Just How Far Will They Free Range?

[france]

Our chickens have a run where they spend the day. In the evenings when we are outside we have started letting them free range for a bit. Just how far will they wander?

 

[gritsar]

When I first starter letting my chickens free range as youngsters, they had to check out everything, they headed to the pond one day, which is a quarter of a mile away.
After they had checked out everything they started staying around the coop and house, so maybe a range of three acres total.

 

[jrleader99]

This being our first year with chickens and ducks, we started letting them free range and found that the chickens pretty much stay within a couple hundred yards of the coop.

The Indian Runner ducks on the other hand are a different story. I have caught them in our neighbors back yard (they said they did not mind), in our front yard by the road, and pretty much just about everywhere on our 3.75 acres plus like I said our neighbors backyard.

Our biggest issue with the chickens free ranging is that they spread the mulch in our flower beds all over the place and have been known to eat the low hanging roses and some of my 5 year old daughters flowers too. Oh yeah almost forgot, they love to be in her sand box too. To combat these minor issues, we have only been letting them free range for a couple of hours at the end of the day after I get home so I can keep them out of those areas.

 

[chickiedoodle]

We started out by letting ours out only for an hour or so before twilight, and they didn't go more than 50ft from the coop. Unfortunately most of their "territory" was our lawn and flower beds

However we are fortunate enough to have over 100 acres so I created a "chicken fence" that I put across our driveway in the mornings after DH leaves and it pretty effectively sends the chickens away from the house and yard and into the woods. They are now let out to free range all day, but even so seem to spend most of their time within sight of the coop. Actually, all afternoon they hang out underneath it--I imagine there are lots of bugs under there and it is shady and cool. Pretty much only time they leave sight is when they first go out in the morning. Maybe mine are all scaredy-chickens

 

[jcabanis]

not far as long as there's plenty to eat.
in winter mine come up to the house as they search vainly for greens and bugs, but in summer they are rarely more than 100 feet from the coop.

 

[briesberrypatch]

When I free-ranged my flock, they went FAR - far enough that I was getting worried about the safety of my neighbor's garden and worried about the hens' safety from hawks. That neighbor's house/garden are 400-500 feet from the coop, and the hens were foraging about 10 feet from the garden.

They ranged my other neighbor's 10 acres as well, probably about an equal distance away.

All told, it's probably a 400 foot diameter from the coop. Too far for my comfort, so they have a large fenced yard now and only free range in the fall and early spring (outside of the gardening season).