Fencing vs Free Ranging (Chickens)
How do we keep our chickens in (the yard) and how do we keep predators out? That's the question we've been answering every day for the past couple weeks. So by popular demand... we thought we'd discuss it today.
2½ years ago we got 6 chicks. We didn't know what we were doing or where we were going to put them. Do we buy a prebuilt coop? Do we try to build something? We went to YouTube to start researching. After coming across a number of chicken channels, we decided to convert the shed on the property into a coop, and build an attached run next to it.
That worked great until winter. Then the chickens ate all the grass and they got pretty bored in there. Oh, and we kept getting more chickens. So we found out about electric fencing. Specifically, Premier 1 poultry fencing. Starting last year, we moved the chickens out of the static run and into the open field surrounded by fencing.
But why don't we free-range? A couple reasons... we've heard too many people tell us their horror stories about losing their flock to predators and having to get more chickens. And we live on a working farm that has farm equipment running in and out all day. So we can't just have chickens running around the driveway to be taken out by trucks.
So enjoy our take on fencing vs free-ranging. And let us know what you do and why. We know it can be a controversial subject that offers a different solution for everyone and their environment.
