How far will true free ranged chickens go?

[Soon2BChixMom]

No yard.
No perimeter fencing
Any fencing there is on the property has chicken pass through points.
An entire National Park at their disposal
They do roost in coops now but they didn't always
They range,taking the house as the central point (approximately) half an acre North up the mountain
An acre and a bit West
An acre East
A couple of acres South.
I've estimated that normal ranging is over four acres.
The more groups of chickens here the further they range.
Weather conditions also have an influence. There are cooler spots going up towards the ridges either side of the house. There are also more ground predators in these woolands so the chickens make a trade off I assume.
Given last year we had temperatures close to 40 degrees Centigrade and given chickens tend to drop dead at around 43 degrees I can appreciate a bit of a risk may be worth more comfort.
I think for most domestic chickens they prefer to keep within sight of their coops and of course, their food supply.

Nice set up. I'd probably drop dead at those temps if I were out in them too long.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

When we had the boys with them, our chickens would go quite far. They'd go at least three houses down, and hide in the woods during the day. In the evening, they would go the other direction and end up in our other neighbors yard! The boys certainly gave them confidence. After a few arguments, and me being unhappy with the resulting decision, my parents decided to lock the boys up near the coop. Now, the girls don't go so far. But, in general, they travel about .5 mile each day

At a half a mile, my chickens would be at a neighbor's house.

 

[erkose]

I read a lot about free ranged birds and then notice most posts say "in my fenced in yard". I do not have a fence. My birds have a run and their coop is inside of the run. When I let them out they are truley free ranging, but I only let them out briefly while I am out in the yard to keep an eye on them and to wrangle them up before I go in.
We have corn and beans surrounding our property that they like to forage in. It is quite the adventure wrangling them out of the fields.
So, if you have no fenced in yard, how far do the chickens go from home base?
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Like you all our poultry free range-I let them out at sun up-and my wife locks into chook penthouses inside a chook run at night-if you ask me how far away from the roam I have seen them I would say a maximum 500 yards-that's a lot of area-they really wont go much further-they come back into bed themselves at sun down any new poultry just seem to learn quickly-the geese go further and the guinea fowls go further still ducks similar to geese

 

[erkose]

S I said somewhere else here-we loose a few to wild dogs(part dingo mostly)-foxes and who knows what-this is mostly when the silly buggers decide to nest and we cant find them-I built a small movable enclosure from scrap metal and chicken wire
If we find them we put this on them with water and food and a big log or rock or whatever is close-mostly works

 

[erkose]

@Trish1974 they have been trained. They would prefer the field to the treats though. Well, let's say 1 will stay in the field the rest eventually come to me.
My mind thinks there are evil critters lurking in the corn just waiting to pounce on the chickens.
I even let them out in the evening so that they don't wander too far, but I don't want to be in the middle of the corn field at dusk (or any time for that matter).
This is Peaches she doesn't always listen to me.
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all brilliant stuff-I apologise to all and every if my meaning dose not come through-I make no excuses except I can not help it -brilliant people thank you

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

all brilliant stuff-I apologise to all and every if my meaning dose not come through-I make no excuses except I can not help it -brilliant people thank you

No reason to apologize.

 

[erkose]

amazing info-and than you all -I am amazed - I mean no harm-my block is 275 by 88 yards and that is 5 aces-our poultry free range fully what they want-they have access to 2 similar sized blocks and ok they have variable distances and I have no concept of distance I deeply thank you for those words and knowledge--as an idea Inow say they will go 100 plus yards one direction-50 yards another 50 another and 50 another--any fences that they are able are no barrier-in fact chicks will usually find a way out-guinea fowl may well cover 15 acers but they can fly -thank you for the info I apologise if I waffle I mean to not offend I am 100% sure in those last words-and in fact I apologise for apologising

 

[erkose]

amazement-I am learning how to be a duck wrangler-amazement-sorry for my waffle
amazement