No, not out of their run - when not when I last checked anyway - but out of confinement. Since early December DEFRA (Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) have asked all chicken owners in the UK to keep their birds in covered runs to limit the spread of avian flu.
This was slightly tricky as I don't have anyway inside to keep my birds but I did manage to put a small run together inside their larger run tha had a plastic roof. The whole idea is to keep wild birds, which might spread the virus, away from food and water supplies for your own birds.
So we have struggled on with this temporary run for the last three months. Now DEFRA have released a map outlining the high risk areas and protection zones. Luckily we are not currently in any of them so the birds are free to go out in their big run again - and very pleased they were too!
