Chickens are jumping out of coop. Will clipping their wings help?

[MsChickenMomma]

My chickens are currently staying in a temporary coop in our garage until Spring when we can build them a new coop. The coop they are in is 5x7 and about 7-8ft high. The top is not covered, because we couldn't come up with a good way to cover it. I purposely only put the highest roost 3 ft off the ground thinking that that would keep them from jumping out.

I was wrong. One of my girls found out that if she stands on the roost, she can jump all the way across the length of the coop and up onto the top, and then she jumps down into the garage. Well, monkey see monkey do, now they all keep jumping out. Will clipping their wings keep them from jumping out? I really can't have them pooping all over the garage.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Can you cover the coop with something like this deer netting? The stuff is pretty flimsy but it does keep chickens from flying out, and is pretty east to work with. Clipping wings might work, depends on what they can still climb up on to to jump out and how good of jumpers they are.
http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Gardener...8&qid=1392304060&sr=8-1&keywords=deer+netting

 

[MsChickenMomma]

I thought about doing something like this, but the problem I am having is that the coop only has two side that you can attach the netting to. The other two sides are the walls of the garage, and it is just a flat surface. There isn't anything to staple or tie it to. I was going to just hang some chicken wire up there, but after looking at the coop, there really isn't a way to make that work. The walls of the garage are that flimsy decorative board stuff (can't remember what it is called), so I can't nail any boards up either. :/

 

[lazy gardener]

Can you get a couple of pieces of strapping? You can then attach the wire or netting to the wall with the strapping, and finish the job attaching it to the walls of the coop. I agree with PP that clipping wing might not work. My girls can still make a vertical hop up 3' with clipped wing. Typically, only one wing is clipped on a bird. I don't know if clipping both would hinder them more or less than the single wing clipped.

 

[Kelsie2290]

If I understand right, can you put the chicken wire just across the triangle the top of the two sides you can attach things to? It sounds like those are where they are getting out anyhow, so if you can keep them off of that? If they start flying up and over from the garage wall side, that netting stuff really doesn't weigh anything, can you just put a hook or two on the garage sides to tie it to maybe if the chicken wire is too heavy? If you clip their wings also, it really shouldn't take much to keep them in if the top is that high even from the roosts.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Thanks for the advice. I'll have to look into both of those options for covering the coop.

 

[aart]

Get a sheet of luan, (thin, light weight plywood) and attach it to the two walls.

 

[ChickenCurt]

OR, make your chicken walls taller if you don't want to attach anything to the garage walls. Clipping wings won't help if their roost is that close to the top; a few of my hoppers clear 5 feet in a jump.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Well, I came up with something. I stapled chicken wire to the two walls of the coop, hung a 3 ft 2x4 across the wall attached to the side of the coop and stapled the chicken wire to that. It's not very pretty, but it should keep them from jumping out. Hopefully.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

 

[ChickenCurt]