I use a combination and it works well for me. I have a large fenced area, surrounded by a 4" fence. I wont pretend that the birds stay in the fence, or are even supposed too. The fence is more for me (defining thier "home" area) and for the random stray dog (again i doubt it would keep one...
I have 2 red sexlinks i purchased on March 24th as day old chicks. After reading this thread I thought to myself, and counted out the weeks. 1, 2, 3, 16 weeks old. Now, I havn't noticed any difference in their appearance or behavior so I wasnt witing impatiently for eggs, but I did take a look...
My chicken math didnt even start with chickens. It all started with the TSC chick days. I have always wanted chickens, and many other animals, im a farm boy at heart. I grew up on a farm, but my wife.. she's a city girl from the streets of Chicago. It started out very innocently i swear...