French Marans Super Flyer

[LeaPea]

Hi All, I have a French Marans hen that keeps escaping from her enclosure. I clipped her wing according to instructions on this site, but she can still clear a 6 foot fence and even made a nest on top of the boundary brick wall! Are there any other tips for discouraging flying? Funny thing is, she never tries to escape from our yard, just likes to wander around the house, eat the courtyard plants and poop on everything. I'm worried she will pass on this behaviour to our 6-week old orpington chicks.

 

[rosemarythyme]

What kind of fence and what does the top of the fence look like (I assume it's either a solid wood or metal bar?) You could try extending the top of the fence maybe a foot or so with floppier material such as chicken wire or snow fencing to make it harder for her to land on top and spring over, as in most cases the chicken will fly to the top, land, and go over.

 

[Acre4Me]

6 feet isn’t very daunting to a regular chicken. And if they are on the younger, not yet full grown stage, then it’s even easier. So you’ll need to enclose it better to discourage her from flying out. Yes, they can learn these tricks from each other. I had one flying over, then regularly 5 or 6... it got to where 7 or 8 were sometimes out, occasionally in the neighbors yard, so we put up light/fine bird netting. However, we had something to attach the bird netting to. My neighbor added stiff poles above his regular fence (he attached the taller poles to the existing fence, along the existing fence posts to where the sit on the ground) and attached chicken wire to extend the height.

 

[LeaPea]

Thanks for the tips. The current fence she is scaling is a concrete rendered double brick wall. I will try the floppy wire idea. Failing that, does anyone know where I can get a miniature ball and chain?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thanks for the tips. The current fence she is scaling is a concrete rendered double brick wall. I will try the floppy wire idea. Failing that, does anyone know where I can get a miniature ball and chain?

THen you hope she gets fat and lazy, to the point where she can't bother flying over.

 

[aart]

Failing that, does anyone know where I can get a miniature ball and chain?

 

[centrarchid]

You need to revisit your wing clipping. Properly, I stress properly, she will not be able clear 4 feet even when able to clamber.