Clipping wings to keep hens safe??? Pic of fence included

[Wynette]

I would still recommend netting over the top; unless you have NO airborne predators (which is impossible, I think). Owls or hawks can swoop down & pick up a chicken easily. GOOD LUCK!

 

[drb2003]

I know it would be better to put netting over the top, but for aesthetic, monetary, and practical reasons...I am not. The current fence matches everything else, and if I were to put netting over a 4 foot fence it would make it really difficult for me to walk the 30 foot back to the coop to clean out their automatic waterer, not to mention getting it around all the trees growing in the run. Aside from the aesthetic reasons, I cannot afford to enclose such a large space or raise the fence...I've maxed out the chicken budget as it is!

I live in Central Austin and have never seen a hawk in my 6 years here. We do have owls, but I've only seen them well after dusk and the chickens put themselves to bed (and I secure the pop door) well before that. I know it is somewhat of a risk, but my dogs pose a much bigger risk at this time. Hopefully the clipped wings will not allow them to get out of the fence...as they get bigger/heavier I think it will be less of an issue! I expect the dogs to be more intimidated as the chickens get bigger...only time will tell and it may be a very difficult lesson to learn if things go wrong. I know chickens have lived with much less protection and died with much more so I'm rolling the dice with my present setup (which was a ton of work and I'm very proud of)!

I do appreciate all the advice though

and if I could afford to do so, I would heed every single one of the recommendations!

Brooke

 

[hotshot]

As a fairly recent chicken-keeper, I had/ have a similar concern with Barney our Springer Spaniel, so I clipped the wings (one each!) on our hens shortly after getting them. However, Nutmeg (our birds are all named after spices!) still occasionally clears their 4 foot fence with what I call her W.A.L.L. (Wing-Assisted Leap and Land) technique! After she got out a few times I watched from a distance and observed her combination of a jump coupled with a few wing flaps, which is enough to take her over the fence without having been knocked too far off balance (which would obviously happen if she tried flying further).

Unfortunately, it seems the others are starting to learn this behaviour and it did lead to an "interesting" (!) moment last week when Pepper came over the fence as I approached (she'd spotted the tub of dried mealworms I was carrying) and, before I could react, Barney rushed past me and pounced on her. Fortunately he just held her and did not bite, so I was able to pull him off and haul him away with a scolding. Thankfully, Pepper was unhurt and back feeding etc as normal within a few minutes, although went off lay for a week (just started again yesterday).

Yesterday I flattened a slight earth mound in the enclosure which Nutmeg had been favouring as a take-off point and I'm hoping that will discourage her/ them. I'm also continuing to train Barney - over about six weeks he's gone from initially barking, and trying to rush the fence, to generally ignoring the hens - but the sight of a flapping, clucking, chicken landing just in front of him was clearly more than generations of instinct could stand!

Happy hen-keeping! ;-)

 

[cmom]

Now I have wire over my run. Originally I had netting. My run is 4 ft high. This is an old picture.

These are more recent pics. I have moved the coops, runs and their yard since these pictures were taken. One run is covered and the other is not.