Free Range Chickens-good idea or not?

[ruth]

Hi Ridgefire - in a true free range situation the chickens can go wherever they want. Like on our farm we are surrounded by thousands of acres of woods and there are no neighbors but the chickens are usually found in the barn, the yard, and edge of nearby woods. Most people have some sort of fenced run or yard but still call it free ranging because the chickens have access to a large area outside. If you are in a neighborhood you would have to have a fence or I can guarantee you they will be in your neighbor's yard - they love to wander and explore.

The retrieving part is easy - they come running for treats and they always come home to roost at sundown.

 

[ridgefire]

They will have a fenced in run. But I figured if I was out in the yard working they could come out of the run. I do have 80 acres of field and woods behind me. I only have 1 neighbor that is close, and they baby their lawn. Dont think they would like chickens digging their yard up.

 

[MarJen]

Well thank you very much. Glad to be here with everyone!
Thank you for the info. You also house them together? We keep reading that they should be housed seperate because of blackhead disease. We have hatched chickens and raised them but the turkies will be a first. We got royal palms and spanish blacks! We also got some snowy mallards and chinese geese. Our chickens are silkies and sultans. So any info about them being together would be grately helpful. We also lost some when we lived in NY to a hawk... the hawk went right in the coop and dragged one out! Im hopeing we dont have the same problem here
( AL).

 

[chickenannie]

We didn't know any better, so our RB turkeys, chickens, and guineas all free-range together. They just kind of ignore each other, except for the occasional annoyance peck. The turkeys sleep outdoors, and the chickens and guineas sleep together in a coop at night. Seems like a happy situation for each species. The cats and (wild) bunnies cruise around here all the time too, so it's a bit like Noah's ark around here. Everyone just doing their own thing. Same with the humans.

 

[MarJen]

We are thinking about getting some guineas and i would like to get some burbon turkeys as well! did you hatch your turkeys? I cant wait to see them when they hatch, we are hatching the turkies! My daughter loves helping with them!!

 

[dixonzoo]

Free range poultry tend to form their own little groups. They will wander for good distances as well. So your neighbors will have them in their yards as well. At night I have my Turkeys in a seperate pen outside, but the guinea and chickens sleep in the same house.
Chickens love corn tortillas, and will come running to any treat you put out. I use corn tortillas because they are inexpensive and healthy for them too. Works just as good as whistling for a dog.

 

[MarJen]

We didnt have a problem with our last flock but they were just chickens. Now we have geese ducks and turkeys and we just were not sure on what to expect. And everything that we have read said that the turkeys and chickens should be housed seperate. I prefer free range my self! But if we have to coop them in we will.

 

[chickenannie]

I really don't know much of anything about blackhead disease, but I think my intuitive sense of what's healthy for a bird (turkey, chicken or otherwise) has to do with the wholistic picture of giving the bird enough space, clean water and proper nutrition, shelter when appropriate, and letting them live as "naturally" as they can. As soon as they are crowded, or not allowed to see sunshine, or have a dust bath, or don't have the proper food, they get sick. If these things are in the proper balance, I have a feeling that the bacteria or virus that causes blackhead disease, though present in its environment, will not make the animal sick.

They say in Biodynamic farming that you must balance the land with the livestock, and that if the balance is not correct, then the system is not healthy.... meaning if you have too many cows on your pasture you kill the pasture, or as in the confinement operations, you don't have enough land to spread the manure onto, then the manure becomes excessive and problematic.

This sounds like a lot of whoo-ha, but if you look at it in detail it makes sense. there's a lot of writings about Biodynamic farming.

 

[ruth]

Quote:
Well said Chickenannie - it's my belief exactly and I also believe I can prove it. I'm on my 5th batch of chicks and I don't think I've ever followed the "quoted as if it were gospel" way of doing things. I try to raise them as close to natural as possible - meaning without heat lights (get them out in sunshine and on green grass ASAP); feeding them scraps, veggies, fruits and letting them free range (no fences at all). After all the mama hen would have them out running around the farm and Ole Farmer Brown used to let his chickens run around the farm.

Somewhere along the line we've taken away the fun/need they have to dig a hole and wallow in it; to scratch the ground and scratch their food; to forage far distances for food; to be able to run and flap their wings; to have the sun and fresh air; to return to roost tired and well exercised. I believe all of these things are necessary for a well balanced, healthy flock. In addition to taking away those things we've forced them to live in coops in their own droppings. Then we wonder why disease overtakes them or they are literally eating one another.

In my free ranging flock - I've mixed several age groups without any problems; the hens don't eat feathers (theirs or their sisters); they haven't had any issues with egg bound or prolapse or bumble foot; if there's a pecking order I don't know what it is because I've never seen them fight or be aggressive toward one another; I've never lost a chick and I've never had a single illness and I've never lost a bird to predators.

Now I'm not bragging, I'm just stating the results of my research.

God knew what was best for his creation (the lowly little chicken) but man, in his infinite wisdom has written books upon books that say it should all be done a totally different way than God intended.

Personally, I believe God knew what he was doing.

 

[chickenannie]

Somewhere along the line we've taken away the fun/need they have to dig a hole and wallow in it; to scratch the ground and scratch their food; to forage far distances for food; to be able to run and flap their wings; to have the sun and fresh air; to return to roost tired and well exercised. I believe all of these things are necessary for a well balanced, healthy flock. In addition to taking away those things we've forced them to live in coops in their own droppings. Then we wonder why disease overtakes them or they are literally eating one another.

In my free ranging flock - I've mixed several age groups without any problems; the hens don't eat feathers (theirs or their sisters); they haven't had any issues with egg bound or prolapse or bumble foot; if there's a pecking order I don't know what it is because I've never seen them fight or be aggressive toward one another; I've never lost a chick and I've never had a single illness and I've never lost a bird to predators.

I find that really interesting to hear -- you are "proof" that it works. I never thought about the fact that free-ranging means that they'll be tired and satisfied at night and fight less because of it. I also notice if 2 free-range birds face off at each other for a minute, they can then ignore each other easily because they have so much space to stay out of each other's way. I can't imagine if they had to stay in a pen together how much that would increase their fighting.

The "proof," to me, also comes from the naturally raised, grassfed farm where I work. The farmers believe in treating the animals "humanely" meaning no yelling or shouting at the animals or prodding them etc etc. The farmers always move calmly and allow the animals to move slowly if they are moving them to another pasture. There is a sense of calm around all their animal pens and pastures (cattle, pigs, sheep) that I have never experienced at another farm. The cattle and pigs and sheep are not at all afraid, nor are they aggressive. They like to be scratched and patted and are completely comfortable around humans. Compare that to the dairy next door where if you stretch out your hand, the cows jump back in fear.​