Why did the chicken go in the road?

[pinkpickledeggs]

Open fields are highly attractive to turkeys, chickens not so much. Chickens in my experience prefer an "edge" area with brushy trees, mowed lawn, and a water source. If you can give them this type area, they will tend to stay inside it. A kiddie pool can be used as a water source in a pinch. I clean mine every other day as they tend to walk in it.

Fascinating!!! I would love to get a turkey or two someday, but I digress. Thankfully our "edges" are abundant and mostly away from the road!!

 

[Anime2lover]

Sorry for the lame title!!

I am about to be a first-time chicken owner (I am SO excited!) and plan to eventually allow them to free range during the day. We live on sixty (!) gorgeous acres of field, woods, and river. It's the eventual plan to let them free range - not immediate - we are constructing a coop (it's really a palace) with a very large (covered) run for maximum worry-free foraging.

All that being said, the coop/run is located about 150 feet (give or take) away from the road. It's not excessively busy, but we don't walk on it much because people ALWAYS speed (and we have sixty acres to explore!). The house is between the coop/run and the road.

My spouse is worried the chickens will become roadkill very soon after we start letting them out, and I get it, but also they'll be situated right next to the huge hay field and yard that is FULL of tasty bugs - I know chickens aren't known for their high intellect, but it seems that everything else would be more interesting.

I suppose I'm asking if anyone has any experience with this, or any advice? I'm not married to the idea of letting them roam or in any hurry to start, but I'd really like to. I also know I'll be crushed if anyone gets hit by a car or (heaven forbid) causes an accident.

I find that chickens learn with repetition. At first ours always wondered to the road. But the more we chased them back, the less they wondered toward it. Keeping food and water away from it helped to.

 

[Mrs. K]

The more you let them out, the farther they will roam. Your property sounds beautiful, but I would not be surprised if you don't have a bunch of predators also. Once they find your chickens, they will be back.

I find that the best is to have a secure over the top, fort know type of run/coop that will contain your flock 24/7. Then I do free range, but not every day, not in all kinds of weather (cloudy days, and high wind days give advantage to day time predators) And I don't keep a stick schedule as in I let them out at 7:00 every day.

Some days mine are out all day, sometimes in the after noon only, and sometimes not at all.

good luck,

Mrs K