My hens won't stay close by!

[Hippy_hen53]

Hello everyone!
So I live in a rural neighbor hood, the next closest house is up hill from us at the top of the drive way. Well My coop is in the back yard, more than 100 yards away from the neighbor, but every day they escape their coop and go poop on her porch! They don't stay in their coop at all really, I have to close them all up at night then let them out in the morning. I am letting them be free-range and I was told that they would not go far away from their food and water but they do! They also get on the back deck then jump into the oak tree and stay there, so putting them away in the evening is a HUGE task. What can I do? I don't want them to be stuck in their enclosure all day Their enclosure area is fenced in, with coop in the center, but it is not completely closed up, the top is open, giving them A lot of room to roam around just in there even, and that is where their food and water is but I let them out into the yard all day. So why do they go so far away, like they roam the entire yard! They also escape their enclosure if I don't let them out. I leave for the day and when I come home they are all out! LOL! What can use to keep them in without building an entirely new area? Cans on a string? That keeps them out of the garden, so maybe around the fence? I dunno but if I can't keep them in my yard they'll have to go, the neighbor is not fond of them being in her area. BTW their wings are clipped, and there are no holes they can get out of the fence, THEY ARE SNEAKY! Help me!

 

[Sportsterjeep]

Fully enclose your run. You can get gamebird netting to stretch over the top to keep them in. Then when you are home in the evening you can keep them in your own yard. We had to chase some of ours out of the neighbors yard for 2 weeks or so before they learned the boundaries. And by letting them out in the evening they will still get to be out and play, and eat all the ticks out of your yard.

 

[For-The-Love-Of-Chickens]

Secure their run. We had the same problem with ours getting out and found out it was a big rock that gave them that little height boost they needed to make it over the fence. We rolled it a foot back and they can no longer make it over the fence. Or cover the top.

Once their enclosure is secure, I agree with not letting them out all day. Just a couple of hours in the evening. Then you decide when they go in and lock them up in their coop/run before dark. It shouldn't take them long to get the picture that they need to stay close and that they need to roost in the coop.

We do this with our girls and they hang out in the yard most of the time. Occasionally we need a "reeducation period" but not too often anymore. They pretty much have it down and will only stray if they see something they must absolutely check out. But they are usually back in a few minutes.

HTH!