Keeping Chickens Without Free Ranging

Good information on setting up a run with the chicken in mind. If birds can't free range, they can certainly enjoy a healthy run!

Great ideas!!!!

Totally agree that chickens can be happy without free ranging. There should be no guilt associated with confining chickens to a run where they are safe from predators. Thank you for all the suggestions to provide diversions to the chickens confined to a chicken run. I added a pallet compost bin to my chicken run, with the front panel only half height and the other half of that pallet on top. My chickens love jumping in there to find kitchen scraps, composting material, and sun bathing on the top panel.

Lots of ideas to keep your chickens entertained inside!

Coconut oil treats and swings....gotta do that

Easy and enjoyable to read and understand, plus reminds us of the things we can do to occupy our feathered friends. Thank you.

Great suggestions for how to keep chickens busy when free-ranging isn't practical - we only free range under supervision because of an abundance of local predators (especially the aerial ones) and have to think about new ways to offer enrichment often!

Some great ideas, thanks.

Great ideas shared!

I worry about my chicks when I sell them to people, but I always give them this website. This is an excellent article on keeping chickens in a smaller area, with great ideas of how to keep them occupied.

Tips for another addition:
- a chicken garden / square meter container with grass and herbs. Made with beams and mesh on top. This way, they can peck a little green every day through the mesh.
- Berry bushes. For shelter and treats in summer.

I also have an old garden bench in the run. But I'd rather not sit on it because of the poo. A real chicken swing was too difficult. Now the swing has a 3th rope to keep it a more steady.

I have 8 small bantams, in a coop (3m2) and run with lots of shelter (15m2). They are allowed to free range a few hours a day when someone is at home.

My ladies are coming soon. I am reading every article that I can find so that I don't mess up. This is good simple advice & good idea to keep the cost down.

Great info as I worry so much when my chickens are in the yard......

lots of great ideas!

Just a few and my ladies may never want to free range

Thank you for sharing

I loved how you included so many different kinds of things that you could make for you chickens!!! I will definitely try some especially the chicken swing!!

Love this article! There are some of your suggestions I am doing with my chickens already and some other that i will adopt from now on. I been keeping chickens since 2012 , my flock started with 3 hens and a rooster in a 3x4 coop with 10'x3' run.At some one point I had 9 hens and a rooster and upgrade both the coop and the run . I let them free range in our small backyard /garden /patio/ alotment for at least 1 hour in the evening every day. Now my flock is only 4 hens and a rooster and most of my hens are not laying as they use to, but they seems to be happy.