Yes and you should be able to let your children out the play in their own yard unattended. But you can't do that either if you want to keep them safe.
Children playing inside a fenced yard on a country property with their parents right inside the house is a natural thing.
We are not talking about children, though, so let's stay on topic.
Free ranging is natural for chickens. Free ranging on the property of the owner, in my own case, inside a huge 2 acre fenced perimeter, is natural and my right. If I had to keep them penned, eating only commercial feed 24/7, then I'd be just as well off buying cheaper, 6 week old grocery store eggs and saving a TON of money. We prefer the healthier, rich,
eggy-eggs from what they eat on range.
We have laws here in the state and the county that tell me that a dog off the owner's property must be under the control of that owner at all times. The same ordinances say that any dog harassing livestock or poultry may be shot without recourse to the shooter. The law doesn't say my chickens have to be in tight cages for that to be enforced.
If you read my previous post, one dog have literally
climbed my fence, one dog was
put over my fence, etc. I
did my duty to "keep my chickens safe", as you put it, yet they were still in danger from roaming dogs.
I refuse to lock them in pens where they are less healthy, more susceptible to worms, lay more anemic, grocery-store-like eggs because they can't get to forage, etc. If they are killed by some nasty little dog that finds its way inside the fence somehow, I suppose some would still say it's my fault. That attitude is the same one we encounter here all the time, i.e., all chickens should be locked in a tight cage, dogs are just doing what dogs do, etc.
