5 Tips For Safer Free Ranging
5 Tips For Safer Free Ranging
June 27, 2021
The sad fact of the matter is that free ranging your chickens and ducks always carries risks with it and eventually is probably going to end badly (more than likely very badly) if you raise them long enough. As someone once said, "you only have to lose once... and the predator only has to win once". The odds are definitely stacked against the chickens and ducks. So, here are my 5 tips for safer free ranging:
1. Supervise, Supervise, Supervise
Obviously one of the easiest things you can do is stay outside with your chickens and watch them while they free range. Having a dog outside with you is a huge benefit also. Not only is even a pet dog's scent a big deterrent to predators, dogs senses are so much more attuned to potential threats than ours are and even our corgi could be at the treeline chasing off a fox before I likely even realized it was there. Raising other livestock on your property can also help to deter predators. Specifically donkeys or llamas are great at guarding chickens. The presence of a herd of larger animals such as goats or horses can help deter aerial predators, as can several geese.
2. Be Conscious of the Time of Day
It makes sense to limit free ranging to the afternoons. Aerial predators such as hawks, eagles and the like start hunting each morning and will hunt until they have found their food for the day, at which point they go back to where ever it is that they hang out. Not saying it can't happen, but it's not as common. The other benefit to free ranging in the afternoon is that the chickens won't stray quite as far from the coop later in the day, and of course will put themselves to bed at dusk.
3. Don't Stick to a Strict Routine
Believe it or not, predators are out there all the time, watching and listening. I've read that people have gone into the house for just a second to answer the phone, get a glass of water or use the bathroom, and in that split second, a fox or other predator has attacked. For that reason, try to switch up your routine and not let your chickens out every day, not let them out at the same time each day and even herd them to a different part of your property some days. Hanging laundry on an outdoor line can help to keep predators on their toes. Clothing flapping and moving is a great deterrent. And making a scarecrow can help too. The one thing you don't want to be is predictable. Keep any predators trying to figure out your routine guessing.
4. Be Conscious of the Time of Year
Tend to limit free ranging during the fall and spring. Those times of year the predators are pretty desperate. In the fall, the food sources are getting scarce heading into winter. In the spring, everyone has babies to feed...and then later to train to hunt. In the spring and fall, the raptors are also migrating and tend to be more mobile. So spring and fall tends to see a lot more predator activity. It actually works out pretty well because in the spring, you would want to keep your small seedlings, flowers and garden plants safe from the chickens, so try to pen the chickens up more then anyway. In the summer, however, let my chickens free range almost every afternoon. There are plenty of bugs, worms, seeds and grasses for them to eat, as well as herbs from the garden and edible flowers.
5. Don't Rely 100% on a Rooster, but Watch Him
Too many times I have someone tell me that they feel comfortable free ranging because they have a rooster in their flock.Yet time and time again, the rooster just ends up being the sacrificial lamb when a predator attacks. (They're so devoted, am I right?!?!?!) No rooster is a match for any predator like a dog, fox, coyote, fisher cat or even a hawk. But a rooster does provide a valuable warning - if you pay attention. And it's smart to listen to the wild birds and squirrels. If they all of a sudden go silent - or conversely start going nuts - you know something is amiss. Poultry have unique eyesight in that their eyes are on the sides of their head, so they can keep one eye to the ground looking for bugs and one eye to the sky. Just before a chick hatches, it gets into "hatch position" which means it turns in the shell so that the right eye is next to the shell and their body, or more accurately wing, covers the left eye. Once they hatch, their right eye develops near-sighted vision which they use to search for food, while the left eye develops far-sightedness. So their right eye is focused for close-up work, like finding bugs and seeds, while their left eye is dialed in for distance. This allows them to constantly scan the sky with their left eye for predators at the same time. Therefore, when a hawk or eagle flies overhead, a chicken or duck will tilt their head with their left eye up to the sky.
Free ranging can be such a positive experience for both you and your flock...but can also go very badly.
It only takes one predator one time...
But I hope you can incorporate these 5 tips into your free range routine and make it a safe, pleasant experience for both you and your chickens!
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