# Can chickens get lost? Debating on free ranging.



## lttdoming

I really want to be brave and let my chickens free range un supervised.

I live on two acres of land and the perimeter of my property is heavily wooded.
When the 4 ladies are out and about they stayed mostly in the grassy backyard and at the edge of the woods digging, picking and acting much like chickens. recently they are roaming all around the property and the house.
Will they get lost?

I am pretty afraid of hawks and other predators but I do want them to live like chickens should.

My only other option is to keep them in their 8X6 rum that is pretty picked over.
Any advice?


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## Apyl

Keep them penned for a week or so then let them free range. They will stick within proximity of the coop. They know it's their safe place. I would let them free range. Make sure they have places to hide incase hawks or whatever fly over head. My flock hide under the porch, trampoline and in the coop when hawks and eagles fly about. And no you don't need a dog out side with them 24/7 , it's all personal preference.


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## Courage

If the chickens know where their home is, they will come back at dusk. Like Apyl said, keep them penned up for a bit until they learn that this is their home. It may take a couple of weeks for them to come back into the coop at night.


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## powderhogg01

My group has been spotted a ways from my house up the mountain. I live at over 9000 feet in elevation in Arapaho national forest and have every predator under the sun. 
I have only had one hen not return, I'm afraid a dog got her, but since that the chickens stay on the "safe" side of the house.
From my observations the flock always keeps one or more hens out on lookout. If they see something they think is threatening, they sound the alarm and those birds tuck I to whatever bush or cover they can find. 
Free range and let natures perfection guide you. You will see, in time, how awesome the birds are. Plus not having to feed as much is a huge plus


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## Bee

lttdoming said:


> I really want to be brave and let my chickens free range un supervised.
> 
> I live on two acres of land and the perimeter of my property is heavily wooded.
> When the 4 ladies are out and about they stayed mostly in the grassy backyard and at the edge of the woods digging, picking and acting much like chickens. recently they are roaming all around the property and the house.
> Will they get lost?
> 
> I am pretty afraid of hawks and other predators but I do want them to live like chickens should.
> 
> My only other option is to keep them in their 8X6 rum that is pretty picked over.
> Any advice?


They won't get lost but they can and will be snatched by a fox, coyote or stray dog. I wouldn't free range unless you had appropriate protection in place to insure the safest free range possible. Here are some tips for that:



> You really need the right breeds/birds, the right rooster or dominant hen, the right place, the right dog, the right perimeter fencing(if in town), the right hide outs/duck and cover places and the right attitude.
> 
> *Right breeds/birds*~birds that are docile, slow moving, overly fat, used to being picked up in the daytime hours and have no quick reactions to alarm calls and aerial danger flying overhead are just sitting ducks for hawks.
> 
> Silkies, overfed BOs, Polish (they can't see overhead as well) or any other birds with a slow, friendly, docile manner that are used to shadows overhead(humans) stooping over them and picking them up. All they will do is duck down and freeze, instead of run for cover as they should be doing. You'll want flighty birds that instinctively move away from any and all potential predators..including you.
> 
> Breeds that are naturally good at free ranging are most of the heritage lines of birds such as Black Australorps, New Hampshires, Plymouth Rocks of all variations, Rhode Island Reds, Buckeyes, Delawares, Wellies, Doms, Leghorns, etc. These old timey breeds make good free range breeds, even when derived from hatchery sources. There are many breeds out there that still have good foraging and free range tendencies.
> 
> *Right rooster or flock master(can be a hen)*~ A good rooster will sound the alarm before you even see the threat and will have trained his flock to listen and act on it. He's worth his weight in gold when it comes to free range. Most will not fight a dog or other 4 legged predator, but the rare few will stand off a hawk, challenge a hawk or sacrifice himself for the flock. Mostly they will get the flock to shelter when a pred is in the area. A dominant hen can take over this role if she's the right sort.
> 
> *Right place~* Areas that have plenty of trees, fence rows, shelters, shrubs, etc. where a bird can run and duck under to avoid the stoop of a hawk. If there is a lack of natural shelters or hides, creating them at convenient distances throughout the range can mean life or death for your chickens. Some use pallets up on blocks, some even use pup tents, trampolines, and tarps over range shelters made from cattle panel hoops.
> 
> *Right dog~* A dog that lives outdoors all the time, is safe around the birds and sees them as living in his territory, so they are automatically protected from predator threats..even those from the sky. He is watchful all day and night and his constant vigilance lets area preds know this is a risky place for a meal. He doesn't have to cost a lot nor need some high dollar training or have to even be a LGD breed...mine have all been lab mixes that were unwanted by someone else~read FREE~and served years of unfailing, loyal service to the flocks and to the family. Loved companions, good dogs, fierce flock protection and have saved my flocks over and over. I'd never try to even have chickens~be they penned or free range~without a good dog to watch over them when I am gone all day and sleeping at night. They are indispensable to having livestock on your land....and that's just what chickens are.
> 
> *Right fence~* The right fence can and will slow down most canine preds from doing a quick grab and snatch of your birds and also keep your birds contained. They don't usually fly over a fence, they fly to the top of a fence and drop down on the other side, so removing any surface that makes for good landing at the top of your fence is imperative~even if you have a 6 ft. high fence. You can string light wire there above the hard top of the fence/gait to discourage the hop up or extend the fencing materials above the posts and gates by 6-8 in. Chickens, even adult ones, can regularly roost in trees and barn rafters, so a 6 ft. fence does not mean it is going to stop this behavior. Even clipping wing or wings can sometimes not deter a determined escapee.
> 
> If you have a good fence and keep your birds contained and you still get a neighbor's dog breaching those defenses, you have a leg to stand on when it comes to the legal aspects. A good looking, cheap and effective way to protect suburban birds from 4 legged preds is a simple electronet poultry fence on a solar charger...you can move it to different areas, you can put it away and use it another day, it lasts up to 10 years with good care, you can place it around your coop and not worry about *****, foxes, possums, etc at night and it will shock the vinegar out of even a black bear...and it will definitely keep the chickens in if you leave it energized.
> 
> *Right attitude~* To free range, one has to accept the risk of possible loss. If done correctly, those losses are very few...I've lost 3 to preds in the last 10 years or more. Two of those are questionable if it was an aerial pred, as they were young and prone to wander off into the woods out of the dog's boundary of defense~we have a local grey fox. I've lost 1 bird at night because she roosted in the barn loft where the dogs could not defend her and got picked off by an owl. All of these were acceptable to me because these birds didn't heed the dangers of leaving the flock and the flock protections that are always available. In other words, they were too dumb to live and so they didn't get to do so. All in all, these few losses over many years and many birds free ranged tell me that free ranging can be done with minimal loss if done properly.
> 
> *Another important attitude to have is that you are going to do everything possible to avoid predation, not just turn out your chickens to the grass with a kiss for luck~* then cry to all and sundry when it goes wrong, telling anyone who free ranges they are putting their birds at risk and are negligent. (This happens more than you could possibly know...people try it once, the wrong way, and then announce it can't be done safely.)
> 
> Free ranging can be done and done well for many years if you have the right system in place that insures your birds are just as safe as they are in a coop and run...and many, many stories of predation start right there~in a coop and run~so these are not fail proof places to keep chickens.
> 
> There really is no such thing as a Ft. Knox coop unless it is, indeed, in the middle of a Ft. Knox gold vault. A black bear or a determined pack of dogs can show you in about 5 min. how safe your coop and runs really are. Chickens in a coop and run are like fish in a barrel to predators and there is no possible escape there...at least out on free range they have a chance to run, fly, duck and cover and you may not lose all your birds in one devastating attack .


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## kjohnstone

From what you say about the pen being pretty much picked over, sounds like you already finished the confinement stage. They will not go further than they can find their way home from. Just keep feed and water in the pen, I assume they come and go there as they want, mine do, and most go there to lay (usually 4 of 8), since putting wooden eggs in the nests, they feel better about laying there. Ooh, I hear an egg song now, better go check so the chicken will quiet down.


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## Shann0

I have a question...


Before my girls started laying I let them free range pretty much constantly. I have a rooster that protects them, and also a young German shepherd that I think believes the chickens are his charge, as he keeps all neighbors dogs off of our property, and will follow the flock around at a distance and lay and watch them. He even shares his water bowl with them if they wander up for a drink. My question is this: I live in a very wooded area, and I'm worried that I won't get anymore eggs from my hens if I let them out during the daytime. Or more likely, I won't be able to FIND the eggs. I have penned the flock up in their coop for the past two weeks and have gotten an egg every day from one of my hens (they are all still fairly young). Also, I had quite a hard time getting them all back into the coop, as I think they feel safe out and about and don't really care about my feeding them as there are so many good bugs out here to eat. So what should I do? I think that I could probably get them trained to go back to the coop at dusk, but will I be missing all of my eggs since they range so far from the coop every day? I don't think the hen would go away from the flock to go lay in the coop when they have so many fallen leaves etc to lay in out in the woods. Any advice?
Thanks!
Shannon


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## Bee

They can and will train to the nests in your coop, though you may have the occasional laying out going on. It sounds like you have a wonderful dog for the purpose and one can't ask for any better setup than that. Just keep track of your eggs and if you are missing too many, lock them in the coop until they get used to the nests once again.

That is an ongoing thing until a new flock gets used to laying in the nests. Make the nests desirable and safe for laying and most will prefer to lay there...there are always a few rogue hens that will always prefer to lay outside and you can often find where they like to lay and just collect their eggs from there, or cull those hens when it's time to cull. 

That's just an ongoing problem with free ranging but it can be licked. My old flock never lay out any longer and the only birds that did are long gone now. I have new hens coming up to POL that are really wild and live in the woods constantly, so I'm thinking I will have to do a lot of training to get them familiar with laying in the coop...but it's worth it.


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## TinaTwilight

I free range our flock. But they have their own shelter which I close up securely at night. If I didn't they would suffer from predator attacks.


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## Keith

We kept ours penned until they were big enough not be eaten by hawks, now they free range all day/night.

They go out about max 1000ft from the coop but don't venture much beyond that.


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## Bee

I free range mine from 2 wks old and they range all over 3 acres of meadow and wooded areas, daybreak to dark.


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## rgraham13

We have 18 on the prairie in Colorado and they like to stay pretty tight by the coop, house, or trees. Have not had any hawk issues yet, but they do hover over the house. My hens are pretty sharp and dive for cover when they spot them. Around dusk they all head to the coop to get locked in. Our dogs are in a separate yard and seem to keep the yotes away.


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