how old til they can free range

[ladyride]

I have 8 week old chicks who have just learned their coop. When can they go out of their secure 12x 30 run & free range & how far will they stray ?? This is so scary for me .

 

[Buff-Island-Australorp]

Mine are 8 weeks old too, and have been free ranging in the evenings since they were maybe 3 or 4 weeks old. On the weekends, I'm outside most of the time, and the door to their run is open all the time. But when I think they would be outside running around, they're actually back in the run. So they come and go as they please on my days off from work. I have a jeep with a removeable hard top, and it's outside, by one of my tool sheds. They get up under it quite often, and take little naps. Mine don't wonder too far from the coop though....maybe about 50ft to 75ft away is the farthest. I wish I could keep it like that because I have a huge garden that they haven't discovered yet, but I know that will change eventually. I usually don't leave them out if I'm going to be gone.
I say...turn em loose...they'll be just fine. Don't worry and relax.

 

[peacemaker]

Mine are 10 weeks and come out everyday to roam my backyard, which is fenced in, they love it and don't stray too far from us while we are out there. They go back into the coop on their own just before dark so that they can be locked back up safe and sound.

 

[MrsRevDr]

Mine are 6-7 weeks and won't go more then 25 feet from their pen, unless they are following me, if I want them back in before nightfall I just put treats in the pen and they all file back in.

 

[kara_leigh]

Our house sits on about 1 acre of mowed "yard" (there are 4 more acres that just grow wild atm) and there is a small wooded area right next to our house. My chickens are 6/7 weeks old and they go all over the place. They have explored 3/4 of the yard and all of the woods. The woods is their favorite part. We don't leave them out if we are leaving, but otherwise they have free run all day long. When I first started letting them out I was paranoid, so I sat with them all day and they stayed really close. Gradually they started exploring further and further, and I think they are now going as far as they ever will. Thankfully they don't go to the part of the yard that my garden will be in. lol When they first started going into the woods I was worried they would get lost and wander into the neighbor's cow pasture, but every so often they pop out into the grass and then go back in. lol When one or two get separated, they call to each other until they are reunited. They always come back at night. They don't have a coop yet, but when they are ready to be put away they huddle by their brooder so we can put them in it.