Come home my wayward hens.... :/ Help!

[Das777]

well here is my problem... I have chickens and my definition of having chickens is a constant struggle to keep them contained... They would be fine free ranging but they like to visit the neighbor's yard.. directly under a big tree that has

mouth watering birdseed... all would be fine and dandy but my neighbors are lawncare fanatics and they don't like the chickens digging their "perfect yard" up

and his wife calls us up and yells at us "the chickens are in the yard...

(whatever

)"... anytime I try to contain them (In their "foolproof" fence...

) 1 or 2 hens minimum seem to find their way outside

. I have tried and tried to get them to stay inside their fence but my hi fliers always find a way out...

I have just recently put up a 6 foot fence around the chicken yard and to my horror the ringleader of the escape squad took one look at the fence... checked it one more time and flew up to it...

rested in the middle of the highest part of fence

I took her down from her perch and put her back in the fence... and I don't think that she has tried to get out since... (come to think of it, it has been raining here since that day) now to my question... If I clipped the hi flier's wings would they be able to get to a 3-4 foot high perch? (if someone could help me with this problem it would be VERY mutch appreciated...) the only other thing to do is to put fencing on top of the yard, but I would like to try to avoid this If it is at all possible but again I am at the end of the rope...
thanks
Das...

Edit: I finally went the clipping way today as I really don't have the manpower for a covered fence (its something like the hen that baked bread no one wants to help until the product is finished, or you are working on it and every one wants to give you their "intelligent" ideas on how it should be set up) and so far (after an hour) no one has jumped the fence which is not normal for the flock that fly out every 3 min...

 

[Rozzie]

Get some bird netting and cover the top of the fence.

You can try clipping feathers on ONE wing (feathers ONLY) but in my experience that is no guarantee. Some of them will find their way out anyway.

You really need to cover your pen to keep them in. Tractor Supply sells bird netting, I think. It should be on their website.

 

[MissJenny]

I know you're frustrated with your neighbor's lack of tolerance, but please do consider how we feel when it is a neighbor's dog or cat who won't stay in their own yard -- we think of that neighbor as inconsiderate and irresponsible.

Clipping wings might help, but some breeds seem to be natural pole vaulters -- and where there's a will there's a way. Rozzie makes a very good suggestion regarding bird netting -- it's very cheap. I've paid as little as $8 for a 14'x14' piece. Good luck in your endeavor to keep your hens safe and your neighbor happy.

Jenny

 

[Das777]

Ok thanks.... I think that I should have been a bit more clear on this one...my big question is whether or not clipping my chicken's wings would allow them to get up to a perch that is about 3-4 feet off the ground... I have the fencing that is needed to put it on top, but I have misplaced the wire to keep everything together

.... I do realize how frustrating to my neighbor's as I have to chase them off their lawn (technically chickens are birds and birdseed is for birds and at the least they are keeping the squirrels away

(I think their big problem with them is that they "dig up the lawn" which they don't).... but again I will state my question... Will clipping their wings leave them unable to get onto their 3-4 foot high perch... Funny thing is that my neighbor only started to complain when I started work on the new and improved fence but who knows...

 

[NellaBean]

My clipped wing hens could still fly up about 8 feet to perch on the top of an arbor I have.

They are lightweight mediteranean hens.........my big "fatties" wouldn't have a chance of getting over a 6 foot fence. They can ALL make it 3-4 feet if they want to, fat ones included. clipped wings or not.

 

[flgardengirl]

Maybe if you give them thier own birdseed feeder or one of those maggot can things that hang from the tree that the maggots drop out onto a plate, your yard would be more attractive than the nieghbor's. You will probably have to set up a fence though. I think they could hop up on top of a 3 ft fence even with thier wings clipped. I have a 3 ft roost in one of the runs and the hens just hop up there without flying. I think 5 or 6 ft would be better.

 

[Rozzie]

Quote:
You could put it all together temporarily with zip ties. A big container of those only costs a few dollars at Walmart or Lowes.

 

[bburn]

Zip ties rock.....you ought to see the top of both runs. It looks like it is growing something! But safety first. My chickens used to try and roost on the top bar of my fence until we got the top on it. Couple of trips out there to shut the door and finding chickens roosting on top will help get the top on the run pretty quickly.

 

[HHandbasket]

I have a barred rock, a Rhode Island red, two EEs, a mutt pullet, and a wellie. They were quite the prolific flyers for a while. Wing clipping seems to have taken care of the problem, and in the 5 months since we first clipped them, not a single bird has left the backyard.

 

[Sylvia Moon]

I don't have an answer, I am in the same boat.
My 4 young hens prefer the neighbors manicured yard to our natural woods. I was just over there rounding them up with a pink umbrella,

and it is not so easy herding hens!

I am thinking of rigging up deer net along the property line, which would also keep her yard men from blowing her leaves into our woods! If the net is 7' high will they still scale it?
(or go around it....)