Free-Ranging...will they get in the road????

[definetlydeb]

Hi, welp, although my peeps are still in the brooder, I was intending on letting them free range, BF says...I don't want to hear you cryin' when one gets hits by a car....OMGosh....So, the road we live on isn't a highway, but not a dirt back road either...would you allow them to free range or keep them in thier run??? I have driven down lots of roads and seen chickens out close to road....suggestions??? I surely would be devistated to have one get hit by a car, but yet, hate to have them "cooped" up all the time, we have a pretty nice setting, with a nice creek on back of property, thinkin' it is about 2 acres or less, prolly less. What do you all think???

 

[chickened]

Chickens will cross the road... to see a man lay bricks.

They will go on the roadway without a fence or hedge.

 

[angelbabyamy]

Our chickens free range but don't go near the road. They have several acres to expore but usually stay where they are supposed to.
But there are a lot of "Why did the chicken cross the road" jokes..............................

 

[Scoop]

Most likely they will not hang out on the road as a rule, but of course, the possibility will always be there that one or more could get hit. It all depends on the kind of life you want them to have while they are alive. I personally feel chickens are healthier mentally and physically if they free-range. To me it's a no-brainer, but maybe you value their safety more highly. It's a personal choice I guess.
I know that I pass a few homes around here that have free-range chickens and I never see a dead chicken on the road, and I don't see them on the road either. Good luck!

 

[definetlydeb]

Yep, there sure are....hmmmm, I am not sure....back in the day, when I had my other chickens, I lived right next to well RT 49, very busy, 55mph and higher, I let my birds free-range without a thought, never lost one, never had to ask why'd the chicken cross the road, cuz' they never did....for some reason, I don't know why...I am in fear about letting these babies enjoy life and free range, it is even a smaller road....oh gosh.....now what....guess I am not sure and will just have to see...................

 

[chickened]

If they are well fed and have room in the yard and fields they usually won't go on the road except to maybe get pea gravel for their gizzard.

 

[scrambledmess]

I lost two on the road last year. We have 3 acres and are surrounded by several hundred acres of farm land. I still let them free range. They just seem to do better in general, happier, healthier and better eggs.

 

[ketcham]

I pass a house on the way to work.I've seem them close to the road,but never in it.Ducks too!!! Not much traffic on my road and its off it quite a bit.I put my chickens[young ones out today in a flower bed.They never left it all day.I was all over the property doing stuff.I have to put them in a pen when I'm not here.To many bad guys [hawks,foxes ,raccoons] around here!!! If I'm home they are out!! Kevin

 

[cafarmgirl]

A fellow up the road from me has free range chickens who can frequently be seen right next to the road. You can also frequently see the dead ones who have been hit.

My own chickens have access to a pasture that has a road on one side and they are very often right at the fence line, if it wasn't there I'm sure they'd cross on over.

 

[chickenology]

We lost one on the road last summer also. We have three acres and live on a busy road, and I have found that the longer they free range, the further from their coop they stray. Now I don't let them out of their run to free range until around 5pm, and I always try to keep an eye on the general area they are in so that I can redirect them if needed. They rarely even get close to the road any more. Too much to check out in the back yard I suppose. They are so much happier when they are out in the grass, and the egg yolks are darker and richer as well when they are free ranging. Good luck!