Backyard Fenced Chicken Range

By Gail Damerow
Published on February 19, 2018
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The bare patch in this yard shows where chickens have pecked and scratched the ground near their shelter.
The bare patch in this yard shows where chickens have pecked and scratched the ground near their shelter.
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Six-way rotation offers more options during seasons when vegetation grows especially fast or not at all.
Six-way rotation offers more options during seasons when vegetation grows especially fast or not at all.
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To rotate yards without moving the housing, put chicken-size doors on different sides of the coop.
To rotate yards without moving the housing, put chicken-size doors on different sides of the coop.
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A range to protect the birds from sun and wind can be as simple as a roof on posts.
A range to protect the birds from sun and wind can be as simple as a roof on posts.
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“Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens” by Gail Damerow has helped over 2 million people begin raising their own chickens.
“Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens” by Gail Damerow has helped over 2 million people begin raising their own chickens.

Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens (Storey, 2017) by Gail Damerow helps readers through the ins and outs of rising their own chickens. For more than 40 years, this book has been the go-to guide on everything about chickens, from choosing your first chicken to fending off parasites and illness from your flock. In the following excerpt, Damerow explains how to design a fenced range for your chickens.

Sheltering Methods

Sheltering methods are as varied as people who keep chickens and range in style from complete confinement to total freedom. What each method is called depends on who is trying to sell you on the idea as being new and different. If you enroll in an organic certification program, you’ll need to abide by the program’s definitions, which may or may not be the same as those in general use.

The basic options are:

• No confinement (free range) — seen most often in rural areas
• Confinement to a portable shelter with a fenced foraging area (pastured, range fed, day range) — used on farms with available pasture where the fence or shelter can be relocated periodically

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