A Quick Word About Chickens

From inside the chicken yard (Still being put together)

As far as "free range" goes, No matter what and where you live, you're probably going to have fences. This doesn't mean your chickens aren't "free range". If your chickens can go outside, in the sun, and scratch, and run, and eat bugs, and dig up a dirt bath, that's the life of a free-range chicken.

To have a coop for the chickens for the night is only good husbandry. The chickens want to feel safe at night, and there are so many things that like to eat them and/or their eggs; possums, raccoons, foxes, snakes, dogs, etc. They aren't "free-ranging" at night, if they can help it. Also, hens need a nest box of some kind. I think it's about 1 box for every 3-4 hens or a large communal nest box. Many hens like some privacy when they lay, some don't care. Some hens don't even wait to get to the nest box to lay. But, if you have no nest boxes, the hens will lay willy-nilly and there will be dirty and broken eggs everywhere!

From outside the chicken yard

We have a fence around our chicken yard--we used to have them running around the whole yard, but not only would the neighbor's roosters come over and mate our chickens (which is a kosher problem), but they'd poop on my goats hay and in their water and chicken poop can make goats quite ill, so for both reasons we fenced in our hens. They have lots of room to run about and scratch and dig and things and they seem quite content. I also feed them a high-quality laying-hen crumble (not organic-can't get it here easily that's not spoiled) which they prefer to the pellets, plus they get scratch (different seeds and cracked corn and things) and black sunflower seeds daily, kitchen scraps, a little hay, meal worms, extra/soured milk from our goats, whey from when I make cheese, and whatever treats I can think of for them. I put out crushed granite for their gizzards and a calcium supplement when I feel they need one. Both would be available at all times so that the hens can decide when/if they need it and that's called "ad-lib" feeding. Additionally, to help keep the hawks, crows, cats, and neighbor's roosters out, we put deer/bird netting over the top of our chicken enclosure.