Chickens Escaping

kendraluz

Hatching
8 Years
Jun 4, 2011
1
0
7
Hello All,

I have had my chickens for about 10 months, and they are about a year old. They are a group of five sisters, and a cross between White Leghorn and Rhode Island Red. We live in town, but we have a large backyard and let them free-range during the day. During the first week that we had them one of them escaped from the yard, but since they we haven't had any problems. However, over the past few days the chickens-all 5 of them- have been escaping from the yard. I found a hole in the fence, which is what I thought they had escaped through, and fixed it, but they still managed to find a way out the next day. This really concerns me because one, it is difficult to round up the chickens and takes a lot of time out of my day, but more importantly, it is not safe for them to go wandering around the streets of town. They are also a very tight knit flock, so they all go together when they escape.

I am wondering if there is some physiological or behavioral reason that they suddenly feel the urge to escape from the yard? They have never done this before, in the 10 months that I have had them. Any ideas?

Thanks!
 
How high is your fence? And do they have stuff to jump on to get over it? You might have to really watch to see how they are getting out. I've noticed with mine, if one does something, the rest feel they have to try it, so I'm sure they are all getting out the same way.
 
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Also they could be bored of the same area day in and day out. I have got 220 sq ft of run space and another 600 of snow fenced in area that I move around periodically to let the grass regenerate. But I have got a RIR and a Barred that like to bolt out the door when your not looking. Maybe they found a good feeding spot and will do whatever they can to get there.
 
I find my chickens to be very curious and spend alot of time snooping around, over and under everything and anything. they can squeeze into some very small places, so they could be escaping some way you haven't seen yet. As they get comfortable and very familiar with one area of our yard, they tend to expand their range space and look for new places to explore. Sometimes we thought ours had escaped, but they were only hiding out.
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Im only on my second flock but my experience with young birds is that they are eager to explore new territory and are strong, light and agile enough to get over fences. We had a 5 foot fence they would hop when they were around 10 month. I dont think any of their fluffy butts could make it over a 3 ft fence now that they are 3 years old. Like all things, chickens mellow with age.
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I beg to differ, a 3 foot high fence is not much. I have had girls pound the fence all the way up a 5 ft plank fence just to sit on top. Two or three and they all got ground outside and roam. This same group, tended to roost in the trees overhanging the area. I had the traditional nest boxes of tin on the fence 2 feet up. It did not matter. Several times I found one hanging from a crack in the top V of the boards, strangled because they failed to make the top and fell back getting hung up. I clipped one wing, which helped, but they got to fly up anyway, although circular. I bought a sprayer tank, that had been holed on a farm, and cut it in two for chicken huts. They would not go inside, period. They wanted nothing to do with a ground shelter. These gilrs picked on the Geese and laid Hen-grenEGGS all over the yard, usually next to the duck eggs. many got pecked and broken. I was glad we froze them all in the Fall.
 
You can try keeping them in the coop (make sure it is not too hot) and run if it is fenced for a few days. This should "reset" their behavior and keep them closer to home......for a while at least. It worked for mine.
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Use the lockdown time to fix any holes in the fence and maybe plant a little garden for them to dig in and stay busy. I put a mirror in my yard which takes up loads of their time. They are so vain!
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I have 3.5 acres. It takes approximately two minutes for my dogs to escape out the fence and for the cats to jump the fence.Why? Human nature. You always want what you cant have.
 
I put a mirror in my yard which takes up loads of their time. They are so vain!
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DAMN...I wish I did that when I was with my ex. Maybe it would have made him alot happier seeing someone tell him how great he was all the time since I was never going to say that.
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