Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: Beekissed on May 04, 2015, 01:49
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I've been reading here for some time and get the impression that few free range due to lack of space but was wondering if anyone at all here are using this method of raising chickens?
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Our chickens are lucky to have lots of space....much to the horror of our Bulgarian neighbours who keep their's in small concrete pens. But they admire the way our's look, their's are often ragged and bald from fighting. In winter they have the run of the veggie plot too so about a third of an acre. But land is cheap here
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Yay!!! Another free ranger! :D
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My house is in a covered run area where the food and water and a sandpit for dustbathing is. There is a hatch in the front door, which is open 24/7, unless I need them contained. Interesting thing is that they do not poo in the enclosure unless kept in. They have the run of the back garden.
I have no foxes near me and they have plenty of bushes to hide under.
It does mean poo picking the grass though!!
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My dogs used to do that for me until I started feeding fermented feed, then they were no longer attracted to the poo. The poo from fermented feed has no smell and it just dissolves in the rain, so I don't mind it on the grass...free fertilizer!
Right now feed consumption has went down to almost nothing as they are finding so much out on range to eat. I love this time of year and it's the payoff for having a free ranging system in place, that free feed. Not to mention better health and socialization, more nutritious and better tasting eggs and meat, and they get to live a more natural life. I like that part. :)
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Pics of the birds out free ranging in the tall grass. Mower is down for repairs right now, so they are having a field day in the unruly grass...plenty of seeds and bugs to be had. This area is about 2 acres away from their coop.
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/16843589/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/16843591/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/16843594/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
Every time I see them out there searching for food it thrills me that they get to be a chicken out on the grass, just doing what chickens do. Occupied, exercising, and gleaning nutritious food. They are so quiet and calm that it fills me with peace just watching them. It never gets old to me, no matter how many years we do this...it just never gets old.
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What lucky chickens Beekissed! All that space!
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It definitely is a blessing from God, to be sure. The last place I lived I only had an acre and no woodlands around me, so forage was okay but not as good as they have here.
It's a wondrous thing to see them out there as they are right at this moment, grazing peacefully in the meadow with birdsong all around. If I were a chicken, this is how I'd like my life to go. :)
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Lucky, lucky chickens.
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Some years back I started researching a way to improve the meadow pasture so that the chickens were getting more protein out of their forage. I started frost seeding white dutch clover in certain areas of the meadow and also planting the clover over garden rows after the harvest to cover the ground and also give them fresh clover in the fall. The clover can have up to 22% digestible protein, depending on the time of year and time of day, even.
Another thing I did was to leave all the fallen leaves around their coop alone and go farther afield when raking leaves up to store for their deep litter in the winter. These leaves provide hiding and growing places for bugs, worms, and grubs they can easily find, even late in the fall.
I also took old hay bales and old loose hay and left them at the edge of the meadow/forest up by their coop so I could move them now and again....under these would be scads of earthworms, bugs, etc.
My mother is old school and likes to keep the lawn mowed very short all the time, but I encouraged her to let her grass go to seed more often in certain areas so that the birds could glean the seeds and also so that the grass could reseed itself to greater thickness and health. Now she will do this, especially in the early spring and also again in the fall...the pics you see above are showing the birds eating not only the bugs but mostly the grass seeds.
Planting and creating more foraging opportunities can improve even a small area of free range. This can also be done in a small way in a coop and run situation using deep litter, grow frames, bales of hay, old stumps, and even cardboard on the ground.
Here are some pics of the chickens grazing the white dutch clover...
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/0/00/900x900px-LL-0049c2d6_NHintheclover.jpeg)
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/f/f6/900x900px-LL-f692453a_WRsintheclover.jpeg)
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/0/09/900x900px-LL-09cb3039_Foragingclover.jpeg)
These next few pics are of my broiler chickens out on range...
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/a/a4/900x900px-LL-a4d52864_Crimsonandclover7wks.jpeg)
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/a/a2/900x900px-LL-a23c0b04_Bottomsupintheclover.jpeg)
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awww BK how lovely to see free birds
we free range too but do have a 40ft run if were not here as we have trouble with buzzards :(
I've taught my dog to chase anything that fly's into the garden - she even barks at hand gliders and hot air balloons if they come over :D
heres some of my girls - out and about
(http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo204/julie456/chooks/DSC00436_zpsf63b0065.jpg) (http://s376.photobucket.com/user/julie456/media/chooks/DSC00436_zpsf63b0065.jpg.html)
(http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo204/julie456/chooks/DSC00208_zps2ae62832.jpg) (http://s376.photobucket.com/user/julie456/media/chooks/DSC00208_zps2ae62832.jpg.html)
trying to pinch the dogs bones :nowink:
(http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo204/julie456/chooks/101_4700_zps975b0a82.jpg) (http://s376.photobucket.com/user/julie456/media/chooks/101_4700_zps975b0a82.jpg.html)
(http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo204/julie456/chooks/DSC01016_zpse16fcec0.jpg) (http://s376.photobucket.com/user/julie456/media/chooks/DSC01016_zpse16fcec0.jpg.html)
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Some lovely pictures of some lucky free ranging chickens.
Mine do free range but my garden is no where near as large!
Hannah :)
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We used to let ours free range during the day when we were in but there are soooooo many foxes here that we just can't let them do it any more. It really upsets me that we can't do it any more but they do have a large pen.
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Barley, those are beautiful pics of a beautiful place!! All your animals look so content and at peace there...it's lovely to see. The forage looks really rich there as well.
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Great to see Beekissed & Barleys hens free ranging, would love to have a garden/land large enough to do the same. I keep my 12 hens on my two adjoining allotments, their coup/run is 36' x 12' + an occasional grass 12 x12' pen I open up for them. Also leave another area 24' x 12' each year fallow, for them to scratch around in. I have a selection of panels I can move around to fit the area that is not cultivated. All in all for allotment hens I think they're spolit and almost freerange !!
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That's a lot more space than a lot of chickens have and space is always good. Any time they can be on fresh soil and get a chance to eat bugs and greens is a good thing. So many don't have even that.
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Took pics today of some of the planned foraging opportunities in the meadow, such as white dutch clover that has been planted to increase digestible protein in their diet, and tall fescue left not mowed until it goes to seed so that the seeds can be consumed and more grass can be planted. Also another kind of planned forage....trout brought back from last week's fishing trip and given to the flock for extra protein...they got to eat the maggots and also the rotten flesh and skin. It was quite the treat! They were not a bit interested in the fish when they were fresh, but let them rot a few days in the sun and they were a delicious buffet!
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/16995716/width/900/height/900/flags/LL)
This clover around the garden area also has the added benefit of attracting pollinators to the garden.
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/16995718/width/900/height/900/flags/LL)
Tall fescue seeds in abundance...
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/16995728/width/900/height/900/flags/LL)
New clover seeding a bare spot from last year's salad bed...
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/16995722/width/900/height/900/flags/LL)
And the rotten fish prize!
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/16995731/width/900/height/900/flags/LL)
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We've just sown some white clover too. Over here it is hard to get nice fish, and when we have tried some frozen stuff (white fish turned out to be catfish and as smelly and slimey when thawed) it ended up in the chickens. likewise the prawns which looked OK frozen but had a revolting texture. Very tasty it seems.....to chooks!
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This is a great year for clover....last year wasn't but the year before was. Must just have cycles. I've been seeing plenty of blue tailed lizards in the old lumber pile...haven't checked for my snakes yet, but hope they came back this year to have their young. All these things are very much a part of my flock's diet, so I try to keep good habitat for the reptiles around the edge of the meadow.
Haven't seen the garter snake sunning itself on the logs of the shed yet...sure hope he comes back too.
The chickens are enjoying some wonderful forage this spring....always good to see them out eating feed that is more digestible for them and feed I didn't have to buy. :)
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Broody with chicks hatched on May 24th turned out on free range for the first time today. It's been cool and wet here, so not the greatest day for their first adventure in the grass but it's get tough or die here and so they get tough. The little ones were unable to mount the lip of the coop pop door yet, so they are sleeping out under their mama tonight, tucked into a corner by the feed can.
She will run the legs off them and I'll wonder how they keep enough energy for growth due to all the extreme activity, but grow they will and will be incredibly healthy, develop great instincts for survival on range and also rely on foraged foods first and foremost for the rest of their lives. That means they will eat feed when it's offered but they won't wait by the feeder all day waiting to be fed, when they are fed they will eat some but go right back out to the "real" food and start foraging again, and they will be ingesting the foods that are naturally the best and most digestible for them, as God intended.
It's a good start in life to be raised by a real mama, raised on the correct feed, and learning about flocking instincts and social behavior at an early age. These chicks will be roosting with the flock before they are even fully feathered, on roosts 5 ft. tall, and eating in the same trough as the adult birds as soon as they can get over the lip of the pop door into the main coop. As a consequence, there are no integration problems and the young birds are taught correct social behavior from the earliest age, so there is no noticeable pecking order drama or fighting in the flock.
This has been a great year for foraged feeds, with the clover doing the best I've seen in 2 yrs, and many opportunities for bugs as the pollinators come to the bounty of blossom everywhere. These chicks and the two other batches to hatch this week will all have the best of foraging conditions this spring for their start in life. I thank God for all the plenty in the meadow this year!
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Found a baby snake, about a ft. long....gave it to the flock and it was gulped rather quickly. That's one of their favorite meals. Good protein and calcium!
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Yes we free range and our back garden has been pecked clean of every blade of grass that has not been fenced off. We had our three blacktails May 2014, so our not so good lawn, is now brown earth. :(
I plan to lay 35sq metres of turf and just let them on to mow it now and again. Does anyone know of a firm that supplies hen friendly turf here in the UK? :unsure:
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Yes we free range and our back garden has been pecked clean of every blade of grass that has not been fenced off. We had our three blacktails May 2014, so our not so good lawn, is now brown earth. :(
I plan to lay 35sq metres of turf and just let them on to mow it now and again. Does anyone know of a firm that supplies hen friendly turf here in the UK? :unsure:
Not turf, but you can get hen friendly grass seed. Google it. :)
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Let the girls out to range the garden today while we were out with them. They loved it - we have 1/3rd acre so not bad. They went right through all the dead leaves from last winter, raked the moss out of parts of the lawn & grazed for hours. Then they started to gather round DH & I where ever we were working following us around everywhere. Really nice in such a short time to be so friendly. Every one of them is happy to be picked up & handled well. One fell asleep on my knee while we had a tea break.
We plan to make sure they get as much time out of the run a posible. They were worn out & all made their way back to their run & dozed all cuddled up together around the log pile.Loving it!
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Here is our free range :D
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I've got 20 chicks and three mamas out on range at once now and it's a delight to see them roaming the land finding food for the littles. Another mama with chicks still in the pen but will be let out when they are a week old and fast enough to keep up with her out on forage. It will be a chickpalooza!!! :lol:
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I decided my 3 had too much free range and we had no lawn left so I put up some fencing bought some seed and and scattered same. After watering 3 times a day we now have some green back. My birds are allowed on the recovering lawn for 5 minutes each evening. I am hoping we can get in all green very soon.
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With your limited space, you might find the grow frames to be a less destructive way for them to get some greens in their diet. You can also start a nice deep litter in their coop and run to give them some place to forage for bugs, worms and grubs. All you need to do to get that kind of environment is to just try and mimic the forest floor in adding your litter materials....lots of leaves, twigs, bark, minimal wood shavings or chips, moderate straw, yard trimmings, woody plant material, corn stalks and shucks, garden vines, etc. Start slow and low and work at it until it's nice and deep with a variety of materials that compost at different rates and pretty soon you have a real bird habitat in your run instead of just over impacted, unhealthy soils. This habitat encourages bugs and worms to live in the soils under the coop and run where they can consume the manure, create a healthier soil culture, allow the run to absorb rain instead of it standing in puddles, there to breed bacteria.
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/e/e0/900x900px-LL-e081c141_100_2458.jpeg)
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/6/6a/900x900px-LL-6a0331ab_100_1695.jpeg)
Here's a pic of grow frames...easy to build and easy to maintain. They can't tear up this grass but they can clip it and come again.
(https://s.yimg.com/fz/api/res/1.2/A0__I8..53zdgdrlhvYDjg--/YXBwaWQ9c3JjaGRkO2g9Mzc1O3E9OTU7dz01MDA-/http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/2a/ae/01/2aae014adf7d2b1e9555070fb11e54a9.jpg)
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September and now October are the best months for foraging out on range, by far. My flock's feed consumption has dropped way down, per usual for this time of year, and they are ranging far and wide. So many bugs and so many weed seeds to glean!
They also forage in other ways...like scavenging in the gut piles from deer harvested here on the land, not to mention the last of the garden growth and all the various bugs and grubs to be found there.
I'm very blessed with huge variety of foraged feed here on this land, so it's always a delight to see what each season brings to the table. Even winter has its opportunities with kitchen scraps and bugs and worms found in their deep litter in the coop. They also will graze the grasses and clover when snow is not on the ground, so there is available forage all year round.
Foraging for grass under the glider...
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/7/77/900x900px-LL-7700d6ba_100_1431.jpeg)
And kitchen scraps in the snow...
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/3/33/900x900px-LL-33f6cbee_100_1419.jpeg)
Ample bugs and grubs hiding under the fall leaves...
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/2/2b/900x900px-LL-2b9eadb6_GnarlyBunchintheleaves.jpeg)
Bugs and worms under the deep litter in the coop....
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/1/1d/900x900px-LL-1d089cf6_100_3676.jpeg)
Various offal scraps from deer and chicken harvest off the homestead...
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/b/b7/900x900px-LL-b7d9dd54_100_3654.jpeg)
And scraps from canning vegetable and fruits that we have grown and foraged...
(http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/d/de/900x900px-LL-ded8c1ae_100_3553.jpeg)
All in all, their opportunities for huge variety throughout the year as each season has its own foraging opportunities results in lower feed costs, healthier chickens and better tasting eggs and meat produced.
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Recently butchered out the old rooster and the extra young cockerels(5 mo. old), a total of 10 large fowl White Rock males. The group of young cockerels have been existing almost entirely on free range, as the hens and the older rooster didn't often let them in the coop during feeding time. I wouldn't see these boys all day long until roosting time, as they would be foraging out on the edge of the meadow and living in the honeysuckle thicket.
I was surprised to find these cockerels just rolling in deep, yellow fat, both inside and out. Not really typical for free ranged roosters, especially ones that young...usually they are more rangy and don't usually store much fat. Usually I see that amount of fat when I butcher out old hens, even those living almost entirely on free range. Actually, when I come to think about it, the fattest birds I've ever butchered were those done in October, when they've been living almost entirely on free range, foraged feeds for a couple of months.
I think the forage to be found in the late summer/early fall seasons is calculated to put fat on an animal for the winter months and I always adjust my feed at that time of year to take advantage of that situation. When I had sheep they would get enormously fat on just graze at this time of year and I've heard it was due to tall fescue, which is more nutritious at this time of year.
When I opened up the gizzards on these fat young cockerels they were full of grasses, so it could very well be that they were fattening up on the tall fescue and also the white dutch clover, which is flourishing at this time of year as well.
The rooster, on the other hand, exercised less(poor forager that haunted the feeder) and ate more of the grain based feed offered in the coop, had very little extra fat on his body and around his organs. The jars of canned chicken have a layer of golden fat at the top of each jar, which is going to make for incredibly flavorful soups, stews, casseroles and stir fry. Normally I would prefer an old hen for these kind of preparations due to her excess of fat, but these cockerels have surprised me and delighted me this year.
It could also be the breed. The White Rock breed tends to put on more fat while eating less feed than any breed I've ever raised and that fat seems to be distributed among the meat fibers, giving their meat a peachy, golden pink appearance and a flavor beyond compare. I've raised the WRS side by side with other breeds and they all had the same feed and foraging opportunities, but the WR meat looks and tastes different...has a more unctuous flavor and texture.
Either way, I'm pretty tickled to get 37 qts of fat, golden chicken in the jar for this winter's cooking and the flavor should be incredible. Will be making soup from a jar of it this week and will get to find out firsthand how good these cockerels taste.
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How wonderful to be so in tune with your meat Beeskissed,thank you for sharing😊
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This is the time of year when free ranging really gets chickens ready for winter time. The forage they glean at this time of the year is high quality and loaded with proteins and fat. A lot of grass and weed seeds, fruit, grasshoppers and crickets are making more of an appearance, etc. The tall fescue and white dutch clover increases in sugar content as the weather turns cooler.
Feed consumption in the coop goes down, much like it does in the spring. I get to supplement their diet with garden and canning scraps and when the garden is done for the year, I let them into the fence and they glean even more nutrition.
The juveniles grow big and put on fat during this time, which gets them ready for butcher time in late October/early November. Last year I had the fattest cockerels I've ever raised and they were eating almost entirely on foraged feed for the last few months of their lives. Males don't often store fat but these had...it was all over their body, under the skin, around their organs, etc. Didn't cost me anything to get them that way either, which is a bonus.
I hope everyone is having successful free ranging out there! Take advantage of the season, as it won't last long.
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Hi
I would love to have my hens free range,but there is a huge fox problem here,if i let my hens out it would be like ringing the dinner bell,i take all my greens from the garden to the hens,that way they stay a live and they get some greenery,its the best i can do,my friend down the road has lost at least 60 hens to the fox,they only go out when the owners are at home.
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Pretty much the same here, just south of Caernarfon. Foxes galore and buzzards in the air. I thought about electric fencing but worried about the cats, especially the blind one.
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Hi
I would love to have my hens free range,but there is a huge fox problem here,if i let my hens out it would be like ringing the dinner bell,i take all my greens from the garden to the hens,that way they stay a live and they get some greenery,its the best i can do,my friend down the road has lost at least 60 hens to the fox,they only go out when the owners are at home.
I couldn't free range here either without my dogs on guard. It's really the only way it's done effectively in the middle of this forest. I'd say folks who have lost 60 hens to foxes are slow learners....I've been free ranging for 40 yrs and haven't lost more than 10 birds to predators in all that time. All of those were to aerial predators, not foxes.
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The good foraging for the year is soon to be over until the spring season, though October is the best foraging month of the year here, IMO. The birds are packing in grass seeds, clover, bugs and grubs galore while the temps are still warm in the day.
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20268012/width/900/height/900/flags/LL)
The migratory hawks are moving through, so this starts a dangerous ranging time. The month of September had us getting raided at dusk and early morning by a local great horned owl pair but they seem to have moved on. They pretty much cleared the meadow of our resident rabbits, most of the squirrels and a good many of my young cockerels, not to mention injuring two of my older hens unto death, though the dogs foiled their getaway for three of the birds...Ben sustained a cut on his face in that melee. That was the worst aerial predation I've sustained in any flock of mine in the past 40 yrs.
God replaced my missing flock members, though, with a gift of birds out of left field as my sister decided to get out of chickens. She gave me 17 birds, mostly older and nonlaying hens that I can put in a jar for winter soups but among those are 5 soon to be POL Black Australorps that will replenish my layers that have been taken this season.
God is good that way and He works in truly mysterious ways. I had started to get a little anxious with the level of predation on the flock this year, wondering if I would have enough birds for meat and also enough hens to take through the winter and for laying, but He soon reminded me to trust in Him and be anxious for nothing. And so I did.... and He blessed me with just what I was needing...meat for the winter and replacement layers. I love how my Father provides for me...it's always interesting and amazing how He works it all out! :)
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wonderful pictures, your birds are absolutely glowing. its good to see someone that enjoys their birds for both eggs and meat. my hens free range around our farm. over the years a few have been taken by either foxes or buzzards. it always seems to be hens in their prime.
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Surprised to read you have foxes on Anglesey :ohmy:. We used to visit up there some 20 years ago and I was told they had all been cleared, farmers had trapped/shot the lot. So what happened?
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foxes are very clever and certainly can use bridges like the rest of us. urban foxes are often trapped in towns and cities and dumped illegally in the countryside. these poor foxes have no idea how to hunt because they have been used to foraging bins etc.