Define “free range”

[Loving my girls]

For you free rangers, do you have a recall system? I’m thinking a clicker or a dinner bell vs me screaming “come home chickens!” In the big yard they have now, they do not go to the run and coop until dark. I want to be able to get them back asap as needed. They do follow my pig everywhere and I know he comes to the sound of cheerios.

I used to call their names but the list got a bit too long, now I just shout “girlz” and that works.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

I consider free-range to mean a flock is free to roam where they will outdoors in an area that encapsulates their entire territory. For most flocks, that’s 2 acres. So supposed you have 10 acres with a 8 ft high deer fence around it. Within those 10 acres the chickens can go where they want, but they stay entirely on 2 acres. That’s likely going to be free range in my mind. It doesn’t matter that they can’t leave the 10 acres. They wouldn’t likely be leaving the 10 acres whether its fenced or not.

I recall reading that wild junglefowl typically have a territory of around 300 feet. Even the most adventurous of chicken breeds won't go adventuring very far at all. It's pointless to say "my chickens have 400 acres to free-range" because they're probably going to free-range their way to the back door of the house for scraps

My fat dual-purpose chickens just hang out next to the house all day and my feral junglefowl mix chickens don't go more than 30 feet into the woods

 

[tlcmurphy]

I recall reading that wild junglefowl typically have a territory of around 300 feet. Even the most adventurous of chicken breeds won't go adventuring very far at all. It's pointless to say "my chickens have 400 acres to free-range" because they're probably going to free-range their way to the back door of the house for scraps

My fat dual-purpose chickens just hang out next to the house all day and my feral junglefowl mix chickens don't go more than 30 feet into the woods

Exactly. Mine “Free Range” to the back deck and peck at the door for attention

 

[JacinLarkwell]

recall reading that wild junglefowl typically have a territory of around 300 feet.

That actually fits in pretty well with all of my flocks now that I think about it

 

[thistlewick]

Get a bucket and put some treats in it that will rattle. Maybe corn, cheerios, or sunflower seeds, whatever rattles. A couple of times a day feed them some treats while rattling the bucket. Chant something like "Here, Chicky Chick" or "Chick, Chick, Chicky" so they get used to it as a call. Before too long they should start running to you whenever they see the bucket, here your chant, or hear you rattling the bucket. They'll probably run to you and become a nuisance anytime they see you, even without that stuff.

Don't overfeed them when you treat them. Leave them wanting more. And be consistent. Don't use the bucket or chant unless you are treating them.

Mine don't think treats are treats at all. They don't care about Scratch, they don't care about fruit. They eat grass and bugs all day and are living the big life (they do have access to crumble as they are still growing) but MAN, I wish I could train them to a treat recall but they just don't care.

edit; Also mine "free-range" to the back porch, the front porch, the drift rose bushes... anywhere around the HOUSE. Chicken poop everywhere...... ugh lol My pressure washer has never seen more use.

We have been moving their coop (it's a tractor but they are still young and not laying) weekly out towards the pasture where they will "live" but they don't care. They just come sit (and poop) on my porch. SIGH lol

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I recall reading that wild junglefowl typically have a territory of around 300 feet. Even the most adventurous of chicken breeds won't go adventuring very far at all. It's pointless to say "my chickens have 400 acres to free-range" because they're probably going to free-range their way to the back door of the house for scraps

My fat dual-purpose chickens just hang out next to the house all day and my feral junglefowl mix chickens don't go more than 30 feet into the woods

Correct. The typical territory of a wild red junglefowl is usually only a few hundred square yards and they rarely disperse beyond it. That’s one reason chickens handle parent x sibling inbreeding so well. They don’t distribute themselves enough to spread out their genes.

That’s a big contrast with wild turkeys, which have home territories it may take them 2-3 days of causal feeding and meandering to walk across. When we try to keep free-range turkeys home, we’re fighting and breeding against their nature. While with chickens we’re going with the flow.

I also think their small ranges are why we only have very small, confined, feral flocks of chickens in the US and not large wild populations. Most common and thriving North American animal species disperse over large ranges.

Interestingly, wild hogs remained confined to small groups on the Florida peninsula and the Gulf Coast for several hundred years. They never dispersed. Then all of a sudden they started dispersing all over the SE in the last 50 years. I have not seen a scientific reason offered for the change. I suspect feral chickens could also take over the SE if they would just spread themselves.

 

[esturtz27]

I used to call their names but the list got a bit too long, now I just shout “girlz” and that works.

Lol all my girls have names but I just yell out "heeeey chick chick" and all of them come running. Though there are a couple...Ethel and Roberta specifically...that know their names because they are always in trouble or stuck

 

[esturtz27]

I recall reading that wild junglefowl typically have a territory of around 300 feet. Even the most adventurous of chicken breeds won't go adventuring very far at all. It's pointless to say "my chickens have 400 acres to free-range" because they're probably going to free-range their way to the back door of the house for scraps

My fat dual-purpose chickens just hang out next to the house all day and my feral junglefowl mix chickens don't go more than 30 feet into the woods

I am not sure about this. I have a few girls...probably 10 out of the 20. That just wonder everywhere. I've found Ethel in my neighbor's back pasture 10 acres away lol! That may just be that she's a nut and oddball chicken. Norma Jean, Betty and Silvia have all wondered much farther than 300 feet though they are andalusian chickens and I read it was just part of their breed to be a bit adventurous.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I am not sure about this. I have a few girls...probably 10 out of the 20. That just wonder everywhere. I've found Ethel in my neighbor's back pasture 10 acres away lol! That may just be that she's a nut and oddball chicken. Norma Jean, Betty and Silvia have all wondered much farther than 300 feet though they are andalusian chickens and I read it was just part of their breed to be a bit adventurous.

What we have now in terms of chickens is a long ways away from being red junglefowl or even traditional free range farm chickens from 200 years ago. Their behaviors have been changed a lot.

The most wandering chickens I’ve had have been hatchery layers, while my most confined chickens have been my gamefowl and junglefowl hybrids. My hatchery layers used to greet me at my gate nearly a quarter of a mile away from the farm yard where they were supposed to be. And over time all but 2 died because they’d stupidly wander some of the most dangerous areas of the property.

I’ve had some turkeys that would never leave the farm yard, while most would travel up to 1/4 mile off property (1/2 of a mile total from the core farmyard) through the woods. There’s exceptions to every rule, and the genetic exceptions could be capitalized on to make birds that defy their natural behaviors.

But when allowed to naturally select, the trend for most domestic animals (crops as well) is to revert to something more like their natural states.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My flock is bred from dual purpose hatchery quality. Most of them stay within 200 to 300 feet of where they sleep. One time I had three hens that left the flock and went around 400 feet to play on or near a gravel road on a daily basis. I ate the ringleader and the other two then started staying with the main flock instead or roaming.

One year the entire flock, probably led by the rooster, would travel about 500 feet to play on a neighbor's storm shelter. That neighbor loved to hear the rooster crow, he was glad they were there, so I let them do as they wished.