Really big chicken house with drop ramps to get outside, about 1.2 acres fenced in for them to roam about and eat grass and bugs, but they can still run into the house when the hawks, foxes, coyotes, bears, mountain lions, and bobcats are about.
Drop the ramps in the morning and close them up at night.
Don’t know if that qualifies as “free range” or not, don’t really care, they are just chickens after all.
Take just as good care of them as the rest of the livestock, feed water, medications when necessary and a safe place to sleep.
Only Clarabelle gets better attention besides my dogs.
My dogs come in the house at night and Clarabelle has the whole barn to herself.
I hear they like to eat deer ticks, which would make them well worth it in NH.
Some folks down the road from our new place have chickens. Maybe I could get some chicks from them and trade chores.