My girls lately are becoming ornery. They free range, however a couple have taken interest in our new and newer cars but scratching and pecking at them. I have holes all around my house for them to sleep in, however our neighbor has cats that are uncared for that randomly poop in said holes. I am getting quickly annoyed. We currently rent so I was thinking of a small pasture for the girls or would that be a waste of my time?
Well, that all depends on how big the pasture is and how many chickens you have. If it's big enough, the grass will remain, but if it's not, then soon it will turn into dirt. But if you're out in the country and that doesn't bother you, then it's fine. Do you plan on fencing it in to keep the cats out so they can't poo there? We have stray cats around too, and I dislike that so much! I never feed them, so that discourages them from coming around. I live in the country, and I have a larged, fenced in yard for my garden and the two dogs, and the chickens free range out back, which is partly mowed lawn with a small six acre woods all around. Then I have an 8x12 hen house, with an attached run for when we're not home. I found, that, if I let them free range all day, they start eating all the plants I've got around the house for decoration....like the hostas and some of the flowers. And they will scratch in all the mulch too. So now, I only let them free range from 5:30pm, until dusk, when they go inside the hen house on their own. I bribe them with treats if I need them to come inside earlier. Like little unsupervised kids, the more time they have to run around, the more naughty things they do! haha