[Chicken_House]

Hi Fellow chicken owners,

I've currently 3 ISA Brown chickens who we used to let loose in the garden, but after we lost 2 to Mr Fox (we rapidly replaced so that my daughter didn't know any different!) we now only let them out occasionally when we are in the garden.

I'm reading books and searching online and so many people talk about free ranging their chickens....this is probably a very dumb question but how do people do this?

Should I invest in a large electric fence? Do i just fence off a large area? Do you fence off but then move the area about? Maybe I've just the wrong idea about what free ranging is, as in my mind this would be them happily roaming wherever they want rather than being stuck in a pen (even if it is a large one!). I want to extend the flock and get lots more girls but am stumped as to how to proceed to ensure they have the best and the safest time.

I'm going to to buy an enclosed run that's much larger than the one I have so currently, so they'll have more space but how do I actually free range my girls?
Thank you everyone....yours more than a little stumped!

[ladyK]

Can you let us know a bit more about your particular location/circumstances?
Are your chickens in a back garden or in a larger area, in an urban/suburban/rural setting?
I think these circumstances have a lot to do with the kind and number of predators about, and 'free ranging' might mean a number of things to different people in different surroundings.
Our chickens are fully free ranging i.e. roaming the garden & fields during the day and shut in a coop at night. But then we are in a very rural area with no near neighbours - if we were in a back garden foxes would be a much more serious threat and I'd have to
think about safe housing differently.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

have you got a dog at all? I'm not sure how TRUE this is but I was told that the scent of a dog can keep foxes away. Probably not a really hungry fox. An electric fence would be a good idea to keep them at bay, provided the charge was powerful enough, being extremely cautious around that. Believe me I got caught in one once, not pretty. One question is there a fox hunter nearby where you live or do you live in urban surroundings? Sorry for all the questions and i do hope it can be sorted soon. Keep us updated?

[Fleecewife]

Our poultry is completely free ranging, in that they have total access to any of our land on this side of the road - they seem to know that crossing the road is not good, although we've only lost one very independent hen who decided to go over there anyway.  They almost always stay within our fences too, even where our neighbour's land comes to within about 25 yds of the henhouses - no idea why.  In fact they choose to range over only about 3 acres of the available ground.  At night they take themselves off into their henhouses (converted garden sheds) and we lock the popholes until we are up and about the next morning, when they are let out again to do their thing.  Dawn and dusk are still dangerous times, so we tend to lurk about then, with the dogs around. Actually the dogs are not much use as they are terriers, so tend to follow a smell back to the source and start digging, while the prey potters off in the other direction, laughing up its sleeve. They do bark a lot though which perhaps scares off some foxes.
We live in an open rural setting, with nearby farms where foxes are culled.  Our entire holding is surrounded by double sheep mesh fencing, with a hedge between the two fences, apart from one short length - that will have to be fenced off as the fox soon finds it a useful way in.  Even the double fencing plus hedge doesn't stop a thin and determined fox from getting through.
We suffer from city foxes released into 'the wild', which haven't a clue how to survive, so are a danger to our hens.  In the main, the hens are safe as they are safely shut in Fort Knox for the night, but last year we were attacked in the middle of the day and most of our beautiful hens killed.  My point is that true free ranging has it's dangers, and is never 100% safe.  The only way to have any measure of safety is to fence in a large area with high fencing or electric mesh and the flock is not allowed beyond the fence.  This ground soon gets poached though, so the suggestion is to have two scratching areas, with the house between the two, with a door at each end, so one area is resting while the other is in use. Depending on how large a flock you have, even this method will leave the ground covered with droppings and with no vegetation.
There's no easy answer and you just have to make your choice 

[Womble]

they seem to know that crossing the road is not good, although we've only lost one very independent hen who decided to go over there anyway.

Oh Fleecewife. WHY!?!? 


    Being serious for a change, your setup sounds exactly the same as ours. When we moved here, they had had truly free ranging hens for ten years without losing any, so we decided to do the same. Over the past five years, we have lost some on two occasions though, each time at dawn.


Our decision was that we'll accept the risk (on their behalf!?  ), in return for giving them the best life possible. The lie of our land funnels foxes etc away from us rather than towards, and I think that helps. We also have a local fox patrol, paid for by the local farmers, who shoot some to keep the numbers under control.


On the other hand, we don't have small children who might be mentally scarred by losing their beloved hens. I guess you pays your money and you takes your choice!

[Backinwellies]

Just in case you are not aware   'free range' in the commercial sense means they have access to a fenced paddock but certainly in the one I visited on a sunny summers day ... they mostly stayed crowded into the house!

Mine are totally free range like Fleecewife  and so far have been lucky .. no fox deaths .. despite a fox making daily treks across our land.   The other side of our hill lambs and hens are taken by foxes  so I guess it will depend on the local fox community?    I do fence ours in late afternoon  and they don't go out till after 8.30am (cos I let them out same time as ducks) so I do miss the most dangerous times of day.

Have lost one to a Buzzard though!

[Chicken_House]

Wow, thanks for the quick, long and detailed responses. Ive tried to answer all your questions.....

We live just outside a small town (Lingfield) and have a large garden, paddock and woodland of about 4 acres. When we let the girls out originally they were only in the garden bit (about 1/2 acre and we kept shoo'ing them back if they wandered too far) but then when we went inside briefly they wandered to the back of the garden and 2 were nabbed. We are surrounded by mostly farmland/green space but do see foxes passing when the security lights go on and as the girls were killed in the middle of the afternoon, I'm guessing Mr Fox lives in or very near the garden as is still active during daylight hours. No idea about fox patrols etc but we border a farm so guessing ,most likely there is one.

We will be getting a dog but not yet and we'd like a springer spaniel and I've been told that they'll hunt chickens as well!! (is this true or a matter or training and keeping the dog entertained and exercised)?

The original girls had had their wings clipped, The replacement hens do not and I do see them do short flaps and jumps - does wing clipping hinder them in an escape or are they too slow and fox too quick?

I'd love to let them out and just watch them wander but guessing that now fox knows they're here, they'll be easy game. I talked to someone with electric fences and she said "she still won't leave them in the electric fenced bit unless she's out with them and so that's equally confused me!! I have 3 small children so collecting chickens up every time we want to go inside or go out isn't a smart option. The girls are very good at putting themselves to bed and they're locked up every night till the morning (after dawn).So it's purely a daylight hours only issue. Would letting them wander further make it easier for fox to pick them off or is making sure they stay in one area, making them even easier to pick off? Do I just face it that they'll need to be penned?

Sorry for so many questions but I've been reading and reading and there is an opinion for everything and I'm lost!

I really appreciate hearing the positives from you all and that having happy free hens is possible! a lot of people only seem to want to share the disaster stories and not the happy ones. I've had some very depressing chats with some very negetive chicken owners  recently and I just want the girls to be happy and to hopefully not have to mourn the loss of them too often.
Thanks x

[Fleecewife]

Your woodland sounds a danger, as foxes will find good cover in there, and be close at hand to take advantage when your back is turned. Have you gone in there to see if there is evidence of fox trails or a den?  Obviously your hens will be more at risk when the vixen has cubs to feed, and when the half grown young are learning to hunt for themselves.

It sounds as if initially you should give them a large house, such as the 6x8' garden sheds we use, with a well fenced largish area around it, until you feel more confident about the system you ultimately settle for.

Just having a farm next door doesn't guarantee they try to get rid of the foxes.  The chap who surrounds us on 3 sides doesn't hunt anything, but doesn't lose lambs - he swears by spraying them with Pledge - yes, Pledge! - before he puts them on his upland hill.  Maybe you could try giving your hens a quick burst of well perfumed polish when you let them out in the morning.  Not reliable of course.

[Marches Farmer]

Remember foxes and badgers are mostly nocturnal hunters - just because you don't see 'em doesn't mean they're not there.  You could have a run with a doorway and let them out during the middle of the day, perhaps, training them to come to call and getting them back in the run well before dusk.

[Eve]

Unfortunately, the scent of dogs does not deter foxes, many chickens get killed by dogs, and foxes definitely hunt in the middle of the day too. I would take note of the negative comments, there's a lot that can be learned from other people's experiences. Then you just do it better than them

You're right about the clipped wings: the chickens won't be able to get away from the predator. 

Our location is similar to yours so we built a huge predator proof run with a roof. Our neighbours have a similar set up but like to see their chickens on the grass as they think the birds will be happier... and have had 2 fox and 1 dog attacks in under two years even though their birds are only occasionally (not even once a week) on the field and their dog has weed and rolled on pretty much every inch of it.

Our chickens definitely don't lack space (50sqm per 10-12 hens), scratch in their bedding that is easy to keep clean, and have plenty of entertainment and greens. They are perfectly happy and have the added benefit of staying alive so that they can keep on being happy - if ours truly free ranged in the narrow sense of the word they'd be dead within days. 
We used heras panels, that might be an option for you?

Do you have a trail camera? It might be useful to see what comes and goes on your land?

[Marches Farmer]

The base horizontals that support Heras panels leave a gap below the panel that's a good starting point for a fox or badger to dig its way in.

[Eve]

The base horizontals that support Heras panels leave a gap below the panel that's a good starting point for a fox or badger to dig its way in.

Naturally you put mesh around there 

[sss]

Or turn heras upside down so the top sits on the floor.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

What about the local fox hunter? Is there one near to where you are?

[Rhea]

We've got the same issue as you, really wanted to free range our birds but after a daylight fox attack (and then dog attacks from the next door footpath) we've not been able to do it.

We now have a fully enclosed run they're in if we're not at home and overnight, and then a fenced off area we've positioned close to the house they go in as often as possible (hoping the noise from the ducks would alert us to any issues going on!)

It's not ideal, but I regularly see foxes around here so owe them some protection.