Shalonne,
Free Range is the ultimate in a chickens life. They will hunt bugs, eat vegetation, destroy a garden, turn over the soil, and have the best health a chicken can have. No chicken feed can equal what they can get for them selves. If will cut your feed bill by 3/4. Use the money you save to put some coated chicken wire around the bottom of your stockaded to keep chickens in and predators out. Predators can be a problem. Fox, Raccoons, Owls and Coyotes tend to be nocturnal hunters but don't count on it. I lost a hen to an Opossum in the middle of the day. Loose dogs are a real problem especially in RI, home of the law suit (lol). Yours are a bit young yet especially on cool days, (they do happen some years). I'd wait another couple weeks.
Ol' George
--- In CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com, Shalonne Halstead <shalonne@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I was hoping I could get some advice on whether or not I should free range.
> I live in rural RI on a 3/4 acre piece of property. The back yard (where the
> coop will be located) is fenced in - some stockade and some chain link. Not
> critter proof. Area predators are coyotes, foxes, racoons, possoms and
> hawks. I have not seen any of the four legged animals in our actual yard. I
> do see hawks flying. We have several big evergreen trees and a couple of
> deciduous trees in our yard. I think trees provide protection from
> predators? We have RI Reds, Araucanas, Barred Rocks and Black sex-linked.
> They are all the same age born around 5/15/10. There are 12 chickens. We
> have no other pets. We will have a garden but it will be fenced in
> separately.
>
> I would really like to free range them because I think they will be happier
> and healthier (other than if they get eaten) and that the eggs will taste
> better...But, I can make them a really nice large run if that is the best
> option. It will just be very expensive...
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
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