How high can hens fly?

[NoelC]

Howdy,

Still moving along at a snail's pace on our chicken project! I have the coop & pen built now and am about to set up some chicken wire fencing to contain the birds away from the main landscaped areas of our 1 acre property. We hope to have 3 or so hens forage over about 1/5 of the lot. Two sides of their forage area have our lot perimeter fence consisting of secure 6+ foot cyclone or wood fencing, the remaining two sides will be chicken wire held up only by metal fence posts. We had assumed we would need to wing clip them, but then wondered, how high would these fences need to be to contain the hens w/o clipped wings? We are not averse to wing clipping if needed, but if not why bother!

Thanks in advance!

Noel

 

[NoelC]

Quote:
Ah Ha! So then all we need to do is clip one wing . . . and one leg!

 

[they'reHISchickens]

Mature Orpingtons-- maybe 5 feet if they can get off the ground.
Young orps- definitely 6 feet if they want out.
EEs- 8 feet if they want out
Leghorns-- I don't think we've reached that level yet if they are determined.

It's like asking how large a pop door they need. Depends.

 

[fowlsessed]

What breed are you going with? It pretty much depends on that. Light or heavy?

 

[NoelC]

Quote:
Either Leghorns or Rhode Island Reds or New Hampshire Reds I believe.

 

[aoxa]

Okay.. So I have 4 ft fencing and none of my girls jump the fence. Not even my hamburg, who can easily do it. They want to land on a railing before jumping over, so this is something to avoid. If you can, make the fence as high as possible, if not.. Well I'm one that can say none of my 18 chickens jump my 4ft fence!

 

[NoelC]

Fascinating. I think I could do 5' without much of an issue. Maybe I should just try that and see what happens. I can always clip if need be. They will be in a quite secure area as far as day time intrusions go so I am guessing they may not have a lot incentive to go elsewhere, though I could be completely wrong on that guess! Their foraging area will be black oak canape with filtered sun, mostly shade. Lots of vinca ground cover and various native weeds that things along those lines commonly found in the low Sierra in Northern California. If they begin to get an eye for the landscaped area, could that be incentive enough to fly out provided they are well fed and foraged?

 

[teach1rusl]

All of the breeds you mentioned COULD fly up onto a 6ft. fence if they really wanted to. But as aoxa mentioned, just because they CAN doesn't mean they will. We have 4 ft. fence around our property too, and none of mine have ever flown over...and I have breeds that I've watched fly a good 12-15ft into the air when startled (my little d'uccles). IMO, you can go lower with fence that doesn't have a top on it...it's like they can't really tell how high it is when there's no 'ledge.' I used 24" chicken wire around my garden, and not one chicken made it into the garden (unless we opened the 'gate' to let them come in and peck around). When they can see the top (like board fence, privacy fence, chain link), they have a goal to shoot for.

 

[NoelC]

Quote:
Cool, keep 'em comin'! What a great forum to get diverse perspectives on this n that!

 

[Time-Out]

My Sebright once stole my breath when she took off, swooped over the coop, then up and over the washing line before coming to land neatly in front of me. The coop roof is 5ft off the ground, the washing line is a way over my head and I'm 5'7. She's never tried to get out of the garden, though and that's only a 4' fence.