I have one hen that is nearly a year old and has always been free to roam all over the yard because I didn't have my coop and yard done. She was originally in another group of chickens, but the rest of them became freezer fodder earlier this spring. Now I have my coop finished and we have fenced in the adjoining orchard for a chicken yard. Total it's about 60' by 30'. This year's batch of chicks (now anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks old) are in the orchard/coop. Part of the orchard has 6' tall chain link around it, and the rest of it has about 4' tall fence/gates lined with chicken wire to contain the chickens. I keep trying to put the older hen (I call her Mother Hen) in there and she'll stay for a while, but always ends up getting out. We clipped her flight feathers, but she still gets out. I haven't seen her actually get out, but I assume she's flying over the gates. I would be fine with leaving her out and letting her roam, but she's eating my strawberry plants and garden starts, and I'm afraid it's going to be an ongoing problem that I just don't want to deal with. Plus I haven't been able to find where she's laying her eggs (I know she's laying because for a while she was laying in one of the window wells on the house, but she switched locations and I don't know where the new spot is.)
I need some suggestions as to how to keep her contained inside the orchard/coop area. Since it's so large, covering it up is not really an option. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I need some suggestions as to how to keep her contained inside the orchard/coop area. Since it's so large, covering it up is not really an option. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
