free range

so I have 6 ducks. 2 pekins, 4 Swedish. They are coming up on 7 weeks old and have been outside for about 2 weeks now and just this past week I took away their heat lamp. Next week I plan to allow them to fully free range near our large pond. But I have a question. They are at the point now...

I wanted to pen up my 6 week old bronze heritage turkeys until their adults before letting them free range but they had other plans... They stayed in the pen for a few weeks and then they began flying out of the pen and wandering my garden. I gave up trying to contain them and I just leave the...

One of my hens keeps getting into the area where heating fuel/oil spilled all over the ground a month ago. The ground was covered in leaves & I thought was frozen, but she managed to dig/peck her way through to reach the soft soil where there’s still oil residue/fuel that got absorbed into the...

I have a question about mixing a flock and also what to expect from a roo (or two). Currently, we have 2 Embden geese (f). We also have 2 mallard drakes and a Rouen female, which wasn't intentional or ideal. We are going to expand next year. Flock size, pen, and water pools/pond. 2 more geese...

Well the thing I was worried about happening happened. My ducks were able to get through the fence and they found the creek. After work today I saw their footprints in the sand down by the bank. How likely do you think it is that they'll find their way back? I walked down stream both...

Hi everyone, New to the forum officially but have found infinite helpful advice and interesting information over the last year already so firstly, Thank you! What I am wanting to know is this, We have currently got 4 hens and a cockerel ( all very fluffy footed bantams but not sure of exact...

Hi all, new poster here. I am increasing the size of my flock from 5 to 15. In the last couple months, my current chickens figured out how to get out of the run I had fenced in for them (multiple jumps to the top of the coop, then over the fence). I eventually decided to just give them free...

I have two hens getting into their golden years (they turn eight next month!) and four hens who are still active layers. One of my older ladies I am fairly certain only lays once every few months. My other is a Sumatra, and she will still lay every day for a week, go broody, then stop laying...

The little boogers found my berries. They have gotten brave of late and are exploring new areas of the property. (I live on family land, several acres) Now that they know where to find fresh Strawberries and Dewberries are they are spending a lot of time eating berries. Soon the blueberries and...

We caught this fox out yesterday in late morning with the last of the neighbor's (free ranging) chickens. Of their 10 babies from last summer they've lost all 10 to predators. It was too late to save the chicken, so we watched Mrs. Fox while she rested a while. After a bit of rest, or thinking...

Hello BYC tribe! I wanted to share my ladies :) with you. My flock was first a flock of leghorns, that were rehomed to me from their original owners who were moving out of state. And then we just recently adopted some rehomed hens. A white Plymouth and her 2 polish sisters. I’m new to all this...

Does keeping black chickens help protect from hawks? I am getting ready to do a major flock expansion this summer as I built my ultimate chicken coop. I read on a couple of places that black birds / crows are enemies of hawks typically scare the hawks away and that the hawks confuse black...

If you know me, you know I'm not a fan of mixes. But there are some exceptions. Right now, the only two breeds I'm interested in breeding are the aseel, and a Greek landrace breed (and possibly yokohama but that's another thing). That being said, I'd like to start a project (so this would be the...

Well, they are finally starting to really look like Orpingtons. Please excuse the boys names, they are Dumb and Dumber..they had not been hanfdled, were underweight etc when i got them it has taken a long time for them to learn normal chicken behavior..still not super savvy about rain.thankfully...

We have part of your yard fenced for our chickens to give them the ability to 'free range' outside of their run. We let them roam in the yard every day and didn't have an issue with wet or muddy ground during the fall and summer because it was pretty dried out from the hot months. This is our...

We plan to free range some of our chickens, but how do you train them to come back? I understand that we will sadly loose some, but there isn't much of a choice right now. Some will be in tractors (my favorites), and the remainder will be free ranged. Tips and advice for how to do this will be...

I am torn on whether I should get a rooster for my ladies. I have 6 pullets total. They will be one year old in Sept 2023. I like the idea of a rooster for protection when I let them free range and hatching a few fertile eggs in the future but right now I am having no issues within the flock...

I have 6 lovely black astrolorps a called the Fockers, this 1 has no feathers on her back and it’s been like this for awhile. The others peck at her new feathers trying to grow, but now it’s seems like they’re not even appearing anymore. I’m not sure what I can do, all my other chickens have...