When I tell people we have chickens, they frequently ask if we let them free-range or keep them in a fence. Before we even got chickens I knew I’d let them free range. This post and the YouTube video both explain the pros and cons of free-ranging your chickens. We’ve been free-ranging our chickens for 2 years and have learned a lot from it. Check out the video for a visual of our yard, coop set up, garden, etc. For those who prefer the written format, here is a post listing the pros and cons.
Pros of Free-Ranging Your Chickens
- very orange, nutritious yolks
- more varied diet for your flock
- happy chickens as they can go wherever they want, explore, discover to their heart’s content
- safer from predators because they are scattered all over the yard, not confined to one area and easy to grab
- less messy and stinky coop because they aren’t in there very often, especially if they have another overhang/shelter to run to during rain storms
- fertilize your grass, yard, garden
- less cost or no cost to feed
- if you have other animals like cows or sheep, they can follow behind and spread out the manure as they scratch through it.
- bug control all around your property, not just in the coop area
- always available for kids to pick up and play with
- you can water them close to your hose or house instead of hauling water to the coop
- plenty of places to take dirt baths, their natural way of keeping clean
Cons of Free-Ranging Your Chickens
- get into your garden and flower beds
- step on chicken poop in your yard or sidewalk
- time consuming to watch your yard then shew them off your porch, out of your garden and flowers
Main Reason I Started Free-Ranging Our Chickens
I am a big proponent of freedom. I also value exploration and discovery. Giving my children free time to go do whatever they want brings me a lot of joy. I love watching them create, explore, and discover how to make things. For instance, they want to make a solar oven. I love giving them the freedom to make it however they want. By trying various materials, they are discovering for themselves what works and what doesn’t. And what materials are fun to play with, what else they’re good for, and how they work. This often leads to spin off creative pursuits.
How does this relate to chickens? I know they’re not children and I shouldn’t project human thoughts and feelings onto animals, but I do anyway, haha. I see that they want their freedom otherwise they wouldn’t escape the fence.
We have a video of the first day we took new chicks outside. We had bought them at a store and kept them in a brooder box for a few days as it was cold. They were 6 days old when we carried them outside and set them down. They immediately started running! Flapping their wings, they would run/skip/fly about 10 feet before stopping. You could tell they had been cramped inside the brooder box (we use a small plastic pool, so not cramped, but not 10 feet long either.) I loved watching them see how far they could run and trying to flap their wings. You could tell they were super excited about it too! They’d peep and peep then run back and show their friends. Then they would all run together and squeal about it. It’s so cute!
Sitting in their box they looked bored and a bit dejected with nothing interesting to explore. Outside, they would scramble over small rocks, sticks, and pine straw. They could eat grass and bugs. Finding worms was a huge treat and accomplishment they were so proud of. I love watching them climb on a rock and try to fly off. Then, much as preschoolers trying to see if they can jump off a big stump after a friend does it, the chicks would take turns jumping off the rock.
Watching chicks and our grown chickens explore and play on their own is gratifying to me, so that is the main reason I let them free-range. Seeing my flowers trampled is aggravating, but watching them excitedly follow a leader into the woods on a scavenger hunt for new bugs is worth it.
Pictures of Our Free-Ranging Chickens
If you follow on Holladay Happenins, you’ll probably notice that almost every week there are pictures of our chickens. They are my kids’s main hobby here on the farm. (Outside of the farm they enjoy acting in plays in town.) Here are a few pictures of the chickens enjoying their free range life and the children enjoying picking them up every time they go outside. If they were inside the fence all day I don’t think they would.
Ducks parading their new ducklings around the yard.- Chickens exploring a tree I was cutting up.
- Kids playing a game with the chickens.
- One guinea fowl wonders how the rest got up.
- Girls cuddle chickens after church.
- Thomas enjoying a break from schoolwork and playing with the ducks and chickens.
- Chickens taking a dirt bath near the edge of the woods.
Don’t Forget to Watch My Video of Free-Ranging Chickens!
So that sums up the pros and cons of free-ranging your chickens. I probably missed a few points, but you get the idea. Comment and let me know how it works for you and if you have any questions. Glad to answer them! And watch the video of pros and cons of frree-ranging your chickens to see the destruction they do but the joy they bring. Plus Q and A with Kaitlyn of how to get them to come to the barn at night and more.