Keeping Chickens Free Range

Maybe Wyatt needs a little training from your turkey hen.

I started letting the gang free range about three weeks ago. They are 12 weeks old now and seem to be doing great. They nieghbors called a couple days ago and said they were in her (dirt) driveway about 200 feet from the coop. She was unconcerned and shoo'd them back our way. I'd like to teach them to stay closer to home. I know what "free-range" means but the gang is taking it too literally for me! And ideas?

What kind of breeds do you have? Some breeds roam further then others. Do you have a good dry patch of dirt for them?

dadeo said:

I started letting the gang free range about three weeks ago. They are 12 weeks old now and seem to be doing great. They nieghbors called a couple days ago and said they were in her (dirt) driveway about 200 feet from the coop. She was unconcerned and shoo'd them back our way. I'd like to teach them to stay closer to home. I know what "free-range" means but the gang is taking it too literally for me! And ideas?

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Inexpensive bird netting or plastic fencing is a fairly non-intrusive barrier to prevent them from crossing property lines and other areas you'd like to deter them from.

Something strange....this morning Wyatt is like a completely different dog. Either he is sick or God has taken mercy on me, yesterday was awful. He has lain beside me this morning just letting me pet him.

And the little frizzled banty has six chicks, yay! They are so tiny, iis hard to believe they can survive....even the one who wiggled out of the nest yesterday is fine.

dadeo said:

I started letting the gang free range about three weeks ago. They are 12 weeks old now and seem to be doing great. They nieghbors called a couple days ago and said they were in her (dirt) driveway about 200 feet from the coop. She was unconcerned and shoo'd them back our way. I'd like to teach them to stay closer to home. I know what "free-range" means but the gang is taking it too literally for me! And ideas?

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I am thinking you should talk to your neighbor and convince them of the good the guineas will do by roaming their property, killing bugs and ticks. If you think you will ever train them to stay within 200 ft of the coop, I have a bridge I would like to sell you..



I went to town one day and saw some guineas about 3/8ths of a mile down the road. I though who got guineas? One the way home I came across the same guineas headed back to my place.. Luckily I am a long ways from the neighbors.

OrganicFarmWife said:

What kind of breeds do you have? Some breeds roam further then others. Do you have a good dry patch of dirt for them?

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I was thinking about that. Short answer is no, not really, it is the closest "bathing area" for them. I started putting thier feeder away from the driveway but I don't want them to forget the coop as home - they do an awesome job of putting themselves in at night, and I don't want that to stop. I'll try setting up a dust bath area closer to "home" and see if that gets it done. Thanks for the thought!!

dadeo said:

I was thinking about that. Short answer is no, not really, it is the closest "bathing area" for them. I started putting thier feeder away from the driveway but I don't want them to forget the coop as home - they do an awesome job of putting themselves in at night, and I don't want that to stop. I'll try setting up a dust bath area closer to "home" and see if that gets it done. Thanks for the thought!!

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I live in the middle of a sand dune. That does not keep them close...

I think you would need 40ft walls/fences to keep them in. I have seen mine 60 ft up in trees. They go up there and hope someone walks under them so they can bomb you. They routinely go on the roof of my old 2 story farm house...

No guinias, but a healthy variety of others. I've already noticed a drop in fireflies around the run, and I haven't picked up ticks recently, either. I'm thinking a dozen eggs now again, along with the pest control benefits might avoid any real concerns that the nieghbors might have. Great story, though.

dadeo said:

I started letting the gang free range about three weeks ago. They are 12 weeks old now and seem to be doing great. They nieghbors called a couple days ago and said they were in her (dirt) driveway about 200 feet from the coop. She was unconcerned and shoo'd them back our way. I'd like to teach them to stay closer to home. I know what "free-range" means but the gang is taking it too literally for me! And ideas?

Click to expand...

islandgirl82 said:

Inexpensive bird netting or plastic fencing is a fairly non-intrusive barrier to prevent them from crossing property lines and other areas you'd like to deter them from.

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I agree. Good fences make for good neighbors and they won't go over a simple bird or deer netting fence if they have no launching place from which to get over....meaning no hard surface on which to hop up to, then hop down from on the other side....and I do mean NO hard surface, so even a metal fence that has any tensile strength at all that can support their weight for the millisec it takes for them to balance and drop down on the other side. I have deer netting around my garden for this purpose and have it extended 6-8 inch. above the gates and fence posts and also the bottom is stapled down to landscaping timbers.

Even a hard surface they can mount up to that is reasonably near the fence line will give them a launching area from which to clear the fence. It matters not how high the fence is, it's how the fence is constructed and how near it is to any launching surface.

Even a few lines of fine gauge wire or heavy fishing line strung tightly at the top of fences and gates can act as a deterrent for them landing and then hopping over.