First, how big is the yard that is fenced? I have found if they have enough space they seem to be fine and don't try to fly out. The chicks you have are heavier breeds and it won't be easy for them to get much hieght in their flight..also depends if they have anything to hop up on to get a better start. I have a six foot fence around their run and I used to clip wings. I had a mixed breed hen that was smaller and had a grand idea of having a compost in the run. The fence I had around it was the perfect height for her to hop up on and "get a head start" then from there she could jump up on the other fence. She wouldn't get out but just perch up there on top. So I took the compost fence out. This spring she hatched 5 chicks and was in a 10x10 six foot high pen and she would get up on the top and perch...but I think it was because there was not enough room for her and five little ones. On the other hand... part of my yard still has four foot high chain link I have not replaced with six foot high fence and when I let the chickens out to roam..they have never even tried to get over it, and I know they could, I think because they have plenty of room. I don't clip wings anymore. Hope this helps.
The yard ours are in is somewhere in the range of 1,500 sq ft, not sure exactly, but they've definitely got plenty of room. They also have the whole front porch. There is only one spot where we have anything close enough to the fence that they might be able to make a shorter jump up to the top of the 6-foot fence, and that is the porch railing. I'll probably take cavemanrich's idea above, and string a piece of wire a couple inches above the fence there. Been debating how to mitigate the potential for an easy escape there, and that sounds like the quickest and easiest solution.
So far, they haven't show any interest in escaping. We've been letting them roam free, mostly unsupervised, for most of the week. They like to play in the dirt in the corner of the yard closest to the coop, and the furthest they've ventured so far is the shady spot under the azalea about 10 feet over from there. We let them out late morning, check on them a couple times throughout the day, and do a head count at dusk when we lock them up in the coop. They've adjusted really well to the routine, and actually go to the coop on their own when we come out to put them to bed... wish my kids handled bedtime as well, LOL!
Anyway, I know all of these breeds are of the heavier varieties, and not generally known for being flighty; so my hope is that by the time they reach full maturity they simply won't be able to clear the fence. There might be a time when they are not yet at their full weight when they might be able to, but it is comforting to know that the amount of space they have might make them more likely to stay put. They've only explored a tiny fraction of the space that is available to them so far, so if they want to go exploring, they've still got a lot to check out without having to scale the fence!
I have a neighbor who offered to help clip feathers if we run into an issue, and I would take him up on that. I haven't the faintest idea how to tell if a feather still has blood in it, so that is a risk I would not be comfortable with... Hopefully we won't need to do that though... Thanks for the input, everybody!
