I have two new, about 6-8 month hens in my little backyard flock -- now 6 chickens. they were allowed to be pretty wild where I got them, and now they want to fly out of their chicken yard. I've never clipped the other hens and they stay home. I clipped the wings on the two new ones, and they're still managing to get out. Any suggestions?
Are you able to drape netting over their run? I used bird netting over part of my run and roofed another part. It is not too bad cost wise.
You can also raise the height of your fencing by placing very thin post extensions on the fence poles vertically, and adding bird netting vertically like a double decker fence. Think snow load if you decide to put up netting horizontally across your pen. DOE's suggestion is a good one. We just had seven inches of snow knock down my 2" galvanized chicken wire pen topper. I was shocked, as with lighter snow it had held.
Clip one wing on each of the delinquent hens. It is painless and it will make a world of difference. My flock got increasingly adventurous and I even had one hen laying a huge clutch of eggs in one of our front flowerbeds at one time. Out fences are only about 4 feet high. After clipping their wings they have never left the back yard. You will have to do this yearly after the new feathers grow in post moult but it only takes a second.
