How many hours do you free range your chickens?

[Stiggy]

Mine have free range all the time, except during breeding season where the Frizzles are confined to their run ( which is huge anyway because one doesn't get on with my others and harasses the non frizzles ). So they have their runs/ pens but they are open all the time otherwise. I find that the free range makes them happier, and they eat less pellets, mine didn't like the organic pellets that we tried them on, so I switched back to the original ones.

 

[centrarchid]

Well, I don't know about your organic pellets.

However, chickens don't just lay in the morning, it takes about 25 hours to lay an egg, so each day they lay a little later, then skip a day and start over in the morning. When I get a sharp decline in egg production, I go out with my coffee cup and start listening for a hidden nest.

I free range a lot, but I really try to vary it, so that there is not a real routine, somedays all day, somedays part of a day, somedays no time out. I think this keeps my predators off a scheduled buffet.

Mrs K

There is variation in time interval between eggs. During spring with hens in exceptional nutrition as allowed by free-range foraging, the interval can be as short at 23 hours. Same hens being observed now are pushing 36 hours. Increased interval maybe due to heat stress and conflicts with molt rather that forage quality / quantity.

 

[centrarchid]

Most of my free-range birds are continuously so but I have a lot of resources tied up into keeping predators off of them. Those free-ranged only part of day are released at about 5:30 PM and they rush out for what they can get before dark. If free-range quality good that works well but if poor then birds either do not get at much benefit or are prone to range too far.

Watch their ranging habits.

 

[Kneedles]

My hen is entirely free-range; she sleeps in a coop that I used to close at night, but I decided that doing so is probably no longer necessary. She has full run of the backyard; unfortunately she has failed to resist the temptation to wander into the backyard next door because of this, but I am trying my best to discourage it. Where I live, the complete lack of common predators such as foxes and raccoons means that I do not need to worry about them. Cats are still a threat, but they have not been successful yet. Free-ranging dogs and mustelids are threats that have yet to be encountered, but they are probably less likely to appear where I am.

 

[centrarchid]

My hen is entirely free-range; she sleeps in a coop that I used to close at night, but I decided that doing so is probably no longer necessary. She has full run of the backyard; unfortunately she has failed to resist the temptation to wander into the backyard next door because of this, but I am trying my best to discourage it. Where I live, the complete lack of common predators such as foxes and raccoons means that I do not need to worry about them. Cats are still a threat, but they have not been successful yet. Free-ranging dogs and mustelids are threats that have yet to be encountered, but they are probably less likely to appear where I am.

Foxes have not found your birds yet. One living downtown will likely move out to burbs to enlighten you,

 

[Kneedles]

Foxes have not found your birds yet. One living downtown will likely move out to burbs to enlighten you,

I forgot to mention that I live in New Zealand. Foxes not only do not exist here, but are completely illegal to import to zoos here.

 

[ReillyJ]

Mine of course have a coop and run but we are in the process of trying to build a pen--not so much because of predator concerns (they're locked up tight at night and part of the day and of course there will always be threats of predators) but to keep them contained.

Now that they're free to range all of our 3/4 acre, i'm going to have guilt containing them even though it would probably be better than a lot of chickens have...

Wondering if we should put up a pen? It'll be about 23' long by 10' wide

Here's their coop and run (converted dog house, of course all the parts are out of it now

And here's the area off the coop that we will pen


Wondering if i should just let them free range our yard and not bother with the pen? What would you all do?

 

[pfields]

Our backyard is fenced in so they have a half acre to free range during the day. Is your yard fenced in?

 

[ReillyJ]

Our backyard is fenced in so they have a half acre to free range during the day. Is your yard fenced in?

Nope, it's 3/4 of an acre, lots of trees, bushes, shrubs, and they stay put pretty well.

I'm kind of re thinking the pen... idk!

 

[pfields]

If all is going well, I don't blame you. Sounds like they've set their own boundary.