If you do vegetable gardens they will tear them to shreds, best to fence those off. The chickens will luckily come back to the coop area once they're familiar, keep them in that same area for a week or two so they learn where home is and you'll also usually have to train them to go back into their house at night. They'll roam at least a couple hundred yards away from home if not fenced, they'll also be faster and smarter than you if they don't want to go back to the coop.
couple hundred yards? really? Well they arent mine and he also needs to train his dogs also, lol.
I let mine fully free range over last winter and they made a habit of visiting the neighbors 200 yards or so away. They'll usually stay within a fenced area if given enough food and water though.
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