i have 3keeping chickens in the yard?

My 3 hens have been doing the same thing. It started 2 days ago and they are all over the yard. DH is putting up a higher fence on the deck side of the yard. They are driving me crazy! They are 22 weeks old and not yet laying. Not sure if it the colder days, nearer to laying or a full moon

Good Luck

 

Somebody told us "clip one wing, then they can only fly in circles and don't get up very high. By the time the feathers come back in, the chickens don't bother to try anymore, they're used to being on the ground". Also, they said some breeds are prone to ranging far from home.

 

Good fences (and gates) make good neighbors. They may be irritating your neighbors as well as endangering themselves. I recommend confining them.

I used to let mine free range, but they wandered all over! Finally had to build a run, and it was a good thing I did- just in time, because a pack of feral dogs came through a day later!

 

Would it be cruel to put bells around their ankles? Or little weights?

I am just kidding, really.

Our rosecomb bantam hen used to fly all the way up to the top of our house to crow! That's when she was young. Now she almost never flies. We never clipped anybody's wings, they just grew out of it. But they ARE fat little chickens......maybe they're just too fat to fly.....

 

I have 2 pullets that flew into the next door neighbors yard the other day. I clipped 1 wing and they havent flew over the fence since. White egg chickens are more prone to do this. But mine are Dominiqhes they are young and will gain weight. Leghorms, Buttercops, Andulusions, Anconas, all mederatean breeds are flyers, Games fly better than them. American, Asian and most English breeds dont fly as good.

 

Quote:Quote:Ummm- let me see if I have this correct!

1. There is no gate to stop them from wandering off, onto the property of neighbors.
(Legal issues are a potential problem there.)
2. Nobody in the area has a fenced yard.
(That has nothing to do with keeping YOUR birds safe and not annoying others.)
3. You feel that clipping their wings will stop them from wandering.
(What's to stop them from WALKING off?)
4. You let them free range but you "don't want them thinking they can go where they please"?

Here's a quickie defination of free range, found by a Google search:

Of, relating to, or produced by animals, especially poultry, that range freely for food, rather than being confined in an enclosure: free-range chickens.

I am not meaning to be rude, but I think you need to re-think the whole issue.