Alternatives for Chicken Coops

Fine Mesh Electric Fence

• Fine mesh electric fencing is available with metal spike posts that make the fencing easy to pick up and move to another section of yard. Used in conjunction with a traditional chicken coop, it allows your flock a larger area for scratching and more opportunity for finding bugs and plants to supplement the diet. The gentle electric shock delivered to predatory or curious animals, such as your neighbor's dog or the local fox, protects your chickens from harm. It also keeps any adventurous members of the flock from straying. The two major drawbacks of fine mesh electric fencing are the constant danger of shocking yourself when tending to your flock, and a prevalent belief that such fencing is cruel to animals. If you do choose to use this type of enclosure, be aware that you must provide a coop as well for protecting your chickens from the weather and for nesting.

Chicken Tractor

• The chicken tractor is a great alternative to the traditional coop. Rather than "cooping up" your flock in one small area, you can move this chicken coop on wheels to different areas of your land. You will find that your flock will quickly scratch up the floor of a stationary coop, consuming all that is there in the process. If your enclosure is a chicken tractor--a movable cage that contains your chickens without confining them--you can move the coop to a new area with more ground cover and bugs for your flock to feast upon. Once you move the tractor, you can more easily scoop up the manure left behind for disposal or future fertilizer use. A chicken tractor should contain all the features of a coop, including sheltered nesting boxes, water and food containers, and fencing. The wheels are the defining component of a chicken tractor, providing mobility, a change of scene for your fowl, more naturally occurring food, and easier clean up.

Free Range

• Given the space, the foliage, and a predator prevention plan, your chickens will be healthiest and most content with free-range privileges. According to a sustainable farming article by Mother Earth News staff writers (July 1984), "you don't need a lot of land; a flock can find a whole bunch of bugs and seeds on an acre or two." Farmers have free-ranged their flocks for generations. Natural foragers, chickens are never happier than when scratching around at will, and because they eat all day off the land, you will save on chicken feed. To successfully manage a free-range flock, make sure the chickens have a secure, accessible nesting shelter to return to at day's end. This will ensure that the birds lay their eggs at home rather than afield where they can attract egg-loving predators. If you begin to lose chickens to predators, consider adding a guard dog or guard llama to the group. If the range does not offer shade from the noonday sun, add shelter such as straw bales with a sheet of plywood across the top. You can also plant shade crops in the range area such as sunflowers or corn.