Help with hoping the fence

[Savyjoy]

We have created a locket area for our backyard girls! We like to let them roam their half of the backyard so we let them out of their coop every day! However they hop their side of the fence multiple times a day! Which means poop all over the backyard furniture. I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations as to how to keep them from hoping the fence. We often toss them back over at least ten times a day but they always come right back over! I posted a pic of their fence thanks in advance y’all!!!

 

[HeyHeyWW]

What I do is I cut the feathers on one wing only. That way, they don't have the balance to hop over the fence.

But don't cut too deep into the feathers. Look at this picture.

I'm not sure if it loaded... but that's where you should cut the feathers at. You can do it with any good scissors. That should fix the problem.

 

[Gray Farms]

Clip wings or build higher fence.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I doubt clipping a wing will stop hopping onto that fence... depending on what breeds we are talking about. Maybe if they are very heavy.

Clipping one wing was ineffective at taking enough lift out of my rooster to stop him from crossing a 4 foot fence. Clipping both wings worked. It's always trial and error as each bird is unique.

Clipping one wing does limit the distance they can fly straight. They still have an incredible amount of upward momentum just from jumping.

Higher fence might help... but not cheap or guaranteed to work.

Adding a roof frame and chicken wire, making their area fully enclosed and aerial predator resistant.. or use hardware cloth and protect against most predators including ground based. Or run it (wire) between your back privacy fencing and your front retention fence any way you can to make it work.

Maybe a scarecrow type sprinkler can train them to stay on their own side?



ETA: link with some different wing clipping experiments and experiences..
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...n-containment-with-perimeter-fencing.1261276/

 

[rosemarythyme]

The fence is very cute, but very low and I'm not sure if clipping would even be enough to keep them from simply jumping to the top and over.

It'd be less pretty, but adding a floppy extension on top, like maybe 1' of chicken wire or plastic snow fencing, might help discourage them from going over since it makes it harder for them to land on top and then continue over.

 

[123RedBeard]

We have created a locket area for our backyard girls! We like to let them roam their half of the backyard so we let them out of their coop every day! However they hop their side of the fence multiple times a day! Which means poop all over the backyard furniture. I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations as to how to keep them from hoping the fence. We often toss them back over at least ten times a day but they always come right back over! I posted a pic of their fence thanks in advance y’all!!!View attachment 1975861

1. How high is that fence?

2. What breed(s) of chickens?

3. How old?

4. What's on your side of the fence, that they don't have, besides the furniture?

 

[TheChiggens]

Clip those wings! The picture above shows where you should cut. Make sure you have a firm grip on the chicken though or it could get ugly...

 

[Acre4Me]

It’s a pretty low fence and I doubt clipping wings will do much prevention. My neighbor added some thin posts to his low fence. He then added chicken wire to the upper part. This keeps his chickens in. We also had chickens that hopped the fence, but we have posts installed to add a roof eventually, so we attached thin (hard to see) bird netting to the posts to create an approx 6.5’ height. Now only 1 chicken can get out, but she’s small/light/and especially curious and adventurous for a chicken.