Afraid to free range - with good reason

[MissPrissy]

The problem with 'free ranging' is interpretation of definition. Free range does not mean chickens at will to run all over the place without fencing and a protective structure. The same way people wouldn't let a bull or a horse run loose on their property without bounderies is the same way you need to think of chickens and forgaging. Free ranging is allowing the chickens to come and go at their own will from an enclosed structure to an outdoor environment. Free range and pastured are often not the same by definition either. Don't get caught up in words. If you have an ample outdoor run and a solid ample coop and your chickens come and go as they please they are free range.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
So true.

My neighbors at the end of my block started out with about 12 chickens a little over a year and a half ago and they really let them free range. I'd see birds half-way down the block to my house. I'd even see them cross the road! Every month there were fewer. One morning about six months ago I saw a coyote walking down the middle of the street with a chicken in it's mouth at 5am. They are all gone now and it is sad. I really liked seeing them. I got my birds the first week of Jan. and I haven't lost one yet. The difference is that I have a 6' block wall all around my property and the chickens don't ever get outside of that. They free range all day long in my backyard, but there is at least a level of security between them and the world. I know it's a matter of time before a dog scales the wall, but at least it slows the encounter rate down. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are levels of security that you can construct and levels of risk that you take. BTW, I live smack-dab in the center of a large city.

 

[chicken gal]

Do not free range. You got lucky!

'Cause next time it could be and eagle or a hawk. What I do is I put a little note by the door and it says "Did you rember to lock it?"












Rember to Lock it up!!!!