Free range or fenced in?

[Delta P]

Hi guys. I have loved reading your posts and thought I might wade in. I live on a 5 acre plot with a small dam and a mix of grassed lawn and wooded areas. I've kept chickens before and now I'm looking to start again with chickens, ducks, geese and some turkeys. I've read into housing them and dietary requirements so I'm well set. We have a penned area around the coop but when they are free ranging, do we need to chicken wire the perimeter of the property? Wondering if they will know where home is after being penned for a few weeks or if they're likely to just wander off under/over the fence or if the land is big enough?

 

[Mucho Chickens]

Hey Delta P!

So my flock is full fledged free range during the day time. I have trained them to all come back to the barn at night to roost and to lay eggs and have had great success with this. We have 38 acres, that being said, the chickens don't go all that far from the barn, the farthest I've seen them was like 3 acres away. They basically go out roaming for a bit in the morning time, come back to the barn to rest a bit and snack and then in the afternoons they'll venture out a little and then all come back in for bedtime.