Neighbors yard

[snow5164]

 

[centrarchid]

If the chickens can still clear the fence after clipping one wing, then clip the other as well making certain you clip both close enough.

 

[centrarchid]

View attachment 1442635View attachment 1442636

You have flat ground like I wish I had. Your contraption would not work on my ground unless much smaller in foot print.

 

[snow5164]

Ahh! Flat ground the joy of living surrounded by farmers fields ... you don’t really appreciate what you have til someone else points it out !!

I guess you guys need to build a fence .... I tried

 

[centrarchid]

The fencing I use works to keep ground predators out most of the time but does not generally impact movement of the chickens except with the American Dominiques inside electrified poultry netting perimeters. Dogs make all work much better as they run off critters probing perimeter and disturbing chickens. Expensive though. Chicken tractors I have are cheaper but can be hard to move and are constrained in size by nature of the ground.

 

[123RedBeard]

Depending on the dimensions of your land, you may be ... a quarter of the way to a full fence

Depending how you decide to fence them in, you may loose some square footage, but may be easier to go around the driveway, to avoid a big expensive gate ...

A quarter of an acre should be plenty for a few Wyandottes

Wyandottes tend not to be the best flyers, probably clipping the feathers on one wing will keep them inside.

 

[HillBilly64]

I have electric polutry fencing (although not currently 'hot' as we can't solve the earthing problem). It give my girls a massive, contained free range space, and so far they haven't tried to climb out. Easier (and maybe cheaper) than permanent fencing.

 

[RWise]

If the chickens can still clear the fence after clipping one wing, then clip the other as well making certain you clip both close enough.

i disagree with this, clipping both wings will do nothing to stop them from flying.
I was gifted a hen, her poor wings had been clipped into the heavy feather part. She could still go straight up 8 feet, yes with those nubs! (and my fence is only 4 feet)
The purpose behind clipping 1 wing is to set them off balance, which they do not understand, nor can they compensate for it. By the time they molt and grow these feathers back, they are not likely to go over the fence any more (providing they have their needs filled), they have been trained.

 

[centrarchid]

i disagree with this, clipping both wings will do nothing to stop them from flying.
I was gifted a hen, her poor wings had been clipped into the heavy feather part. She could still go straight up 8 feet, yes with those nubs! (and my fence is only 4 feet)
The purpose behind clipping 1 wing is to set them off balance, which they do not understand, nor can they compensate for it. By the time they molt and grow these feathers back, they are not likely to go over the fence any more (providing they have their needs filled), they have been trained.

As a kid I was cut loose in a hen house loaded with about 75 game hens that can out fly and out jump any chickens that are not outright jungle fowl. Wings were clipped to various configurations. Unilateral (one wing, always right for ease of handling) clipping allowed greater clambering ability where wing thrust from one wing could assist jumping and running up surfaces. Bilateral clipping made birds so hens could not do 36" inches high. Hens had a short adjustment period of a couple days to unilateral clipping. Following molt both treatments regained full capacity for flight.

 

[RWise]

As a kid I was cut loose in a hen house loaded with about 75 game hens that can out fly and out jump any chickens that are not outright jungle fowl. Wings were clipped to various configurations. Unilateral (one wing, always right for ease of handling) clipping allowed greater clambering ability where wing thrust from one wing could assist jumping and running up surfaces. Bilateral clipping made birds so hens could not do 36" inches high. Hens had a short adjustment period of a couple days to unilateral clipping. Following molt both treatments regained full capacity for flight.

I will still disagree with you on this, and we will have to agree to disagree.
My hen with both wings clipped (I did not do this) could go up 8 feet, thats a bit more than 36". It did not stop her or even slow her down. She just flapped them harder to get where she wanted to be. (on a tree limb)
I always clip the right wing, so I dont risk clipping both wings, and that is just the light tips, not into the heavy feather..they can still use them to escape a predator.