Escape Artist

[EllieDovy]

Hi everyone. First-timer here. I'm new to backyard chickens. I've had 4 now since beginning of May....so close to 2 months now. They are doing great. Happily free-ranging in the yard. My question is this,....How do you stop, or deter a chicken from flying outside of the yard. My fences are 6' high and I have cut one wing from each chicken. So far, everything has gone very well, but it's been a couple of days in a row now and one of my chickens, despite having her wing clipped has managed to make it to the neighbours yard....twice. I feel bad keeping them in their enclosure even though they have plenty of space in there. And I definitely feel terrible about penalizing the other 3 because 1 is misbehaving. So any advice? Can I attach a tiny bell to her leg so I can hear her if she does manage to escape again? Or is that cruel. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Hi everyone. First-timer here. I'm new to backyard chickens. I've had 4 now since beginning of May....so close to 2 months now. They are doing great. Happily free-ranging in the yard. My question is this,....How do you stop, or deter a chicken from flying outside of the yard. My fences are 6' high and I have cut one wing from each chicken. So far, everything has gone very well, but it's been a couple of days in a row now and one of my chickens, despite having her wing clipped has managed to make it to the neighbours yard....twice. I feel bad keeping them in their enclosure even though they have plenty of space in there. And I definitely feel terrible about penalizing the other 3 because 1 is misbehaving. So any advice? Can I attach a tiny bell to her leg so I can hear her if she does manage to escape again? Or is that cruel. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

Clip her other wing as your first move.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Make sure there isn't anything she is getting up on to give her that boost over the fence.

In addition to that......be out there with them when you hey are roaming about.

I have had hawks swoop in to try for a chicken lunch with me standing right by the chosen hen. Yes I had to step in between the hawk and hen to prevent a loss. If I were not there Peppers life would have been cut short....by years.

Limiting their range time to when you can be there with them is not cruel.

 

[EllieDovy]

Make sure there isn't anything she is getting up on to give her that boost over the fence.

In addition to that......be out there with them when you hey are roaming about.

I have had hawks swoop in to try for a chicken lunch with me standing right by the chosen hen. Yes I had to step in between the hawk and hen to prevent a loss. If I were not there Peppers life would have been cut short....by years.

Limiting their range time to when you can be there with them is not cruel.

Thank you for that. Hawks aren't really an issue here. But I will definitely be moving the composter away from the fence. That might be the problem. And what about the tiny bell around the leg idea?

 

[EllieDovy]

Clip her other wing as your first move.

I clipped her other wing after her first escape. The very next day she escaped again. She really is houdini.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Thank you for that. Hawks aren't really an issue here. But I will definitely be moving the composter away from the fence. That might be the problem. And what about the tiny bell around the leg idea?

I would hate to say go for it then hear she got tangled on something.

That and chickens LOVE to peck anything shiny. There is the risk of eating the bell or string or both if they were to get it loose too. I would not advise using a bell for those reasons.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Thank you for that. Hawks aren't really an issue here. But I will definitely be moving the composter away from the fence. That might be the problem. And what about the tiny bell around the leg idea?

If it catches on a fence or something you may have a chicken with a messed up leg.

 

[EllieDovy]

Ok. That makes sense. Thank you.
I'll just have to restrict their freedom of unsupervised I suppose.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

So any advice?
Hi there, welcome to BYC!

It's important to keep the neighbors happy.. but also my concern is stray and feral animals on the other side of the fence.

A single wing clip does help limit the distance they can fly in a straight line.. and is always a good first option.

When that didn't work for me.. I did a close bilateral clip.. which was successful at keeping my rooster on his side of a 4 foot fence when he was very determined to get to the ladies on the other side. A close bilateral clip doesn't make them off balance but it does limit the amount of LIFT they can get!

I definitely feel terrible about penalizing the other 3 because 1 is misbehaving.

Monkey see, chicken do! If one bird is teaching others bad habits.. and ALL else fails to help get with the program.. re-homing to another home that is either confined OR doesn't have fence neighbor issues HAS been used as an option for me.. MY flock, MY rules, My happiness! Not every individual fits in, and that's okay.

Instead of a tiny bell which would easily fade into back ground noise for me.. I would consider seeing about putting a motion detected sprinkler in the neighbors yard that spray the chicken every time they jump up or some other means of deterrent rather than just something that reports the undesired behavior. Animals quickly learn to avoid undesirable things.

If she's escaping a 6 foot fence with both wings PROPERLY clipped.. then the issue is VERY likely object offering a boost that need to be managed.. they can still hop quite a good few feet into the air.

Bell attached might be a hazard.. attract flock attention, or even predator attention.. help single her out and hone in on her location. But.. I try all kinds of things and SEE how it works out, report back with result so we can all learn from your experience..

Maybe you will some helpful information in this thread..
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...n-containment-with-perimeter-fencing.1261276/

Best wishes!

 

[starri33]

I clipped her other wing after her first escape. The very next day she escaped again. She really is houdini.

I have a Roo that earned the name of Houdini since the time he came out of the incubator, had the lid off to get him and a hatch mate out, by the time I got back from putting the hatch mate in the tote, he'd jumped out of the incubator and was walking up and down on the counter, then he managed to jump out of the tote, I put the lid on and he jumped out of there again. Check and see if there might be a place that she's going under or a break in the fence she's sliding through, I have a fence between my main flock and the NN's, they got up against the fence and dug themselves a dust bath hole so deep that one of them was able to slip underneath.