Tips for my free range

[jessa0728]

Does anyone have any tips on how to keep free range chickens in one general area? I know they are curious creatures, but if there's anything to help them stay in one spot would be great! Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Fencing. Yeah, I know, free range fencing.

I’ve had some flocks that would pretty much stay within 300 feet of the coop area on their own and some where most would stick around but a few hens would form a mini-flock and roam much further. I’ve had flocks that regularly roamed more than 1000 feet. Some are just more curious and have more wanderlust than others.

Quality of forage seems to have some effect, but it did not always work the same with different flocks. The more open the terrain the more they seem to roam. If you let everything go to tall grass and weeds to form a barrier around them, that might help.

One of our members, Centrarchid, has studied this quite a bit but he has several different flocks each with their own territory. One rooster will protect his territory from another flock so they tend to not roam as far. So establish free ranging flocks with roosters all around yours to help keep yours at home.

In other words, other than a fence or barrier of some type, I don’t know of any way that actually works. And when they go on the move, it doesn’t take them long to go a fair distance. If you have a specific area you don’t want them to go, you can try a fence along that border or all the way around if it is a garden. Good luck.

 

[jessa0728]

Ok, thank you for the advice!