Questions about the Liability and Roaming Distance of Free-range Chickens.

[missnu01]

I only have 12 chickens but they stay right near their coop. Sometimes they will walk around the house, but never any farther. We have no fences, and their coop lets them out right by the road. They treat it like a fence. I have not seen any one of them even get near the road...and a couple of houses down there are free range chickens right by the same road, and they are never in the road. It seems as though regardless of what jokes may tell us, chickens are reluctant to cross roads in my experience.

 

[Uriel]

I've noticed by experimentation that free ranging produces healthier looking, more colorful birds, even if it does mean you have losses here and there during the day. I'm almost always home looking out to see that there isn't some massacre happening. Tis quite nice to see them be free. Also, not all breeds are meant to free range.

See those little dots in the background in this photo? That's about as far as mine have ever wandered and most of the time they are at the front door of my house waiting for treats.

 

[bobbi-j]

If it were my property and my chickens, I'd put up a fence to keep them off the neighbors' property. Not only are you liable for any damage they would cause, it may also cause hard feelings with your neighbors when the chickens eat and dig up their gardens and poop all over their decks, sidewalks and driveways. Another thing to consider - your neighbors' dogs. They may stay on their own property, but if your chicken were to go into a yard with a dog, that chicken most likely won't be coming home again.