How do I keep her in the yard?

[Branumdragon]

I have a new backyard flock of 4 layers, different breeds. The "California White" (leghorn) is a little leaner and more aerodynamic than the others, and she has developed a preference for laying outside of our yard. Unfortunately we live in a busy suburban area, and our neighbors are forever rescuing her from the street and worrying about her. Plus, we don't find any of her eggs! Unless I keep her penned up all day in our little chicken tractor. I've clipped all her primary flight feathers on both wings and the secondaries on one, and she still gets out. She has a little trouble getting back in so sometimes she complains at the windows. We are thinking about attaching a weight to her leg. Any other ideas?

Thanks for responding--
Joanna

 

[redsoxs]

How is she escaping - through the fence or over it? How tall is the fence?

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I'd take the secondaries off both wings. I have to fully clip all the flights and secondaries off my Leghorns, too.

Also watch for things that she might be standing on to get a little more height before she goes. I found out my hens were standing on top of my pasture waterer, then flying over the fence from there.

Had to move the waterer well away from the fence.

Also, look for places she might be getting under the fence. It might just be a small low spot that doesn't look very big to you. Put rocks or bricks or something under the fence at every low spot you see, and that might fix the problem, too.

We have to fix low spots and clip wings to keep the hens in our pasture. Their pasture is nice, but they think my vegetable garden is even nicer...

 

[Branumdragon]

She gets up on the Dumpster and then flies out that way. There's nothing on the other side for her to use, so she can't get back into the yard. That's why she complains at the window.

 

[missnu01]

When you clip the flight feathers you are only supposed to do it on one side. That is what makes them incapable of flight afterwards. Instead of going up it just spins them around...

 

[wayne hulgan]

One of ours kept flying over our fence, 6' chain link. We first cut the outside feathers, she still flew. then we cut the inner feathers on the same wing. No more fly. When you clip, only clip one wing. If you clip both they can still fly, just a little harder for them. With one wing, they crash. OBTW ours has grown her feathers back, but she ain't figured out she can fly yet.

 

[Branumdragon]

The fence is 6 feet. We just put it in. We started out with clipping one side, and she still flew so we clipped the other. Then started on secondaries. I'll stick to one side now. Thanks for your help!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I started out clipping only one side, but my hens were still able to fly over the fence, so now we take off both sides and that keeps them in the pasture.

I'm not sure what to do about the OP's problem. If she's getting up on the dumpster and then flying over, I don't know that clipping her will solve your problem.

 

[Branumdragon]

What does OP stand for?

 

[donrae]

Origional Poster or Opening Poster. The person who started the thread. It's a way to keep track of who you're responding to when threads get multiple questions/responses/topics.