To let my chickens run free?

[bummymummy77]

They live in a coop and a run up until now but go out free for a couple of hours every day.

They've all stopped laying and they're 3 so not so much time left for the old girls.

They'd love nothing more than to run loose. The downside to this is the hawks, eagles fishers and possibly bummy dog are going to be a fairly big threat.

Dh says it's kinder to let them loose in the day and be happy little bok bok girls and still lock them up at night if they want to be than one by one getting sick and probably dying slowly.

They'd probably only get a month of it as when the snow hits they hide in their coop for months anyway.

Wwyd?

It does sound like you want them to roam in the day and possib be eaten/attacked by another animal because the poor chickens are n laying for the winter!

They don't lay much in winter. Ours have stopped and are moulting like crazy, we let them in the garden with supervision in the winter but just because ours are also 3 I wouldn't be committing them to death row. Once they stop laying completely in many many years they can stay with us as freeloading pensioners and chill out.

Your option sounds pretty harsh OP.

Dh was saying it was the less harsh option and that they'd be happier. I just want happy chickens. If I didn't care about them I'd still lights and lamps in and try to force them to lay more!

Bummymummy - yikes they are terrifying!!

Ours always came back to the coop and put themselves to bed right before dark, so they are easy to lock up at night, we never put up lights for winter, they would lay just enough for just my family in winter and enough to hand out to all my friends in summer. Our cats were terrified of them, the chickens were a stroppy bunch and would pinch any of the cats catches and eat it for themselves.
I always thought it was weird that the chickens malt in winter, they look so cold with feathers missing, you'd think mother nature wants to keep them warm in the cold weather.

This makes me really sad. The natural lifespan of a chicken is 8-15 years not 3.
It's 'kinder' not to use animals in any way.

Our chickens got taken out one by one in broad daylight by foxes over a week despite living with alpacas who jumped on the foxes and the dog who chased them off. They now have a very big run but are secured. Ours die of old age anything between 3 and 13 !! Pure breeds and bantams seem to have a much longer lifespan then hybrids.

Our were always completely free range but locked in every night, they were verry happy little birds.

Jude- again, not here. The winters are much much harsher I suspect that has something to do with it. And where have I said I'm going to off them?! I'm trying to poll which everyone thinks would BE THE BEST AND KINDEST THING FOR THE CHICKENS.

We have Rhode Island reds as they seem to be the best bird to deal with this weather.

We have some americaunas too but I wouldn't get them again. They got frostbite last year which made me feel awful.

One of our cats is petrified of them and the other hangs out with them a lot. He even sleeps in their nesting boxes which initially scared the shit out of me!

Where abouts do you live? Canada?

Near enough. Next to it.

Obviously we don't have your predators here but still have foxes etc. Mine free range all day and my thoughts are I'm putting their necks on the line a bit as the fox could easily swing by in the daytime. However they have a lovely life and are very happy scratching about to their heart's content all day long. They are shut in at dusk and overnight. I keep them in their run two days a week when I'm at work as nobody is home until after dark to shut them in bed.

I'd rather they led a free range, natural, happy life than were shut in all the time. It's just a risk we take to ensure that is what they get.

Mine are pretty good at spotting buzzards to. One of them sees it, shouts her head off and they all run for cover!

*too

Mine were let out in the morning for breakfast and took themselves to bed at dusk. I always closed up at night for their own safety but they would already be in bed and looking cosy!

"It does sound like you want them to roam in the day and possib be eaten/attacked by another animal because the poor chickens are n laying for the winter!"

No, it really doesn't. Do you often have trouble understanding tone, CheshireDing?

I would shut them up at night. We have had a variety of animals attack our girls. Tends to result in a mixture of dead, damaged and terrified birds. It isn't nice. It's amazing what they can survive for a while

When I had chickens, they'd effectively put themselves to bed and it would just be a case of shutting the coop door before dark. They roamed free during the day - but one really did cross a road once so be aware of that sort of thing. Cats were not an issue - mine were mildly curious, but stayed well away.

Oh I forgot about the road crossing habits Hassled One of our girls got hit by the UPS man as he drove down our road. It was rare for any cars to come past our house. He came and knocked on the door to tell me, and was so sorry. I got a big box from the garage and put her in it and put the box by the washing machine for Dh to bury her later. The street was covered in feathers.
A few hours later I went to get some stuff out of the garage and she popped her head out of the top of the box, scared the bloody crap out of me. She went on to live for a few more years, and was a good layer too. Hardy beggar. We had Rhode Island reds and New Hampshire Reds and a couple of Buff Orpintons.

lol squink!

Our girls are pretty good at putting themselves to bed. There's one Rhode Island that ends up in ridiculous places sometimes. She also steals things. She took ds's lobster roll out of his hand this summer when we were having a BBQ. Never seen anything funnier than a chicken panicking running off with a roll and an angry crying ds chasing her.

I think we may get a couple of buffs too next time, friends say they're pretty hardy.

They've free ranged for afternoons before, I'll extend it by a couple of hours each day or they may just bugger off.

We're at the end of a dirt road so don't get any traffic. Apart from fed ex/ups.

I've kept chickens for about 6 years now and I've currently got a flock of 14 hybrid chickens which live in a big enclosure in our back garden with additional access to different areas of the garden as and when I want that particular area destroyed.... er I mean dug over (like the Veg garden).

Unlike Pure Breeds, Hybrids usually do not live beyond 3 years although I have a Black Sussex and a Bluebell who are 5 years old and the definite matriarchs of our flock.

I have completely free ranged the hens before but it does mean that there is chicken poo everywhere, we never got to eat the blackberries and no flower beds were sacrosanct, although Ioved them tapping on the patio door in the mornings. I live in the country but never had problems with foxes due to the dogs. I don't know where you are thinking of free ranging. If its an enclosed large garden like mine is, I wouldn't be worried about free ranging apart from the poo and digging - which is why I do paddock system.

Chickens can easy see off cats, and most dogs learn to not poke their nose unless they want them pecked, although if you aren't sure about how a dog will be with chickens, don't leave them unsupervised till you know. Mine are very respectful of the Girls.

If I had a field to free range them in I think I'd be looking at electric fencing that can be moved to give them access to fresh pasture. I currently use movable Omlet fencing to give my girls access where I want them to go outside of the main enclosure.

Even when I completely free ranged in the garden, my girls always came back to lay in the coop. And unless I have young hens who need to be shown, my flocks have always returned to the coop at dusk. I have a long roofed covered area at the side for bad weather protection with extra nest boxes but they will still go home at night! I use a Chicken Guard on the door.one wing of each of my girls so they can't fly - no roosting in trees, but they can still climb, jump or bounce quite high, and glide! If its cold weather and you are worried about frost bite on combs and wattles, give them a covering of Vaseline.

Sorry meant to say that I clip one wing on each bird.

Also beware of Omlet fencing if you have dogs. We found out the hard way when we first got it. Keeps chickens in but dogs capable of forcing way through (to get to food) and getting tangled up in it. As its on posts that spike into the ground those can also stab the dog and they thrash around in them if they get tangled. I had to cut my dog out of it and didn't initially realise about the stab wounds - even vet missed them. Only after a few days afterwards we discovered them - she was very seriously ill by then and had to have major op. Nearly lost her. No problems since but lesson learned.

Omlet fencing is very useful, but I'd be wary about how it will be with dogs.