How do you keep chickens from flying over the fence ?

[duckie mama]

Fishing line workd great for hawks and owls. i use 50lb test line and string it every 12 inches. also make different shapes. squares triangkes and what ever. they can't figure out how to get in without tangling in the line.

 

[adgcountrygirl]

I kept mine in the coop or run for the whole first year. I only let them free range the rest of the yard when I was outside for the first 1 1/2 years. Now that I know my rooster is a great protector, I let them free range the whole property. The rest of it is not fenced at all, except a barbed wire fence at the back of the property which separates our land from my parents. They rarely leave the property. Sometimes they will go under the barbed-wire to the brushy area of my parents pasture, but Beakman (the rooster) usually rounds up the girls if they are foraging places he deems risky. Since they are allowed on my parents property anyway, I don't worry about that. Their coop is less 15 feet from the barbed-wire fence. If it weren't so close, they probably wouldn't forage there anyway. The only other time they leave the yard is when they occasionally chase a grasshopper into the road. They have never done this when there is traffic, and it is so rare, I have only seen it twice. My neighbors 2 roosters came on to my property yesterday. They don't coop theirs as long as I did. As soon as Beakman came out to lead his girls to the watermelon, the two younger roosters went back home. They were smart not to want any of him. He out-weighs them by at least 7 or 8 pounds and he's not one to shy from a fight over his girls. He will even bow up to a red-tailed hawk if it tries to swoop down on his girls. Crazy man!!!

 

[HenMomma3878]

I am a backyard chicken beginer. I have 3 leghorns that are indeed escape artists. The other 6 hens do not have an issue with escaping. I have trimmed one side of the wings; I will in turn try to have both trimmed. Hopefully they will not escape.
I am working with a regular 4 foot chain link fence. I was hoping someone sold a weighted leg band but nothing I can see online

 

[DKHILL]

I am facing the same issue. As a matter of fact one of my 6 chickens flew over the fence this morning while I was sitting on the deck "watching them". It took some work to catch that chicken. Now my flock of 6 chickens is on lock down until I can figure this out.

 

[Joellen71]

My little leghorn used to be an escape artist. Quite a few times we had to go chase her down. She even learned to climb a ladder! But somehow, as she got older, she lost interest. She's about a year and a half now, and she hasn't escaped in a long time. None of the others do either. Maybe they decided there's too much going on in their yard to keep them busy...

 

[alsfeatherkids]

Has anyone tried putting up one of the fake hawks in their chicken yard to see if it keeps them from flying out?

 

[lazy gardener]

I would never want my chickens to be acclimated to the shape of a hawk in their yard. They need to be on high alert for the real thing, not getting accustomed to seeing it up close.

 

[TysonDSMIowa]

Great thread, I am looking at getting some chickens and have been worried about this very thing. I got some good ideas, thanks for all the help.

 

[RIRlover14]

I have 3 RIR's and I need to find a way to keep them contained good b4 I get more. Don't quite understand the fishing string idea but sounds efficient

 

[sktlmt]

I have 31 chickens free ranging on 1.5 acres and they love to hop the fence into my neighbors yard. I made this extra easy for them by having a giant stack of wood against the fence. I know dumb!! My neighbor who loves animals is not so thrilled by the roosters crowing in her yard. She seems to think if they are 20 feet away the noise will be dulled. I am going to attempt running fishing line at 6 and 12 inches and see if that will discourage them. The neighbor wants me to run chicken wire curved toward my yard to keep them from flying over. Which would work if I could figure out how to attach it and stabilize it on 150 feet of fence. any thoughts?