This has been an extremely interesting thread thus far to follow along with.
Our experience has been somewhat different and I can point out some reasons and some things that change seasonally. It has also been somewhat the same as others here have mentioned.
Having roosters around seemed to strengthen flock security. Even a swallow winging overhead does not go unnoticed, nor a mouse scurrying across the ground.
My chickens never miss a mouse or toad and relish catching and eating them. When I got my first English Orpingtons one of their favorite pastimes was chasing sparrows.
I have almost 6 week old chicks that just moved in to their coop yesterday. How long should I wait before letting them explore outside of the coop? I am glad to read they usually won't roam too far while out in the back yard.
I would definitely not let them out to free range unattended for a while yet. At that age and for several weeks yet or even a couple months they are easy pickings for a hawk. I would keep them in the coop for 3-7 days maybe two weeks and then allow them into the run assuming it's covered until they get to a less snack size.
To make sense of the variation between flocks the following need to be considered. How long are the birds out, how and what they are supplied in the form of a complete or complete diet, dispersal of forage patches, and cover availability. Otherwise this will be a thread that does little to provide understanding.
Thank you for mentioning all of this I think these things and even more variables effect how far chickens will free range.
Our adult free ranging flock hovers around 100 birds currently with others(we have approximately 80-90 juveniles/chicks, 9 turkey juveniles/poults, and 8 cotournix quail) in tractor coops and grow outs to gain size and smarts before release. The quail of course can not be released and summer in a small tractor coop and winter in a raised run in the chicken coop.
Our winter numbers this fall/winter will be around 80-100 hopefully total. Oh and we also have 4 guineas but tend to just lump them with the chickens.
Our yard and barn lot area is approximately 3-5 acres more like 4-5. We are surrounded by hundreds of acres of farm land. We are quite close to the road but the chickens rarely go near the road. I've only seen chickens across the road maybe 3 times. Lately they have been going closer to the road though.
Our nearest neighbors are over 1/4 mile away south and over some railroad tracks. North there is a grain bin set-up approximately 1/4-3/8 mile away but it's across the road. 1/4 mile north in our field is a fence line with some large metal power poles. While not our whole flock some of our flock has made it clear out to these power poles across the field. Our 300+ acre field that is directly around our house connects to other fields to the north and east.
The flock goes farther when the crops are down. We do struggle with a fox sometimes. We haven't gotten it yet but we will.
We find that our bachelors and also our birds that are lower in the pecking order tend to wander farther.
Also certain groups tend to go in different directions. The flock tends to spread more north and south than east/west. Much of our yard is open.
Of course if we have a predator attack the flock will not disperse as far for some time. Perhaps a few days to a month. I find my roosters and guineas are invaluable for protecting/warning my flock. We have had roosters sacrifice themselves to save our girls on multiple occasions as well as alerting to possible predators.
We added turkeys this year to try them out and as another protection/deterrent from predators. I've heard they can be helpful, hopefully they will fit well with our flock.
So our flock ranges approximately a half mile across but only approximately 1/4 mile deep.
I find that our flock is more at risk of predators namely ground predators when the crops are high. The fox and coyotes can run through corn rows and sneak up on them easier. Shorter crops and even bare ground seems to be better for our flock. We don't have a lot of trouble with aerial predators here as they have ample natural food sources available. We have had maybe 5-7 attempts but no confirmed kills by any birds of prey thanks to our amazing roosters our girls scatter at the first sign of danger.
We are adding more cover for the flock via rose bushes, hydrangeas, another lilac, grapes, raspberries, a cherry, a couple apples, blackberries, blueberries, etc. Nearly the entire front yard is covered by maples the side and middle yard are bare. The barnyard/lot is also bare except for the weeds we are fighting but the plan is for that to be torn out and eventually become tillable. There is a large pine tree that provides good cover and forage on the far Southeast corner of the yard. Directly west of that is our main fenced garden and rhubarb patch. There are a number of outbuildings the birds can go into for cover, although they are in the works for removal and some are in the process of being torn down/salvaged.
The main coop is a repurposed milkhouse across the driveway, which comes in and turns left behind the house. The main coop is in the area behind the house further from the road. Unfortunately there is no real permanent cover in this area and we haven't yet worked on it. We have allowed a couple saplings to become bush-like beside the coop for cover. They will be taken down. The plan was for a lilac to be next to the coop but we dug up some unknown concrete structure and need to get it looked at before proceeding. The old milkhouse had a restroom but the septic was supposedly removed. Very odd.
As this is one of DH2B's family farm's houses we can not make changes that are too drastic. And the tractors need to be able to come and go out the irrigator trail behind the pine tree. Which means no fences. True free ranging.
Our tractor coops move around the main yard. Our second coop is a large metal shed about half as large as the main coop(maybe a 3rd) and it does have a small attached run. We have been keeping one of the flocks locked up recently. Much as I love them and their amazing foraging ability we have been losing birds from that group as they are some of the farthest wanderers to the north. That is also almost always where the fox seems to come from and unfortunately being far out in tall corn makes them easy to pick off.
Earlier this year we had peas(DH2B's family grows a lot of canning crops and many canning crops can do one spring crop and one late season crop) around our home. Not only the chickens loved them but also our dogs and of course us. What I really loved about them though was that they got so thick and tangled even a fox wouldn't be able to get through them. They made the perfect natural fence for us and we had no sightings or signs of the fox until after they were taken down and the corn was over the chickens' heads. Even the chickens eventually were trapped in the yard by the peas.
Fox and coyotes will come at any time of day and our fox has no fear of us which means if it shows and we go outside it will not take off running. It continues to hunt. Then when it does run off it will circle around and try to wait for us to go inside.
We usually let the flock out in the morning around 7-8 but when we've been having losses we'll keep them in until noon. We tend to feed a little around noon but expect them to do most of their own foraging until evening. The tractors of course get fed but we like to allow it to run out to encourage foraging. Our quail especially do a good job foraging this way and their egg shells are stronger and yolks more orange for it. We also try to allow the birds in the backside of our main coop(which was a two room milk house) to also run out briefly so as to not leave spilled or dropped feed laying around overnight as we have in the past had a rat and mice problem. I don't mind the mice as much but the rats became predatory and killed birds including entirely consuming three whole quail on two or three separate nights. Always take a rat problem seriously! If a rat can get in your coop so can a mink and weasel. Sorry I know that was random but we've also dealt with a mink and I feel it's an important warning.
The birds of course do forage more when hungry and especially after a rain they all go out and get worms. Fall after picking is done they really love as well. Last year seed corn was grown around our house and our flock absolutely loved the border rows that were knocked down to keep from being harvested as well as dropped corn.
Our flock does a good job of helping us till and clean where we pour feed and we do use this to our advantage for the main flock. Garden goodies are a treat they love and our garden bed as well as strawberry/asparagus beds in the middle yard are all fenced in.
My best roosters take turns escorting hens to lay safely while the other roosters continue to watch the flock during free ranging.
One thing to consider with free ranging is that the return to the coop only happens when birds are familiar with "home" and when the light fades. For instance we have a yard light across the driveway from the coop so in fair weather there are stragglers that like to hang out under the light sometimes. Cloudy and rainy days generally sends them to bed sooner.
Also season seems to also dictate how far and where they forage for my flock. Weather permitting my flock still enjoys going out in winter although I keep them in and give boredom busters when a blizzard comes in or when it is extremely windy.
We can generally call most of the flock home quite easily. Even just walking outside let alone picking up one of their fermented feed buckets sends them hurtling towards us.
