What Age Can Chickens Free Range?

[Beekissed]

Well, with that definition, I can't imagine anyone is actually free ranging anything in the states right now....there is no free range available.

Reasonable definition of free ranging when referring to backyard chickens is birds free to come and go in a large area of pasture/grass without confinement within a run/tractor.

If the Range is confined then it isn't Free.

Unless you own thousands of acres that have no fencing, roads, boundaries, etc. then there is always confinement of one type or another. Typically, folks on here mean that their birds are not confined to a stationary run or confined to a tractor~FREE to range about in a large area.​

 

[centrarchid]

I am doing what can be defined as free range in the strictest since. My birds can go in any direction they choose and have not been impeded by any fence in the distances they do actually go. What restricts their ranging is interest in resources such as feeder, watering hole, roost and cover. They define their range in that case.

 

[saladin]

Quote:
Unless you own thousands of acres that have no fencing, roads, boundaries, etc. then there is always confinement of one type or another. Typically, folks on here mean that their birds are not confined to a stationary run or confined to a tractor~FREE to range about in a large area.

I do indeed Free-Range all my young stags and all the ducks. They are Free to go wherever they like. The place is not fenced; neither are the neighbors places. So, free is a very reasonable word to me.

Chickens will tend to stay in a rather small area even when Free-ranged. (I've never see one range more than a 1/4 of a mile from where they are fed.

Lol. Obviously you have not been to South Carolina lately. You will seldom see a fence (except on the Interstate).

 

[saladin]

Quote:
Great def. centra.

I do have a confined area of a few acres for the hens; but, I don't call that free-ranging since their is a fence.

 

[centrarchid]

In my free-range settings, fences made for larger livestock may not impede chickens because they can either fly over or simply walk through, yet such fences can influence ranging habits. My birds treat fences and ditches like wildlife corridoors. They will nearly walk the perimeter of a 40 acre feild if good cover provided by border habitat yet not venture more than 100 yards towards center of such a feild unless pushed into flight. Therefore, fences actually promote ranging. I feel comfortable with such ranging because my games are very competent flyers and available cover helps limit loss to hawks.

The free-range concept is cool stuff to me for my less flight capable dominiques because I am yet to fully understand how to get the birds to use more of the ground and the natural productivity it provides that is in close proximity to roost / house / protection provided by dog. The birds prefer to go farther along fence rows, like the games, to get same levels of eats yet such lardbutts can not fly well enough to evade ground predators that come in when dog is not close. I want free range to involve more effecient use of habitat and will modify habitat to promote once ideal characteristics understood.

 

[Sjisty]

I let even one-week-old chicks outside, with supervision, to explore and stretch their wings. I love watching the little ones dust bathing and discovering the newness of life!

Don't worry, they're not dead, just worn out!

 

[brahmakid11]

my chickens have two acres to free range

 

[chicmom]

Hi pwog, chickens can free range at any age, but remember that the smaller they are, the more vulnerable they are against predators.

What I like to do, is, after they've gone from the brooder to their coop, and once they're really used to living outside (which is usually about 2 weeks), I'll let them out to free range about an hour before dusk, when I can just sit in a chair and watch them. They will normally stay pretty close to their coop and run. Sometimes they just run around it, and once it starts to get dark they will all go back to their run, so you don't even have to try and catch them.

Then after time, I will let them outside for longer periods. I have lost about one chicken a year to some unknown predator, and I'm guessing it's a hawk. It's always been a pullet or a cockerel too, or a bantam. I've never lost a full grown, large fowl chicken.

This technique has worked perfectly for me, and I've had many many batches of chicks. I do like to let them free range, because I think you get those beautiful orange yolks in the eggs, but mainly because I think they're happier....(Not just pacing in a chicken run). And it also helps cut down my feed bill in the summertime, which is a bonus.

Take care,
Sharon

 

[centrarchid]

Do not forget being vulnerable to weather, especially before chicks have full set of body feathers.

Cold, rain and wind can as well as any predator.

 

[mrhall]

My chicks are 3 weeks old and i have a coop and a run…the coop is off the ground and the chicks love the roosting poles inside and outside. At dusk they seem really scared and huddle together peeping their lungs out….but won't go up inside the coop. I know they can get up their because they climb all over the place…is it because its dark in the coop…should I put a light on?