Until they got really old and slow, my chickens were outside during the day. They would all go into the coop by themselves at night. I locked up the coop to keep the predators out rather than keep the chickens in.
They really don't go far from their roost. Mine stayed on my acre. Anytime they felt threatened, they would run to the coop.
I did have to fence off the garden since they would party hardy in there and pull up all my young plants.
