Distance chickens will range away from coop?

[Bullitt]

I have not seen this addressed.

How far will chickens range from the coop when free ranging?

What are some breeds that will stay close to the coop and what are some breeds that range far away?

 

[Kelsie2290]

With mine the smaller / lighter breeds go a lot farther than the big heavy birds. The leghorn, Egyptian Fayoumi, Sumatra etc types go farther than something like wyandottes or cochins. We have about eight acres fenced, about five is pasture, that they can go in. The main barn/coop is about 200 feet from the house and most of the heavy breeds stay around there and don't go more than 3-400 feet away from either the house or the barn, they tend to stay under the trees or shrubs more. The lighter birds have pretty much covered it all. With the smaller ones they will follow the fence lines around and go more into the pasture.

 

[Bullitt]

Do you have a fence that the light breeds can't get passed? Or do they just understand where the boundary is?

 

[Kelsie2290]

It is perimeter fenced with either chain link or 2x4 non climb fence, and electric, we have four large dogs (and a couple of cows) that it has to keep in also. There are places the chickens could fly over, but it is very seldom, maybe once a year that one will.

 

[Bullitt]

I see.

An electric fence would help keep the chickens on your land. But that must be a lot of fence with 8 acres.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Ya, I've been surprised how well the electric does keep the chickens off the regular fence. I think they just get shocked once or twice then figure that whole fence is not a good idea to mess with. A young one will fly over once in a while but not often. Family has lived here for 40+ years and we are still working on getting it fenced, it is a never ending project.

 

[Bullitt]

Does the electric fence run on 110-volt AC or 12-vot DC? Is there just one charger for all of the fence?

 

[Kelsie2290]

It's just a Zareba brand charger from T&S, the 25 mile AC one, think it is 115V? Do have a usable solar one for the front also, but the electric fences can be connected, so usually just use the Z since it is easier.

 

[centrarchid]

I can't confine my birds using electrified fencing but can still keep them on a three acre patch if enough food, water and cover are centrally located on area they are desired to range in.

 

[Bullitt]

It's just a Zareba brand charger from T&S, the 25 mile AC one, think it is 115V? Do have a usable solar one for the front also, but the electric fences can be connected, so usually just use the Z since it is easier.

Yeah, the ordinary wall outlet is sometimes referred to as 110 volts and sometimes 115 volts. It's the same thing.

I did not know those fence chargers were good for 25 miles. Wow.

A solar electric fence sounds like a good idea. I would like to have a house that ran everything off of solar and wind power. Heating and cooling are the things that really take a lot of electricity and make it difficult to run on 100% solar and wind power. But if you use wood heat and live in a place where it doesn't get too hot, it is possible.