Pretty much anywhere, you WILL lose SOME free-ranging chickens to predators; in some areas you will only lose some occasionally, whereas other places you would lose your entire flock on a very frequent basis and free-range just isn't practical.
There are all *degrees* of free ranging, though (please nobody argue semantics here, you can call things what you want, but there is a whole continuum of free-ness) -- for instance, a good dogproof fence around a large chickenfriendly yard will save you a lot of predator losses, and locking the chickens up in a coop at night will save you a whole lot more (even if they run loose during the day).
So, you have to decide what you're personally comfortable with, and what suits your particular situation best.
I would love to have chickens running loose all over here, but we have SO many raccoons and coyotes and stray dogs, plus the house is right close on a 65-70 mph rural road full of commuters and gravel trucks, free-range chickens just don't last here. My neighbor got 12 point-of-lay hens last July, and by the end of October she was down to 3. So, my chickens have very large (compared to most people) indoor quarters with roofed predatorproof runs into which I chuck lots of weedings and hay and garden surplus and whatnot. I have 3 turkeys 'free ranging' at the moment, but if they were more ambitous and exploratory I think I'd end up enclosing them too.
The main thing, IMHO, is to get eggs from HAPPY chickens, and if you give them plenty of room and a congenial atmosphere they can be pretty adequately happy in confinement -- certainly their LIFETIME happiness is greater than that of chickens who are running free for five months and then get et by a predator. Also your eggs will be 'healthier for you' and also tastier, if your chickens have access to some plant/veg/fruit/insect foods as a supplement to commercial chicken feed.
Good luck, have fun,
Pat
