Houdini Hen

[hennypenny95]

I have a young Buff Orpington hen that sometimes likes to escape from the pen! (My chickens have their own special place only for them, so the dogs don't attack them) She escapes a bunch of times a day. I keep putting her back in the pen every time she escapes, but she just jumps right back out again!

I have even expanded their pen a little bit so they have plenty of fresh green grass, but she still escapes. They are all well fed, and have nice cold clean water. How do i keep her from escaping? I'm scared that one day she's going to get out while i'm not there, wander out onto the street, and get lost or worse, hit by a car.



~hennypenny95

 

[David1998]

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I believe the only way to keep her in the pen is to make the pen escape proof.

 

[N F C]

We put a sun shade screen over our girls run; partly to keep them in and partly to keep predators (like hawks) out. Plus, it does a nice job of providing some extra shade during this hot summer time.

I think we got it from either Harbor Freight or Home Depot and as memory serves, it didn't cost an arm and a leg (don't remember the actual price). It's made out of a heavy nylon mesh with very fine holes in it and it had grommets along the edges so we used zipties it to connect to their run fence.

You could try something like that maybe.

 

[kyquilter]

We always seem to have one Houdini Hen too. I've shoveled dirt around anywhere I think she's getting out but still haven't figured it out. 14 chickens in this coop/run and only one gets out . . multiple times each day.