We love having our chickens free-range. We enjoy watching them flock about the yard and they do a good job of keeping bugs and weeds under control. We have had these free-ranging for several months now and the only complaint I have is that they like to lay their eggs all about the yard! The dogs have realized that they are yummy - so it is a race to beat them to the newest hiding spot and gather them. I have started paying the kids 10 cents an egg. It is frustrating to me because I want the chickens to serve their purpose but I don't like having to pen them up all the time. We are experimenting now with capturing them all (27 of them now) and putting them in the houses at night and then letting them out after a few hours of daylight and hopefully they will get in the habit of laying their eggs before then. We are going to try 11am and see what happens from there. I don't really want to feed them all winter if they aren't going to produce at least enough for our family, so they better get the message or they will be in the freezer! :-)
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