Pros vs Cons of Free-Ranging Chickens: What To Know

There are so many pros vs cons of free-ranging chickens! I’m going to tell you what you need to know, so you can easily decide whether to keep your backyard chickens in a chicken coop/run set up, or let them loose to free-range all day long.

The dream of free-ranging chickens

First, can we just address the picture I know we all have in our heads?

Ah…the beautiful image of free-ranging chickens on the homestead! I know you see it in your mind – walking outside to collect those fresh eggs while your chickens free-range in an open field. Sounds idyllic right?

As chicken owners, we want healthy happy chickens! We also want lots of delicious eggs to bring in every day. I mean, if we’re honest, that’s the main reason we have a chicken flock in the first place. Although, they can be pretty darn entertaining as well!

But there’s really nothing like cracking open those free-range chicken eggs and revealing that bright orange yolk inside! (I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back to store bought eggs!)

However, depending on where you live, it can determine whether or not free-ranging your chickens is the best option or not. On our homestead, we’ve done both, and I’ve learned through experience the many pros vs cons of each.

>>>Read also: How To Raise Backyard Chickens – A Beginner’s Guide

Quick Links

Other Options

Fencing/Livestock Guardian Dog

A Middle Ground

Pros of Free-Ranging Chickens

Healthier Chickens

• Let’s start with what, in my personal opinion, is the number 1 reason to free-range your chickens. When chickens free-range, they have access to a healthier, more balanced diet including grass, herbs, and bugs. They are also able to get more exercise than chickens in a confined setting, plus it gives them full time access to fresh air and sunlight. Having healthier chickens leads us right into the next pro of free-ranging – healthier eggs!

Healthier Eggs

• It seems common sense to assume that healthier chickens produce healthier eggs, right? Well, it’s true! There have been multiple studies done on this, and the results are in. One study on this states – “Eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain: 1/3 less cholesterol, 1/4 less saturated fat, 2/3 more vitamin A, 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids, 3 times more vitamin E, 7 times more beta carotene”. As far as health is concerned, hands down free-ranging is optimal. The good news though, is even if you choose NOT to free-range your chickens, you can still take measures to supplement their diet and ensure they are getting as many vitamins and nutrients as possible. 

Less Cleaning Requirements

• Since I have both free-ranged my chickens, and not, one pro that comes to mind about free-ranging is LESS CLEANING! When your chickens free-range, their poop gets deposited all around your property, so let’s just say it’s a bit less “offensive” – ha! The chicken coop becomes their bedroom only, as typically they will spend the day out and about foraging and sunbathing (yes – chickens sunbathe and it’s adorable). You will still need to clean their coop every now and then, but the demand is way less since they aren’t confined to that one area all day every day. 

Easier Dust Baths

• Chickens bathe themselves by finding a good patch of dirt, crouching down into it, scratching and then flapping their wings. They will wiggle around and position themselves in the dirt so that they are able to fling the dirt up into their feathers. They will then use their beaks to start preening and cleaning the excess dust and dirt off of them. Yes, you can easily put a dust bath into a chicken coop or run. But you will end up constantly refilling it with dirt or sand, as they will eventually scratch and kick it all out. With free-ranging chickens, they search out different dust bath locations all the time. This means their dust baths are always ready and full of fresh dirt without you having to add that to your to-do list!

Less Feed = Smaller Feed Bill

• This is a lovely little truth nugget for you! Free-ranging chickens consume a large percentage of their diet through foraging, which means they eat less commercial feed. What this means for your bank account is that you won’t need to make as many trips to the feed store! Perhaps you’re reading this and wondering if you can just ditch the commercial feed altogether. Well…I’m sure chickens have survived thousands of years without commercial feed. However, if your goal is to have healthier chickens and healthier eggs, they SHOULD have commercial feed as part of their diet. A good layer feed contains 16%-18% protein, as well as plenty of calcium for those nice strong egg shells. But, the feed will act more as a supplement, rather than their entire diet. Therefore you will go through it less quickly.

Cons of free-ranging chickens

Predator attacks

• This factor, in my personal opinion, is one of the largest considerations when deciding whether or not to free-range your chickens. When keeping them confined to a coop and run set up, you can effectively protect them against most predators. When they free-range however, you can’t. As I’ve stated already, we’ve done both free-ranging and coop arrangements for our birds, and where we live right now there really aren’t too many predators other than foxes because we’re surrounded by mainly farmland. But recently, we did have a fox get 4 of our hens! It was a sad day! So keep this in mind when considering free-ranging. Will we free-range again? Yes, because for US, the overall risk is pretty low. But if you live in a heavily wooded area where there would be a lot more predators just waiting to move in on your chickens, you may want to think twice about letting them roam freely without any sort of defense. 

Chicken Poop

• As I discussed above in the “pro” section, when chickens free-range there is less cleaning required for the coop. The flip side to that is, when they aren’t pooping in the coop all day, they’re pooping all over your property! Now this may not be much of a con for you if you don’t mind chickens pooping on your front porch. But if you’re someone who would be bothered by that, then free-ranging may not be your thing. When we free-range our ladies, I’m always telling the kids to “Watch out for chicken poop!”, when they’re going outside to play – ha! (Something I honestly never thought would be a commonly used phrase in my life….however, here we are!) And we have a fairly large property, but they STILL love to poop on our front steps and dust bathe in our flower garden. Which leads me to the next point….

Flower Beds 

• Chickens love to scratch and dust bathe. And apparently where they love to do that the most, is in the beautiful soft soil of your flower beds. For awhile I tried to shoo my own chickens out of the gardens anytime I would catch them in the act, but after awhile I realized my efforts were in vain and I just had to accept it for what it was. If you have nicely manicured flower beds that you don’t want chickens turning into their personal spa, consider either putting up some fencing around the beds, or, around the chickens. 

The Neighbor’s Yard

• This one very much depends on where you live. If you have a large property and neighbors aren’t anywhere around, then you can skip over this one.  But if you live somewhere with neighbors close by, this may be something to consider. Some people wouldn’t care if your chickens wandered over to their property, but some would. And they have the right to care since it’s their property. They could view it in the same way someone would view a neighbor’s dog wandering over and pooping in their front yard! It could very easily cause some tension between you and your neighbors, and that’s likely not what you want. When you do have a small area for the chickens to free-range in, they will most likely venture out a bit to forage and explore. So either check with your neighbors ahead of time and ask them if this is something they would mind, or just decide for yourself if this is a fight worth fighting. 

Hunting for eggs

• I will start this off by saying that this isn’t ALWAYS an issue when chickens free-range. We free-ranged our layers for almost a whole year and there was only a handful of times that we found a hidden clutch of eggs somewhere. But not all hens will perform the way you want them to by laying their eggs nicely inside the nest box before venturing out for their day. Some will make their own nest box in secret little places around your property! There have been days where we’ve gone to the coop expecting to bring in a certain number of eggs, only to realize that we were about to embark on what felt like a spontaneous Easter egg hunt! And if you have large pastures, this can be quite a job. So again, this may not be something that hinders your decision to have free-ranging chickens, but it is at times, a reality. 

Fencing/Livestock Guardian Dog

All things considered, my favourite method as a chicken keeper is to let them free-range. Free-range eggs are in fact a bit tastier (I can’t prove that with science but it has been my experience), overall the chickens are happier, healthier, and there’s way less maintenance required when it comes to the chicken coop. I believe the most serious downside would be the threat of predators. But if you’re willing to get creative there are ways to help minimize that threat, although not abolish it completely. 

For example, you could put up a perimeter fence around your property to keep certain animals at bay. But depending on the size of your property that could be a pretty costly undertaking. 

Another good option is getting a livestock guardian dog and using it as some protection for your flock. Often times, if nothing else, the dogs bark would alert you that there’s a predator close by. But depending on the type of predator stalking your chickens, the livestock guardian dog may be just enough to deter it from coming onto your property. 

A middle ground

If the pros vs cons of free-ranging chickens are still leaving you unsure, a good middle ground would be using a portable coop or chicken tractor with portable electric fencing that you move around your property every couple of days or so. This gives the chickens fresh grass and bugs to eat each day, but also prevents them from roaming your property at large and provides protection against most predators. To do this you need to make sure you are physically able to take on the task of moving the coop or chicken tractor, as well as the fencing each time. It will also add some extra time to your farm chores, so just assess where you’re at before diving into this. But if you believe it will work for you, it can often be the perfect solution!

Blessings!

~Maryann