Free Range Chickens Without Fence

Free range chickens don t stay within property lines without fences.

Free range chickens without fence.

An experienced pasture raised poultry expert robert plamondon shares his thoughts on the best methods of keeping free range chickens. Flickr user naomi is your family good with chickens on the deck or the porch. Free ranging your chickens in the winter is a little different especially if you live in an area with a lot of snow. You can fence your chickens favorite plants in with chicken wire or you can put a fence around your entire garden.

This will allow chickens to get out of their coop and enjoy a spacious activity area without the risk of getting out your yard or being attacked by wild predators. We don t get much if any snow so my flock has the opportunity to free range most all the winter. That said the flock only gets to roam when we are home so our extra activity might scare away any predators. The road isn t too far away from the coop but they don t seem to go that direction.

Whatever works best for you. We free range without a fence but we have 5 5 acres and no neighbors in sight of the house. Chickens will range farther if their yard is not entirely open but includes trees and shrubs offering shade from the hot sun relief from blowing winds and protection from flying predators. Many people allow them to free range for short time each day but to keep the chickens from wandering too far they limit recess to no more than a couple of hours and often just a half hour.

Chickens will stay close to the coop and will not scratch through deep snow for food. In some locales it may be difficult to have a fence or impractical to have perimeter fencing. Understand that your free range or confine range chickens will always be more at risk of injury and death from predators than chickens raised entirely within a chicken coop and adjoining secure outside pen. Backyard farms or rural farms usually use large or small chicken coops and enclose the area with fence using chicken wires.

A fence is the best combo with a chicken coop. I have found that the best way of containing free range.