Posts Tagged free-range

Hens Scratching Among the Raspberry Plants

I don’t let my hens free range. Free range means to forage in an area that is free of fences. I don’t even know of a place that is totally free of fences. And if I did, I don’t think my hens would last a day. We have hawks flying over daily. The foxes look at our chickens through the wire of the run. A bobcat strolls through our yard a couple times a year, and our chickens have no fear of animals of any kind. But I know that these four hens like to scratch about in my garden. It is good for them to add greens and protein to their diets and it is good for their souls, and mine.

Yesterday, I let the hens out of their run to keep me company as I gardened. The gardening task, for me and hubby, was to cut back the raspberries and the ollalieberries. This also required digging out the runners that were spreading underground. We had been digging a while when I heard the hen softly clucking from behind their fence as we turned over the earth near their run. I knew they saw things in the soil that we didn’t; delicious grubs and worms and pale green sprouts. They were making the sound that a hen makes when they call to their chicks to “come and get it!” Since our young and rambunctious Australian labradoodles were locked up (I wonder if I will ever trust them with the hens), I let the “ladies” out to scratch and dig in the freshly turn soil.

"Herding" Tulip Is Not an Easy Thing to Do

We sat down and watched them, these most beloved pets. Daisy, Sweetpea, and Poppy did not hesitate to rush to the moist overturned soil. Tulip, the Easter Egger, stayed in the run and watched the others. She is a pretty but somewhat timid thing. I tried “herding” her out of the pen but it was nearly impossible. Have you ever tried to herd a chicken? They dash back and forth in front of you and duck between your legs to go in the other direction. Making progress, foot by foot, I knew that when she got close to her sisters she would be fine. And that she was. They were happy to see her, and she them. They scratched, they shared, they enjoyed being chickens.

After a couple of hours, the hens headed back into the run on their own. These hens have lived in a secure fenced-in environment all their lives. While they love getting out into the garden to do their thing, they return to their pen without objection. They have lived a safe and healthy life, living much longer than they would if they were to range free. I’m going to stop feeling sorry for them and share in their joy of occasional freedom.

Tulip Sees Leaf Outside Gate

Because I have six hens and love to garden, people often ask,”Are chickens and gardens compatible?” My answer is, except for cleaning up bugs and providing manure for soil enrichment, they are definitely not! Chickens eat about every vegetation they can get their beaks on. If the hens “free-ranged” in my garden, there wouldn’t be a leaf or flower left.

Tulip Grabs Leaf

The hens also disrupt the garden by dust batheing between the roses, pooping on the walks, scratching up seeds, and, in general, doing what comes naturally in the world of poultry. The hens are confined to the coop run during the day and the henhouse at night.

Tulip Eats Leaf. Yummmmmm.

Once in a while, the hens will escape their enclosure. Something will startle them (after all, they are “chickens”) and one or two of them will run out the gate that I’ve left ajar as I go about my clean-up chores. The excitement in their eyes quickly turns to concern. “Am I really out here under an apple tree all alone?”

To their great relief, I pick them up or shoooo them back inside the run where they rejoin their sisters, clucking and sharing the story of their brief adventure with their flockmates.

I would love to let the hens free-range.  They would be so happy running around in a large area. But we have foxes and hawks that visit our yard regularly and our hens are virtually defenseless against these predators. Someday, perhaps, when I want to garden less, we’ll extend the run and turn over more of the landscape to the “girls”. Until then, they’ll have to stay in their yard, and I’ll stay in mine.
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