Free range chickens have the run of a property. When you let your chickens free range they simply are not penned in. They go where they please and do as they like. Free ranging seems great at first since you animals aren’t confined to a small space, but free ranging chickens has drawbacks that need to be considered. While it’s always a good idea to give your chickens plenty of space to live in, it’s not always best for them to let them free range. Let’s look at why.
What is and isn’t Free Range?
The USDA rules for free range vs what would humanely be considered free range are wildly different. The USDA definition simply requires that chickens are allowed to choose to go outside on their own. There is no space requirement and outside is simply an area with open access to the sky. This is not typically what people think of when they hear free range and it’s not necessarily a humane way to raise birds. It’s better than battery cages, which is how most chickens are kept, but it could use a lot of improvements.
When we talk about free range for your homestead, we mean actual free range. In a homestead free range typically means your chickens are not kept in an enclosure, even if they have a coop, they can choose where they go in your property. Some people even keep free range chickens in a “natural” way giving them appropriate trees to roost in at night. This is an extreme version of free ranging your chickens, but it can work in some situations.
Why Wouldn’t I Want to Free Range Chickens?
There are a lot of reason that you might not want to let your chickens run around freely. We’ll start by thinking about the birds themselves. Chickens are farm animals and like most farm animals are very susceptible to a wide range of predators. Chickens can be eaten by coyotes, hawks, weasels, dogs, snakes, and just about any predator in your area. Because of this, you need to be sure that you’re not just free ranging to say your free ranging, but actually doing so in a way that protects your birds from a murder most “fowl”.
Ease of Care For Free Range Chickens
While free range chickens can forage and greatly reduce the cost to feed them, they can also just eat whatever they want. Chickens are not the smartest animals and if you have plants around that are not good for them to eat, they might just eat them anyway. In addition to not being able to keep an eye on them everywhere, you also have to be able to find them when you need them. Free range chickens lay their eggs where they want, they could hide from you, or they could just disappear for a few days days. All of this makes keeping track and caring for your birds much more difficult.
Garden Problems With Free Range Chickens
Chickens will eat small plants or pick fruits off larger plants to eat on their own. If you have a homestead garden and your chickens decide that things look tasty, they can devastate your crops in a single afternoon. Luckily this can be avoided by giving them plenty of additional things to eat and grass to pick through, but still you’ll want to keep them out of the main garden when your plants are small and tender as chickens will eat those first.
Once your plants are larger and healthier you can actually use them to weed your garden, but this requires knowing how the chickens will handle the different things you’ve planted and adjusting your expectations accordingly. Knowledge is always your most important tool when working on a homestead.
Free Range Chickens Can Be A Nuisance To Others
If you have close neighbors and you free range your chickens, get ready to deal with the consequences. While you’re prepared to have chickens your neighbors might not be and letting your chickens wander into their yard or make trouble for the people around you is not a good thing to do. This is especially relevant if your neighbors have animals as well. Dogs often chase and kill chickens even if they are well mannered dogs, so don’t expect everything to be easy if you free range near others.
What Other Options Do I have Besides Free Range Chickens?
If any of these issues seem relevant to you, you’re in luck, because you can keep chickens in a wide variety of ways. The closest thing to free range would be providing your chickens a large run with a variety of densely planted plants that can enrich their lives. These are often refereed to as chicken gardens, which are gardens designed specifically to keep your birds happy and healthy without giving them total freedom.
From there you can keep your chickens in a standard run, “part time” free range them, or even use a chicken tractor where you would let them free range specific areas while herding them like a shepherd. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how you can raise your chickens!
So, Should I Free Range My Chickens?
True, total free range chickens are almost never right for most homesteaders. It’s a lovely idea, but because of predators alone it just doesn’t work out as well as a large planned run or elaborate chicken garden would. While some people can make full free range work for their flocks, you should be realistic and try and make decisions based around what is going to be best for your birds and your farm in general.