We have over 100 birds at the moment and yet some days we go into the poultry area and wonder where they all are...And then as we find chicken eggs laid in barns, hay racks, straw bales and see turkeys on the roofs and ducks grazing with the alpacas, we realize how free range they all are. We wouldn't have it any other way really. We feel any issues we have such as 'lost' eggs and chickens raking up our freshly strawed-out goat sheds, are more than made up for by the extensive foraging, the permanent grass (how many bird runs are just bare earth?), the virtual lack of parasitic issues (worms etc). We also love watching them as they wander around, choosing where to go, finding their own spaces and hideaways. The fact they could all just wander off but don't is all quite amazing – the ducks in particular as they are such good fliers.
We do however, need to get the numbers down to well under half for the winter and sales of female muscovies thus year are sadly quite low... (although we love having them all. We may need to make some tough decisions before our 'dispatching' day!!!