In a general sense, free-range is a loose term for any system that does not use cages and provides access to an outdoor area that is fenced in and may also have some type of netting or fencing over it. Free-range chickens are housed in a stationary indoor space with nest boxes, perches and often unlimited access to the fenced and/or netted outdoor space.
Your setup may be very similar to this except that you keep your flock in a protected coop at night as opposed to giving them 24/7 access to the outdoors. By providing an area outside the coop that is fenced or netted in, you mitigate the risk of mortality from predators, which is the most common cause of mortality for poultry raised outdoors.
Pastured poultry is similar to free-range with respect to access to the outdoors except the birds are typically housed in a mobile coop with nest boxes, perches and shelter. The coop is movable because if it and the flock were left in the same area, the pasture would eventually be denuded by the poultry. A mobile coop can be easily moved as necessary to a new patch of pasture and let the older patch recover.
In a typical pastured system, the birds spend the night in the mobile coop and only have daytime access to pasture. Keeping birds locked up at night reduces mortality from predators and is more secure than giving your flock 24/7 access to the outdoors.
Advantages to raising poultry on pasture include reductions in feed cost and changes in the nutritional content and characteristics of eggs. Specifically, eggs from pasture-raised chickens have been reported to have higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A and vitamin E, all thought to be beneficial for human health.
As the name implies, you need to have pasture to have pastured poultry. In your compound, you can use your lawn as a pasture. However, you should also consider supplementing your flock’s diet with commercially available all-purpose forage mixes. While chickens do eat grasses, most of the nutritional value they get is from the seeds and insects in your pasture, which are more common in diverse environments. If your backyard lawn does not have much variety, consider reseeding it with a commercial pasture seed mix.
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