simka2 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Okay, my chicken coop is coming in a couple days. I need to pick up a few laying hens while I wait for my chicks to arrive. Here is my question...I want these guys to be able to free range a bit during the day, especially into the horse pasture as I think it could really benefit from the fertilizer. How do I keep them alive? We have quite a few predators. I will make sure the coop is as secure as possible, but I do not want these guys completely confined. Any steps I can take to reduce my daytime losses? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrid Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Order more chicks on a rotating basis. :-( Roosters are very good at keeping their girls safe. Make sure you have a roo and that there are places for your ladies to get out of harm's way-- a run-in shed in the pasture, a tree line, something so they can duck for cover when there are overhead predators. astrid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrystal Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 You can't. Sorry to burst your bubble, but free-ranging is like an open buffet call to all those predators. What you can do is move the run into the pasture you would like them to range on and then move it within that pasture every few days. I have kept chickens in the country for the last 10 years. I started this year with 25 hens and 3 roosters and every time my kids let them out during the day I lost some. And this is in the yard where we live. Within 50 feet of our back door. I now have 3 hens left. 3. The rest were eaten by coyotes and foxes. During the day in our yard. I have even had dogs come in the yard at night and break into a chainlink pen to kill all my chickens a few years ago. Not eat them, just kill them. I have stopped naming the chickens and just call them "the girls" now. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 Thanks ladies! It just seems like some people do it just fine. :glare: Uggghhh, oh well. I guess we will just do our best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 what about making a chicken trailer? It looks like a tent, except it's covered with chicken wire, and you go move it around each day and let them roam under the 'tent'. Check out Joel Salatin's books for great ideas on farming and chicken trailers. His are so big he goes out and moves them with a tractor each day-but he also butchers and sells them so I'm sure he has more than you were planning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 (edited) I'm not an expert. But I would agree with a sizeable chicken run that can be divided so you can rotate your girls. This spring I'm going to seed the different sides of my chicken yard with a deer and wild game mix. I've been told it takes about 6 weeks for for these to sprout. My chicken run is the side of a hill. It's shaded and quite large. There are some pictures on my blog of it now covered in snow. My mom free ranges her chickens. She also has a donkey and a big dog that mostly protect her yard from predators. She does lose more in the spring though. She calls them her girls too. Edited December 22, 2011 by CalicoKat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingnlearning Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 I free range mine and don't lose all that many, though I do lose some. I have two unaccounted for the last year. I put them out randomly, not on a schedule or even certain days, just so it doesn't turn into a "breakfast is on" type schedule for the hawks. I leave the dogs out-none of my dogs chase chickens but they do protect the place. I try to be outside when the chickens are. I never let them out then leave home. Don't get attached to them, just get some and plan on losses and buying more chicks every year or so. I've had some free rangers for years and some for just one. Get chickens that are good at free ranging, dark/brown colors, light weight fast smart birds, not the bucolic fat types: Aracaunas are very wily birds (I had one that lived to 12 and free ranged that whole time) so their crosses are good, bantie crosses are very smart. My australorps always do well, they hardly ever get caught. birds in checkered or blended patterns. I think it's worth being able to let them free range around. The eggs are better, it cuts down on feed costs, and they do a great job of tearing up the horse/cow piles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 I free range mine and don't lose all that many, though I do lose some. I have two unaccounted for the last year. I put them out randomly, not on a schedule or even certain days, just so it doesn't turn into a "breakfast is on" type schedule for the hawks. I leave the dogs out-none of my dogs chase chickens but they do protect the place. I try to be outside when the chickens are. I never let them out then leave home. Don't get attached to them, just get some and plan on losses and buying more chicks every year or so. I've had some free rangers for years and some for just one. Get chickens that are good at free ranging, dark/brown colors, light weight fast smart birds, not the bucolic fat types: Aracaunas are very wily birds (I had one that lived to 12 and free ranged that whole time) so their crosses are good, bantie crosses are very smart. My australorps always do well, they hardly ever get caught. birds in checkered or blended patterns. I think it's worth being able to let them free range around. The eggs are better, it cuts down on feed costs, and they do a great job of tearing up the horse/cow piles. This is what I really want them to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingnlearning Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 If you feed your horses a little bit of sunflower seeds or oats every day the chickens will REALLY tear up the piles! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my2boysteacher Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 I leave the dogs out-none of my dogs chase chickens but they do protect the place. I try to be outside when the chickens are. I never let them out then leave home. I agree with the above. Our chickens have been free-ranging all year with no problems. Our dog is out frequently throughout the day and keeps predators away. I also tell my boys to 'mark their turf' :lol: outside to keep wild animals out of the yard. At night, though, once darkness has set it we get packs of coyotes all over our property. We are very careful to make sure all the girls are in their coop locked up tight when darkness hits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 We free range ours and have hardly/never lost any during the day---save the one the neighbor's dog got. At night thought we do lock them up well. Then again, we aren't in a high predator area--in the woods and field but for some reason no evidence of coyotes, coons, fox, etc. around our new place.............then again there have been cougar sightings within a few miles. I would plan on loosing a few and buying more each year. Sometimes they just up and die for seemingly no reason. Also, after about 2 years they really cut back on the egg laying so adding a few more new ones each year can help with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 I agree with the above. Our chickens have been free-ranging all year with no problems. Our dog is out frequently throughout the day and keeps predators away. I also tell my boys to 'mark their turf' :lol: outside to keep wild animals out of the yard. At night, though, once darkness has set it we get packs of coyotes all over our property. We are very careful to make sure all the girls are in their coop locked up tight when darkness hits. Okay, so I thought I was the only weird mother who told her boys to do this!!! Yes! I am not alone. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpidarkomama Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 We keep our chickens cooped unless we're out there with them. Our yard is wide open above, and we have many hawks in the area. Fortunately, their coop is fairly large (150 square feet for 5 birds) so they have plenty of room to scratch around. I would definitely go with a chicken tractor if I had them out in a field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Mine are free range. I let them out every morning and close them up again at night. They have no bounderies, go everywhere and rarely do I lose one in the daytime. If I forget to close their door at night though it's another story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Forgot to say I have my boys check the spot where I feed the barn cats at night so they can dispose of any possums, coons or skunks that might be lurking around. They are big chicken killers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 (edited) Ours are free range. So far, we've lost one when he jumped up onto an electric fence and fell into the dog yard. It's entirely possible that we've lost others that I'm not aware of (we had 35 at our peak, and have less now, but we've had some for dinner and lost a few when they were still small), but we've seen no evidence of that, and still have a reasonable flock (hard to make an exact count when they're running around free-range). We have two big dogs (as well as dogs at the houses on both sides of us) which probably help keep coyotes away (we definitely have them in the area), cats that probably help keep away smaller predators, and a burro next door, plus two roosters (with enough girls that they don't fight). For the moment, I think they're at least as safe as if they were in a confined space where a single predator breaking in could potentially do major damage in a short time. If we start losing a lot as winter goes on and predators get more hungry, we'll have to rethink. (It's definitely harder to find eggs with totally free range chickens, though I'm sure the ones we do find are higher quality!) Edited December 22, 2011 by ocelotmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillieBoy Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 I leave the dogs out-none of my dogs chase chickens but they do protect the place. ... Get chickens that are good at free ranging, dark/brown colors, light weight fast smart birds, not the bucolic fat types...My australorps always do well, they hardly ever get caught. birds in checkered or blended patterns....I think it's worth being able to let them free range around. The eggs are better, it cuts down on feed costs, and they do a great job of tearing up the horse/cow piles. :iagree: I've been raising Australorp hens for eggs for almost twenty years. We have lived from rural to VERY rural. Coyotes, wolves, bobcats, bear, cougar, weasels and raccoons have been our close neighbors. I have always free ranged during the day and have had a very tight coop for them at night. We have also always had two great farm dogs at any one time. In all that time I have only lost two to predators and that was very early on, at night, and with a bad coop design. I learned the hard way that the meat birds are way more stupid and they are 24/7 in a moveable tractor. They are only around for eight to twelve weeks anyway. ;) Our horse is also a fierce protector and we've heard many a hurt yelp from coyotes in the night. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 I am wondering if I should put the coop in the horse pasture? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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