I free range my flock when I'm home. When I'm getting ready to go some where, I go out with a quart of scratch and shake it around, and call them. They come running from every direction of my property. It usually takes about 5 minutes to round up all of the stragglers. (there are 33 of them, but after the summer freezer camp, there will be 14 hens/pullets and one rooster) They have plenty of jobs to do: turn my leaf pile, clean out the many ant nests, both in the ground, as well as the ones in my mulch hay before it gets spread in the garden, clean up the slugs, snails, and any other bugs that happen to show themselves, and of course work on keeping my yard weed free and fertile. My flower beds look pretty sorry, with mulch spread on the lawn. The garden is surrounded with deer netting which can't be seen unless you're standing right next to it. The chickens are totally perplexed by it. The girls are shut in a 1600 s.f. electronet run when i'm not home, and locked in their 2 level hoop coop at night. (pine chips in the loft, hay, leaves, and grass clipping DL in the lower level. Pretty much odor free. This is the second summer with the flock, (started with 5 keepers) and already, I've noticed less insect problem in my yard and garden. Again, this year, when i harvest my garden, they will be turned loose there until the ground freezes. BTW, scratch is a great tool for directing your flock where you want them to work in your yard. Just sprinkle it on the area to be weeded/de-bugged/tilled. They will make a bee line for that spot when you let them out every morning. They get FF morning and afternoon, which most likely will be cut back some when the meat birds are harvested to force the layers to be more active foragers. The older girls would rather be foraging than eating FF, the youngsters have a learning curve.
