wandering chickens

[Dinaschickens]

Hi,
My son and I are just starting with functional pets at our place. We now have 14 hens and 1 rooster about 20 weeks old. We have a 4 x 8 house and a fenced larger run. We have been letting the all the chickens out daily for about 6 weeks now. They seem to enjoy the bugs, scratching around the compost pile, and being int he tall grass. I am not sure what they are supposed to be eating at this point. We now have 2 (?) laying an egg or 2 a day.
This past week my neighbor was burning brush , a slow smolder all week. Yesterday and today we have had a hard time keeping our chickens in OUR yard. They want to be in his yard, scratching around his compost and trees. I hate to lock up our chickens but I don't want them to become a nuisance. We are a small farm with plenty of room. Could this wandering be due to feeding the wrong food? How can I teach my chickens to stay home? We really wanted to allow the chicken to have run of the outside.

 

[redsoxs]

I think the only thing that will keep them home is having something better there than elsewhere. I live in the boonies and mine stay within 30-40 yards of the coop....except this spring...there is a no-till wheat field behind my house with woods (and predators) all around it. They loved going into this field, raking up last year's wheat straw for bugs and eating the new wheat growth. They would range up to a quarter mile from the house!!! Never lost one but it was many trips - trudging out into the field to get around them and shoo them back. Finally the wheat got old enough to no longer be appetizing and now they stay home.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Free range means free to range and forage where and when they please. If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, well then that's the side of the fence where your chickens will be ranging.

 

[Dinaschickens]

Ok so the only real solution seems to be make sure the "eats" are better on our side of the fence. I didn't realize that chickens would go quarter mile from home. I am hoping our hay field has plenty of good bugs.