How far will true free ranged chickens go?

[RodNTN]

We have 20 acres of woods around us, and about 3 acres of yard beside that. Our chickens will free range in our front and backyard, but never go further than that. If new chickens are kept in their coop and run for about a week before being turned loose to free range, they never go as far as you suppose they will.

 

[Henrik Petersson]

Mine rarely move beyond 150 feet from the coop.

 

[centrarchid]

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.

 

[BantyChooks]

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.

Birds are out from 8 AM to dusk, whenever that is. I fill their feeder with layer pellets in the morning, let them get hungry until they get annoying, which is usually about three, then I feed them just enough to keep them from poking around the dog run too much. Their main foraging ground is the side yard, which is regular grass, or the woods, which varies in its type quite a bit. The area right to the front/left of the coop is leaf litter with deciduous growth as both scrub and tall trees, and their other favourite area (again, right by the coop, just on the other side) is a pine forest with moist soil, pine needles, and ample scratching opportunities. All that area and two other sides is good hawk cover, and they usually stay as close to it as possible, only venturing out when really hungry. Full birds will vanish for hours at a time. On the far left of the coop, past the pine area, is a road, which they rarely if ever cross due to somewhere around a dozen beagles that live on the other side, up a ways. Their barking makes the chickens worried, with good reason. Many of them are dog attack survivors. On the other side, about a hundred or more feet to the right and down a steep slope, is a stream. They never go there. Behind the coop is a clearing, again, where they don't go. Even if they wanted to they'd have to cross fencing, which cuts them off from the coop and makes them nervous. In front of the coop is sloped slightly towards the stream, except for the driveway and pool setup area where we had sand brought up from our sand pit to make it level. That has the effect of making a sort of basin-like 'safe area' where they can see the coop and be in close range of cover. They could go down into the backyard if they wanted, and they do sometimes, but to get there they have to go through a narrow (ish) corner adjacent to the dog run, which houses a very enthusiastic, very loud, very hungry dog. Having that between them and the coop makes them nervous, and understandably so.

To illustrate: (these pictures are outdated in some respects, but work)

The area in fall. To the left, you can see the fence. It's oh, maybe 30--40 feet in length, and to go around it to get to the clearing in back (which you can't see) they would be removed from their other flock members.

Top right corner is the narrow area they have to go through, past the dog run which isn't visible. Well, maybe you can see the corner.

View from the deck (where the dog run starts). You can see the basin shape I mention here. Birds will come up to the deck or front yard (left and back of here) if they want something.

Make any sense?

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

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.

My worries are that the chickens will stay in the corn or bean field for the time allowed out making it harder to round them up or to keep an eye on them. I won't let them free range all day though as I only have a handful - that would result in a big loss if a predator would happen by.
Here it is pretty open with some bushes and some props for shade/hiding, but other than the fields it is very open.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Birds are out from 8 AM to dusk, whenever that is. I fill their feeder with layer pellets in the morning, let them get hungry until they get annoying, which is usually about three, then I feed them just enough to keep them from poking around the dog run too much. Their main foraging ground is the side yard, which is regular grass, or the woods, which varies in its type quite a bit. The area right to the front/left of the coop is leaf litter with deciduous growth as both scrub and tall trees, and their other favourite area (again, right by the coop, just on the other side) is a pine forest with moist soil, pine needles, and ample scratching opportunities. All that area and two other sides is good hawk cover, and they usually stay as close to it as possible, only venturing out when really hungry. Full birds will vanish for hours at a time. On the far left of the coop, past the pine area, is a road, which they rarely if ever cross due to somewhere around a dozen beagles that live on the other side, up a ways. Their barking makes the chickens worried, with good reason. Many of them are dog attack survivors. On the other side, about a hundred or more feet to the right and down a steep slope, is a stream. They never go there. Behind the coop is a clearing, again, where they don't go. Even if they wanted to they'd have to cross fencing, which cuts them off from the coop and makes them nervous. In front of the coop is sloped slightly towards the stream, except for the driveway and pool setup area where we had sand brought up from our sand pit to make it level. That has the effect of making a sort of basin-like 'safe area' where they can see the coop and be in close range of cover. They could go down into the backyard if they wanted, and they do sometimes, but to get there they have to go through a narrow (ish) corner adjacent to the dog run, which houses a very enthusiastic, very loud, very hungry dog. Having that between them and the coop makes them nervous, and understandably so.

To illustrate: (these pictures are outdated in some respects, but work)
View attachment 1523946
The area in fall. To the left, you can see the fence. It's oh, maybe 30--40 feet in length, and to go around it to get to the clearing in back (which you can't see) they would be removed from their other flock members.

View attachment 1523947
Top right corner is the narrow area they have to go through, past the dog run which isn't visible. Well, maybe you can see the corner.

View attachment 1523948
View from the deck (where the dog run starts). You can see the basin shape I mention here. Birds will come up to the deck or front yard (left and back of here) if they want something.

Make any sense?

Do you think because your area is naturally fenced by trees and structures that the birds stay closer by?

 

[BrahmaGirl2018]

Do they have a run? I think they need a good 2-4 weeks to acclimate to a new environment in which to call home.

They do have a run attached to their coop.

 

[BantyChooks]

Do you think because your area is naturally fenced by trees and structures that the birds stay closer by?

I'm guessing. They ranged much farther when they lived at my neighbour's house, which was devoid of the edges found here. She had much the same feeding schedule as me, perhaps even more liberal.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

They do have a run attached to their coop.

I would keep them in the coop/run area for up to 4 weeks.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I hardly call 6 to 10 chickens a flock, at least 10 chickens is not what a flock of chickens is generally known as even during the hay days of free ranging. So let us look at what your 6 bird flock was ranging over. 350 yards in each direction is 700 yards per side. 700 x 700 yards is 490,000 square yards. There are 9 square feet in one square yard so 490,000 square yards multiplied by 9 is 4,441,000 square feet. One acre has 43,560 square feet. 43,560 divided into 4,441,000 square feet equals 101.239669421 acres and change. This is the potential of how far a flock of chickens will free range over if offered the opportunity and provided the flock is driven to this by hungar. Your acreage will vary depending on the quality and the quantity of the resources that you provide to them in addition to what grub, or grubs that they rustle up for themselves.