Welcome. Very nice land you have. I do not let my 23 chickens free range. If you free range, you need to be prepared for loss. While it doesn't always happen, it usually does at some point. At the same time, my chickens have a lot of space. Now they have a 60x60 foot run - all of it hardware cloth walls and apron - 20x20 of it hard-top and the rest with high quality netting. My coop is 18x10 and is 2 feet off the ground and the space around the coop between the coop and ground has hardware cloth and an apron. My two cents about your situation....my birds are in my backyard - literally. I have a large window open all day regardless of the weather to hear what is going on. Your barn is 400 feet away. At the same time, you have a big barn. You could let them roam in the barn and then make a run of hardware cloth - both sides an hardware cloth top - that comes out of the barn - and even if it is only a 10x20 foot space - you would be giving them the entire barn and this space inside to explore.
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and a belated Welcome to Backyard Chickens.
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
