free-range

I have 5 - 10 week old egyptian fayoumis and brown leghorns chicks who free-range. I've heard these breeds are suppose to be great free-rangers but some have died without any sign of sickness, attack, or anything. I let them roam around when I'm outside but if I turn my back for a few minutes...

Hey guys, I need help figuring this out. I have a flock of six: 2 chickens, 2 guineas, (unfortunately I didn't know they weren't chickens cause I'm an idiot and didn't do my research...) and 2 ducks. The first four birds share a coop with a run, but they've gotten bigger now and they like to be...

Okay, so yesterday my dad was out planting the field behind my house, and I thought nothing of it but had my hens out free-ranging. Well I caught some of them wandering out in the field and I noticed some of the seeds were not fully planted, but sitting on the surface. He said the seeds were...

Every so often someone posts a question asking if chickens can survive solely on free-range/forage. The overwhelming response is generally a resounding "no", followed by a laundry list of reasons why it shouldn't be attempted (from not enough forage to increased exposure to predation, etc)...

Hi all, I'm looking at getting a second flock of hens and a roo. I've had my existing flock for 5 years. Im looking for the second flock as a breeding flock. They will be housed on separate parts of the property. My main question is when I let them free range during the day will they go back...

This is already getting interesting. My student is being tasked with following a single bird each day recording location, habitat type and activity every 15 minutes. She is learning how to be a field biologist even though will grow up to be a medical doctor. This will give her some cool...

For chickens, that is... My mom and I share a small flock of (currently 12) laying hens on her property in Poulsbo, Washington. We've been raising chickens for several years. Our girls have a small hen-house at the back of mom's old barn, with about 900 square feet of fenced-in hen yard...

Hello, I have 11 full-size chickens, and no time to build a coop. I have pondered buying a storage building to make into a coop, but I was wondering if something pre-fab could be large enough. They will have a large pen to almost free-range in, so I'm not TOO worried about the space. I found...

My two little girls like to take the chickens from the coop and run and carry them around the farm on walks ;-)

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...

I'm joining this site simply because most chicken people seem like a good bunch, so maybe I'm just a chicken owners' groupie. Anyone who would go to the trouble of actually writing about chickens, has to be a good egg (stop me there...). I don't have chickens, although they come and visit me...

Hello! I'm going to be adding some mature hens to my flock very soon! I have a question. I'm going to post a couple pictures later, as it is pouring outside, but I can describe it for now. I have a mother lamancha goat with 2 kids. They are in a decent sized square pasture. If I put some...

We have just moved to Oak Hills and discovered our first Rattlesnake. We are looking to get Guineas to let them roam the yard, and at least alert us if there is one around. Also hoping they will eat some of these beetles! I want the guineas to be free to roam in the day, and I've read that if...

Good Morning All, I've had chickens now for 6 years. Not once have they had issues eating the hostas that border my driveway by the house. My approx. 4 month old chicks of various breeds are trotting to the hostas every morning within 10 minutes of my letting them free-range. My poor hostas...

Hi y'all! I have an established flock of 9 hens, 5 Black Australorps & 4 ISA Browns, that are 2 years old. They free-range at will & always return to their roosts in the coop each night. I purchased 4 Dominique chicks 6 weeks ago that I estimate were 1-2 wks old at the time of purchase. I...

Hi everyone, I'm a little heartbroken tonight as my Austrolorp--the dumbest and sweetest of my six chickens--was nowhere to be found when I went to put the chickens in their run this afternoon around 5:30 p.m. A bit of background: The chickens are 15 weeks old. They have a coop and an enclosed...

Does Free-ranging affect the tenderness of the meat or is age more likely to affect it? We are raising Chanteclers- a dual purpose Heritage breed and we have some older birds that are no longer laying and wondered if they would only be suitable for soup because of their "toughness" from age...

This afternoon we noticed a pretty significant pile of feathers in a wide open space near our coop. No blood or tissue, just chunks of feathers. Of course, we immediately assumed that at least one of our free-range hens had been taken! We know that there is a large coy-wolf in the area, but it...

My chickens free-range and one hen went broody and laid a clutch of eggs under a tree outside the coop. I took the hint that she wanted a little space from the other girls and built her a nursery pen so she (and chicks later) would be safe at night. I still let everyone free range during the...

At the end of March, we purchased 23 pullet chicks. After moving them from the brooder, we've been keeping them in a movable tractor in our yard -- something I thought of as a short-term solution, but one that's persisted all summer. In about three weeks, we're going to need that tractor for...