Such great info! Y'all are giving me more courage. I think I'll get them used to some tasty treats first (they usually run up to me in the run when I have a crinkly spinach bag in my hand.) I may just try it soon. More at 11.
Awesome info, thank you, guys! So, if I clip the wing, do you know if they can still fly a couple feet up to their perch? I don't want to take that ability away from them.
I have one EE, one Golden Sex Link, one Silver Laced Wyandotte, not bantams. They're about 12 weeks old. I would only want to let them out in the yard for a couple of hours and then get them back into the coop/run.
Here's their coop and my yard...
I've had my chickens in a coop and enclosed run and haven't let them free range yet because I don't want them to get in the neighbors yards with their dogs.
We have a 6 ft privacy fence that surrounds the yard. Can they fly over that? I'm also concerned about gathering them up again...