Our free range hens love getting out in the morning

We are often asked “do all the birds visit the range” after the doors are opened. I arrived at Allworth Thursday last week when the doors were just opened to allow the birds’ access to the range, which occurs after most of the eggs have been laid. The birds streamed down the ramps to dust bath, pick at pasture, eat small stones for their gizzard to help grind feed, and to flap and stretch their wings with excitement. Very few birds were left in the shed and these birds had just exited the nest boxes and some were still feeding. In a short time some of the birds had already commenced returning to the ramps to re-enter the shed. It then balanced up with birds coming and going to the range so there was a balance between birds on the range and in the shed. This is also influenced by weather conditions, as some birds will stay in the shed or look for shade if the sun is bright, as they do with the Shade Igloos. Once the day cools and there is cloud cover the flock will spread evenly to all corners of the range.

Comments

[Caro c]

Yay for happy chooks that can roam about. Boo to people who think they are just animals to be treated like factory lines. They deserve good lives as much as us.
Thanks to ecoeggs for the chookcam.