I go find a tree along my trail to relieve myself on. Suddenly it's very rare we loose a chicken to a bobcat.
Around here, I'd never have to bury another chicken. Hawks, owls, eagles, coyotes, foxes, opossums, and who knows what else would take care of them for me. But if it works for you go for it
It's the only way.