[Feathers]

Hi I am new to looking after chickens and I have 3 about 19 weeks old - they are my new babies  I get the feeling that they would like to wander about rather than stay in the run that they have.  How do I stop them from leaving the garden or not coming back in the house?  Do they have a tendancy to wander off?  I have a neighbour whose chickens wander everywhere even next to the road?  Please some advice.

[Beano]

We have 3 and have had ours for 18 months now. When we first had them we would let them roam when we were at home and in the garden. We were very nervous at first but they were fine. I noticed that they would all three go round along all the hedges just before they were due to go in.
If I were you I would let them out for an hour or so before it got dark to start with and then throw some corn IN the run when you want them to go in.
We always leave food and water for them in the run and never in the garden so that they know that is the place to go.
We did have our moments, when we had to round them up. Me my husband and annoyingly the cat would join in, trying to get them in when we wanted. We soon got to learn that it was much easier to trust them to go in on their own when they were ready.
Our garden has plenty of chickeney places for them to scratch around and is much more appealing that our neighbouring gardens. Lets hope yours will enjoy your garden as much.
Good luck!!

[ehs284]

Are they safe from dogs etc? Ours have a large run, but I let them out into the 'yard' for a change when I'm working there. This is safe, but the grass is greener etc and they love to run off if they think I'm not watching (yes, they are that devious!) and one was killed in the summer.

[judrop]

  Hi Feathers and welcome, there are many people on here far more knowledgeable than I am, but, we got our ex batts in July, and the thought of keeping them in a pen after such a hard life was, for us , out of the question, we are very lucky that we have a large garden, and several of our neighbours  also keep chooks, so they are part of a large "extended" family , (they even "call" for each other !) and roam free from daylight to dusk, Chicken heaven !
I think you do need to accept that there may be problems at some point letting them free range like this, but over all it works for ours !
Best wishes Ju

[Kate and her Ducks]

Would agree with the others with a word of warning and that is keeping them safe from predators.
Most people think about foxes in these terms and they can be a menace but we probably get just as many reports on here about attacks by domestic dogs.

[Beano]

A couple of weeks ago I was in the village shopping and our chooks were out in our garden.
There was a "fox hunt" gathering on the square and the first thing I did was turn round and go home to put the girls safely in their run.
Now I was worried for their safety, not from a fox but from the hunts people and their dogs.
I'm not sure quite what that says about me or foxes or dogs, but I felt more danger for the chickens and the cat,  from the foxhounds than foxes.