LIZ FAIRBROTHER says protect your poultry but let them run out to forage.
There is nothing I hate to see more in the world of poultry than so called free range back yard poultry trapped in a small poultry house and run, never to come out and be able to express their natural behaviour. Clarence Court free range eggs apparently did an experiment some ten years ago and discovered that the average bird took more than 7000 steps which is nearly half a mile and some walked up to a mile a day in a five acre field. So only being able to move a metre in either direction is severely compromising the bird's needs. It is also important that birds can select green food for themselves and invertebrates.
But I don't want my birds eaten by predators I hear you cry.
This story is from the Sept - Oct 2017 edition of Practical Poultry.
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This story is from the Sept - Oct 2017 edition of Practical Poultry.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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