8 Reasons Why Chickens Should Free-Range

8 Reasons Why Chickens Should Free-Range
by Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | April 22, 2025
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Free-ranging your homestead flock gives them the chance to engage in the instinctual behavior of foraging for food. However, free-ranging does more than just give your flock the chance to feed themselves… these 8 reasons why chickens should free-range are positive benefits that your homestead flock can get from free-ranging. While there are cons to free-ranging that should be considered, such as predator risk, disease, and the quality of the forage content, I believe that even just limited free-ranging should be a regular part of the homestead flock’s lifestyle. These eight factors make free-ranging my homestead flock worth it for me!

#1. Makes them healthier.

While there could be some debate about this, I feel that ultimately, free-ranged chickens are healthier. There are many factors that play into the health of a chicken. Both free-range and confined chickens can be healthy. However, there are certain aspects of free-ranging that promotes an overall increase in vitality and hardiness in a homestead flock.

Some of the reasons I discuss later, such as exercise, a natural diet, increased nutrition, and happiness, all contribute to why free-range chickens are healthy. However, one factor that I want to focus on in this section is that free-range chickens can build up a wider range of immunity.

When chickens free-range, they expose themselves to varies diseases, protozoa, bacteria, and parasites. Now, this can be detrimental if the chicken does not already have a healthy diet and a strong gut. A healthy chicken who is consuming a balanced diet will be able to slowly build up immunity to the diseases and parasites it encounters while free-ranging.

This gradual build up of immunity enables the chicken to fight off diseases and keep parasite loads to a minimum.

Confined chickens will build up immunity to the diseases present in their confined environment. However, the amount of immunity they can build up is limited to what is present in their environment. Also, the diseases present in confined environments are more likely to proliferate faster than a chicken can build immunity. Which, in the end would cause an outbreak of disease.

#2. Provides stimulation.

Free-ranging your flock offers an excellent source of daily stimulation! Chickens are smart creatures. While they can do a pretty good job of self-entertaining themselves, sometimes that self-entertainment can turn into bad behaviors. Free-ranging helps prevent bad boredom behaviors such as fighting, pecking, bullying, and cannibalism.

Whether it be spring, summer, fall, or winter, any bit of free-ranging that my flock can get is helpful in preventing boredom. It’s a great boredom buster that stimulates their brain and keeps my flock from focusing on other bad behaviors.

If you have a rooster in your flock, free-ranging the flock is a great way to give the hens a break from his sometimes over-abundant attention. Hens who are bullies also tend to chill out when they have more space to roam and other things to focus on, such as looking for food.

#3. Gives them exercise.

Yes! Chickens need exercise, and free-ranging is a great source of exercise for chickens! Obesity can become a problem for confined chickens. Chickens naturally munch on food throughout the day. However, the addition of table scraps and the lack of other activities to participate in can lead to confined hens getting overweight. The more space chickens have to search for food means the more exercise they will get.

Free-ranging will keep your flock in shape! Lots of scratching, territory to cover, favorite free-range spots to visit, and searching for forage will keep your hens healthy and at a proper weight so they can stay productive. I often notice that when my flock free-ranges for a good portion of the day, they often take breaks and all congregate beneath a tree or around the coop for a mid-afternoon break from free-ranging. Free-ranging is a lot of work and can provide the perfect balance of food consumption and exercise for your flock!

#4. Provides a natural diet.

Free-range chickens are able to forage for their own natural diet. A lot of times, the amount of foraged food a flock can provide for itself is dependent on what breeds are present in the flock. Lighter chicken breeds are often more apt to forage for a majority of their diet if given the chance. Heavier breeds are less motivated to forage for their own food. But they will still supplement their diet with whatever forage they can rustle up while free-ranging.

Providing your flock with the chance to forage for a natural diet puts their nutritional needs within their control. Of course, consider what forage is available for them to glean from. Leafy wooded areas, grassy pasture areas, or wet swampy areas all provide different forage. Chickens can do a pretty good job at foraging for foods to meet their individual nutritional needs. Bugs and grubs can provide protein, wild seeds and nuts provide carbs and fat, and plants and grasses can provide vitamins and minerals.

Free-ranging gives your flock the chance to eat free-choice foods. It can also allow them to consume a wider range of nutrients than what could be present in their regular formulated rations.

#5. Adds nutrition.

Not only does a free-range diet mean more nutrition for your chickens, but that also translates over to more nutritious poultry products for you! The richer a chicken’s diet is, the healthier its meat and eggs will be. The more nutrients a chicken consumes means more nutrients can be put into the meat and eggs that it produces.

Free-range chickens are known for having brighter, bigger yolks. Their eggs are also higher in beneficial nutrients like omega-3’s, and lower in less desirable nutrients like cholesterol and fat.

‘You are what you eat’ is definitely true for free-range chickens!

#6. It’s a natural behavior.

Foraging for food is an instinctual behavior for any kind of bird, chickens included. Even chickens who are confined will look for ways to forage for food. Free-ranging chickens is a great way to let their inner instincts shine through!

There’s nothing I like better than watching an animal in its natural environment doing what it instinctually was made to do. Whether it be a flock of wild ducks, or my own homestead flock, watching an animal live in a natural, unconfined way is always rewarding for me! I think it appeals to my desire to be more self-sufficient and live with the land, not off of it.

Whenever I let my flock out to free-range, I love seeing them come pouring out the enclosure door and then make a beeline for their favorite free-range spots. Seeing them so happy and ‘wild’ makes all the risks of free-ranging worth it for me!

#7. Smart way to save money.

Free-ranging your chickens is a smart way to save money. A chicken’s dietary needs are simple, but a cheap diet will often leave them lacking in essential nutrients that they need to thrive.

However, free-ranging allows your chickens to control their own diet and search for the nutrients they need from natural, healthy sources. And you don’t even have to pay for the forage they find! I know that the more I free-range my chickens, the less layer feed they consume. During the winter, I know that one feed bag will last barely a week. During the summer though, a single feed bag can last a week and a half and even up to two weeks, depending on how much free-ranging my flock gets.

While normally a decrease in feed consumption would worry me, I know that my flock is gleaning additional nutrients from the forage they are consuming. What’s even better is that I know those replacement nutrients are just as beneficial if not even more healthy than the nutrients my flock would receive from their formulated rations!

Free-ranging is a win-win for my flock, my wallet, and my flock’s health! For more tips on saving money without compromising your flock’s health, check out Feeding Chickens for Free- Is it Safe?.

#8. Keeps things cleaner.

One last benefit of free-ranging my chickens that I thoroughly enjoy is the cleaner living space that occurs when my flock free-ranges. The less time my flock spends in their coop and enclosure, means less droppings accumulate and less feed is wasted. Not only is lack of presence helpful for keeping the coop clean, but a free-range diet is also beneficial for cleanliness.

The more usable nutrients a chicken consumes, the less waste it will expel. I have found that when my flock free-ranges, there is considerable less droppings on the droppings board each morning. Not only is less poop nice for cleaning up in both the coop and the enclosure, but it also helps the coop litter last longer. The less moist poop the litter has to absorb, the longer its usable life will last.

Free-ranging your chickens means less droppings, less moisture, and a healthier, cleaner environment that is easy for you to manage!

While I still believe the decision to free-range should be left up to you, I just wanted to give you some food for thought when you are weighing the pros and cons of free-ranging. For me, the 8 reasons for free-ranging chickens listed above are well worth the risks I take when I free-range my homestead flock. That being said, I still take pre-cautions when free-ranging my flock. Over the years I have become more lenient and more of a risk-taker when it comes to free-ranging my flock because I am willing to accept the consequences that may occur. There can be a balance between flock safety and free-ranging, so just figure out a system that works best for you and your homestead flock!

Free-ranging your flock on the homestead is a great way to build a self-sufficient flock that is healthy, happy, and productive! As a modern pioneer, I want to raise my chickens as naturally as possible and strive towards building a self-sufficient lifestyle. If that describes you as well, I encourage you to join our newsletter, get our Modern Pioneer Starter Package, and collaborate with us on our modern pioneer journey!