Free Range vs. Confined Chickens

We’ve been raising chickens here at OOHF since 2008 and have tried several different methods for raising them, all of which have been successful.  Until this past fall, we kept the birds secure in their 80′ long by 30′ wide rectangular chicken run with the capability of extending the area about fifty feet in each direction using temporary electrified poultry netting.  This method worked very well since we were able to use the chickens to clean up and fertilize the garden and trellis areas adjacent to the chicken yard, and they did not foul their main chicken run since we could lock them out of it while it recovered from grazing.  There were several drawbacks with this method, if you can call them that.  First, we had to provide most of their food and all their fresh water daily since the chickens were basically confined in fenced areas.  Another drawback, which was not apparent until we let them free range, was that the roosters spent too much time fighting each other since they were not occupied with protecting the flock from predators.  Since allowing the birds to free range, I have not seen the roosters fight at all.  Finally, hen-pecking reared its ugly head sometimes with some hens being stripped of their feathers on their backs, presumably because of their boredom, a protein deficiency, or due to their confinement.

Using the above method for the last five years, we decided to try something a bit different in the fall of 2012.  The catalyst for this change was that there was a bumper crop of insects in 2012 (particularly grasshoppers) and because the birds quit laying eggs.  Being a believer in everything must pull their weight so to speak around the farm, I decided to open their chicken run and let them free range.  At first I was concerned about our dogs attacking the chickens, but that turned out to be unfounded.  In fact, the dogs provide security for the flock by eliminating chicken predators on the property such as raccoons, opossums coyotes, and foxes.  By letting the birds free-range around the property, I was able to significantly reduce their feed and  was also able to eliminate the chore of providing fresh water daily, which the birds are able to get from a nearby creek.  Other concerns I had with free-ranging were that the birds would not return to their coop at night, and that they would lay eggs around the property, both of which turned out not to be the case.   I attribute this to the fact that these birds were already trained to use the coop, which may not be the case when I add new chicks to the flock in the spring…we’ll have to see.  Incidentally, we still close the birds up every night for their safety.  So, it appears that free-ranging our chickens may be a better method for raising our birds, but there have been a couple of cons.  Since they can go wherever they please, they have done some damage to our flower beds, but we fixed that problem by laying wire tomato cages on their sides in the beds to block their entry.  Finally, the last con is that the birds poop all over the property, which I don’t consider a problem unless I happen to step in a pile of droppings.  On the bright side though, I can live with poop in the yard since the benefits of chickens grazing, eating insects and weed seeds, scratching, and fertilizing far outweigh the negatives.  Below is an image of some of our chickens as they go about their business on the farm.