All of my animals free range all day. The chickens go into their coop at night. They have been trained to go in. All I do is go out and close the door on the coop. The ducks, geese, turkeys and sheep have their pick of where they want to sleep. The sheep like sleeping on the ground at night when the weather is nice. If it is raining, the sheep will go in their sleeping quarters (a shed). The geese and ducks like to sleep anywhere on the ground. When it rains, the geese and ducks like to sleep in the rain. The turkeys will roost wherever they choose. They may roost on the fence or fly in the tree to roost at night. It all depends on them. When I say feeding time, I mean that my laying hens who prefer to eat the "layer crumble" will follow me into an area that I enclose after they have entered in after me. They know when it's feeding time, so when they see me coming, they begin running to the area that I feed them. I DO NOT let my sheep into this area because the layer crumble that I feed the laying hens has enough cooper in it to kill my barbado sheep. They are prohibited in going into this area. After the laying hens have eaten their layer crumble, I pick up the remaining and open the gate. I feed my geese, turkeys and ducks (and chickens who choose not to eat layer crumble that day) chopped corn. It may sound time consuming but it's really not. It's just part of their routine and my routine. It's very easy. If you have any specific questions, please please please PM me and we can chat more. I hope that helps a little.
