You like the idea of free ranging, but are wondering how to make the most of the advantages while minimizing the disadvantages. Let’s talk about some options.
Complete free ranging is raising chickens without borders. It must be very rare because it needs a very large area indeed, free of threats and risks as well as fences.
Most people who say they free range their chickens mean Confined Ranging. You define the boundaries, but the chickens do have access to a large enough area so that it seems like pretty much the same as Complete free ranging, as far as the chickens are concerned.
A variation of confined ranging is Mobile ranging. The typical example is a chicken tractor. The chickens are enclosed in what might be a fairly small area around their chicken house. They get to come and go in and out of their house as and when they please, and the whole thing is moved from time to time so that the chickens periodically get a new area of land, with fresh grass and full of bugs and seeds and such delights.
A variation of mobile ranging that works very well in a farming situation is a system called multi-species rotational grazing, in which the chickens follow other animal species in a cyclical progression. The chickens do a valuable job of reducing the numbers of fly larvae that otherwise multiply on the animal droppings, and at the same time the chickens benefit from the protein of those grubs. And the chicken manure is loaded with nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium, which are all important nutrients for the soil.
If chickens have access to the same piece of land all the time, they will keep pecking at the plants they like and ignoring the less favoured species, until the tasty plants get killed off without going to seed and the weeds take over. The alternating areas involved can be quite small if you deliberately resow the green cover crop when the chickens are moved out. If you’re planting specifically for chickens, choose a mixture of plants such as clovers, alfalfa and legumes.
In Part time ranging the chickens are closely confined in a run for part of the day and then allowed out to range in a large area for a while. With part-time ranging, you can keep your chickens secure in their run, and perhaps give them some supervision when they are out ranging. The easiest time for you to let them out to range is the afternoon or evening. At dusk they will put themselves to bed back in their chicken house, and you just have to do a quick head count and close the door behind them
Some chicken owners who do care very much for their chickens, choose to never let their chickens out to range at all, but keep them confined full time. There is no doubt that this is safest and takes the least amount of space but you need to provide activities and greens to eat.
There is no “best” way to free range that will be best for everyone. But you can find a system that works for you, and your chickens.
Thanks to The White House on the Hill for use of their footage of their chicken tractors. Check out their channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfuEu0ff9Yy_oA5U21C5Stw
For more fascinating facts, hints and tips about caring for your chickens, and the sheer pleasure of chickens, subscribe to my channel: Chickens in my garden - New Zealand
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chickensFree rangingMobile ranging with chicken tractors
