For those that don't have much land..

[rancher hicks]

Chickens aren't hard to corral. Just get some of those "green metal" posts and pound them in with a hammer. Run some chicken wire from end to end and your all set. You can get 5' posts and 60" poultry wire.

 

[feathersnuggles]

Quote:
Weeell, if you're just worried about getting them "back" from the area behind your yard...

Start feeding them just a *little* bit of scratch/corn but before you give it to them put it in a bucket and shake it up and down so that they can hear the scratch in the bucket bouncing around. After they've been conditioned to the sound of the scratch inside the bucket they should get excited at the sound and start running to you (if they don't simply run to you at the sight of you or the bucket). Anyhow, when you get ready for them to come home walk out their way and start shaking the bucket, when they start coming turn around and start heading back to the house. I've seen my father lead 50 head of cattle down and across a highway when he was changing pastures using just a handful of feed and a bucket.

Best wishes,
Ed

Yep, I concur. I just use a small paper cup, put some scratch or black oil sunflower seeds into it...shake & rattle it loudly, and the girls come flying, literally, to find me! It's always a good laugh. They will even go inside their run, when they hear the seed-cup. The good thing is... they never wander far from our yard, because they've learned the seed-cup lives HERE.

 

[esthermgr]

Could you use a lightweight chicken tractor or temp. pen to let them get some grass play time? I live in the city with no fences b/w me and neighbors, so when I want my teenage chickens to get some grass time I build a little "playpen" of 4' wire stretched in a circle around some wooden stakes. It'sa about 6' diameter, and I can move it to different spots. Then I just put them in it with the feeder and waterer and let them have a few hours of fun. I usually do this when I get home from work. Around dusk I pick up the docile sleepyheads and carry them back to the coop. It's not really predator proof, but that's ok because they don't stay in it overnight, and I'm home to keep an eye on the yard and make sure no dogs are around.

 

[georgialee]

Well, we're on a third of an acre in the middle of a subdivision and we have ours in a chain link dog kennel. I let them out at least a few times a week for an hour or two to roam our fenced yard. I wouldn't let them out in a development without a fence up - you just never know about dogs, etc.

 

[toletiquesbysam]

Our little 2 acre acreage is surrounded by farm fields. I let my flock free range during the day and leave my pop door open and each night towards dusk they return on their own to the coop. I've had a few times where some are still out in the field when it's time to shut them up but since it's clear land and not woods, I can usually see where they are and herd them in!

 

[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

We rent and like you our yard is not secure. It open's in the back to the ally way. On top of that we have a communal yard with the other two resident's on the property. Sooo... I actually planned my raised bed's last winter just for this project (shhh don't tell the hubby... it was all a bit plot to make him move that darnd camero out of my stinkin yard!) so I am making a fully enclosed pen and bought a rabbit hutch from a very nice lady for 48 dollars. I plan on improving the coop, and making the pen as large as possible. Now if we want to give the girls some new ground to scratch. I simply have decided to take out old hoop house I built out of pvc pipe for our raised veggie bed's and use that as a chicken tractor. And build a new hoop house for the bed's (it needed to be bigger any how). I think... (don't quote me on this) it only cost us 30 bucks or so to build the hoop house and it was SO easy! I really have to post pic's...