How do you keep chickens from flying over the fence?!?:-(

[aubreynoramarie]

weird, not one of my birds has ever tried to hop the fence

 

[cjpines]

Chickens rarely ever fly over a tall obstacle. They fly to the top of it and then drop down on the other side. Knowing this, you merely have to make it impossible for them to land on that surface area by extending your wire fencing material 6-8 in. above the fence posts or run rows of wires there for the same purpose. Some people take a strip of wire fencing and mount it, slanting inward to the pen enclosure, much like a deer fence.

Do you think white rope strung along top of fence would do it? We have done this for deer and it keeps them out.

 

[jennfurtrombly]

I have not have much of a problem with chickens trying to fly over the fence. We have a 4ft fence around our run with no cover. Every once in a while I will see a chicken briefly hop on top of the coop, which freaks me out because it's not that far to the fence. Yesterday my BR roo was ON the 4ft fence but that was kind of my clue that it was time to re-clip his wings. I clip the first 10 large feathers on the RIGHT wing of every chicken, once a month. Clipping both wings allows them to still get a good "glide" going. Clipping one throws them completely off balance and they cannot glide at all. I make it part of my routine chicken care, and unless I fall behind (like this last time, lol) I have no problems. I have a siberian husky that I had before I had chickens, and she'd love to eat a couple so I have to be diligent.

 

[cjpines]

I have not have much of a problem with chickens trying to fly over the fence. We have a 4ft fence around our run with no cover. Every once in a while I will see a chicken briefly hop on top of the coop, which freaks me out because it's not that far to the fence. Yesterday my BR roo was ON the 4ft fence but that was kind of my clue that it was time to re-clip his wings. I clip the first 10 large feathers on the RIGHT wing of every chicken, once a month. Clipping both wings allows them to still get a good "glide" going. Clipping one throws them completely off balance and they cannot glide at all. I make it part of my routine chicken care, and unless I fall behind (like this last time, lol) I have no problems. I have a siberian husky that I had before I had chickens, and she'd love to eat a couple so I have to be diligent.

Lucky you. I can't get myself into clipping wings yet. Still asking the group for ideas. Thank you

 

[jennfurtrombly]

Do you think white rope strung along top of fence would do it? We have done this for deer and it keeps them out.

Chickens can fly and will pretty much get to anything they want to as long as they have their full wings and it is accessible. A rope strung across deters deer because they know they can only jump ~5-6 feet and are generally smart enough to not attempt to break their own legs. Chickens will try to get under or over the rope. I think the best bet would be fencing either raised to ~8+ ft or some sort of cover over the entire run. Some have suggested the netting which I think would work best. That's what we had over our small run before I took it down.

If you have any neighbors with chickens or if there's a local chicken group, someone might be willing to show you how to clip the wings. It's scary at first but it doesn't hurt them at all. They do not have nerves in the area that you cut, and it's very easy to see where to cut.

I hope you find a solution that helps!

 

[cjpines]

Chickens can fly and will pretty much get to anything they want to as long as they have their full wings and it is accessible. A rope strung across deters deer because they know they can only jump ~5-6 feet and are generally smart enough to not attempt to break their own legs. Chickens will try to get under or over the rope. I think the best bet would be fencing either raised to ~8+ ft or some sort of cover over the entire run. Some have suggested the netting which I think would work best. That's what we had over our small run before I took it down.

If you have any neighbors with chickens or if there's a local chicken group, someone might be willing to show you how to clip the wings. It's scary at first but it doesn't hurt them at all. They do not have nerves in the area that you cut, and it's very easy to see where to cut.

I hope you find a solution that helps!

You know I never thought about deer jumping and not flying as to why the rope works. Thank you for mentioning that.

 

[donna1953]

I have a perfect remedy to keep chickens from flying over the fence. THIS ONE WORKS!!!!
I had tried every suggestion online, and they still flew over.
I clipped their wing. Then I clipped both wings. Then I read from one person that chickens don't perch on pickets because they are too "pointy." So I bought 2-foot high picket fencing and zip-tied it to my existing fence. 3 of my chickens still flew over. So I had this brainstorm. What if they were too heavy to fly? So with the help of my husband, we took a nut (as in --nuts and bolts) that was pretty good sized (not too big--not too small), and we zip-tied it to the chicken's leg. Not too tight, but slightly loose so as not to cut off the circulation. It solved the problem for 2 of the chickens. So when the 3rd one continued to fly over, we zip-tied on a second nut. It was too heavy--for she seemed to be off balance, so we replaced it with a slightly lighter one. It did the trick! No more chickens over the fence!! After a few months, we removed the zip-ties from their legs! They were happy--and did NOT try to fly over the fence again. At first when you put them on, they are totally annoyed!!! They try to peck at it and kind of walk with a little limp, but soon get used to it. I could have kept them on permanently,but I thought I would remove it. If any of them try again to fly over, I will put on another zip-tie and nut. So far it has been a month since I took off the tie and nut and no chickens over the fence!!!!

 

[potterpoulets]

I put two layers of chicken wire over the top of my 6' run so that they wouldn't fly out and also so hawks wouldn't stop in.

Good luck!

 

[dolcib]

That is brilliant!I love the nut idea!

 

[lazy gardener]

I have a 5 foot fence, I have clipped the wings, I have put tack strips on the edge of the fence...I am just a littel concerned because we live in a houseing track and I fear that the birds may fly into my neigbors yard. Any other ideas would be appreciated thanks!

I do hope you do not mean carpet tack strips. If a bird were to land on one of those, it would tear their feet up pretty bad.