Poop Management in Urban Yard

[tracykennedy]

Then you defeated the purpose of clipping wings. You are supposed to clip only 1 so the bird will be off balance when it tries to fly.

Well, aren't we silly? Rookie move on our part.

The good new is that the girls stayed in their yard all day Sunday. Yesterday I found both Australorps on top of their coop (our coop is low) ready to hop to the other side. I gave them each a spray with water and they hopped back into their area. Once I had them back down I gave them some meal worms.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Well, aren't we silly? Rookie move on our part.

The good new is that the girls stayed in their yard all day Sunday. Yesterday I found both Australorps on top of their coop (our coop is low) ready to hop to the other side. I gave them each a spray with water and they hopped back into their area. Once I had them back down I gave them some meal worms.

It's a pretty common mistake. That's why I asked. The feathers will grow back soon enough. You can try 1 side then if you still need to. A spray of water seems to work well most of the time. My neighbors fence is only 4 feet and I found 2 chickens over there the other day. So many toxic plants in their yard.

As another poster mentioned the need for a run to teach the girls where to lay. We are still working on our run and had 2 start laying. We locked them and 1 other that should be close inside my coop that is 12 x 12. The first 2 layed well in the box. When the 3rd 1 finally started laying she taught 1 of the box girls to lay under a bush out on our 1 acre. But when I got less eggs for too long I corralled my family for a good old fashioned egg hunt.... Got a cash of 12 eggs! Which actually made it possible for me now to tell who's egg is who's. And I am glad to know because I keep records so I can tell what's going on. Now I have a bunch more girls getting ready to lay, so I better hustle.... Our property is heavily brushed including black berries and other thorny stuff so my hands got scraped up during the excitement of our first hunt. And naturally the place they are laying is scary, deep, dark and dirty. Once it's shaded in the after noon, I'm not about to be crawling around in there. Yes we have snakes, rats, raccoons, opossum, and others.

 

[lovemy6hens]

I use a small, long-handled rake and a dust pan with a long handle on it every day in the yard. It's fun "foraging" with them, but the dog is always disappointed with the lack of snacks in the yard.

 

[tracykennedy]

It's a pretty common mistake. That's why I asked. The feathers will grow back soon enough. You can try 1 side then if you still need to. A spray of water seems to work well most of the time. My neighbors fence is only 4 feet and I found 2 chickens over there the other day. So many toxic plants in their yard.

As another poster mentioned the need for a run to teach the girls where to lay. We are still working on our run and had 2 start laying. We locked them and 1 other that should be close inside my coop that is 12 x 12. The first 2 layed well in the box. When the 3rd 1 finally started laying she taught 1 of the box girls to lay under a bush out on our 1 acre. But when I got less eggs for too long I corralled my family for a good old fashioned egg hunt.... Got a cash of 12 eggs! Which actually made it possible for me now to tell who's egg is who's. And I am glad to know because I keep records so I can tell what's going on. Now I have a bunch more girls getting ready to lay, so I better hustle.... Our property is heavily brushed including black berries and other thorny stuff so my hands got scraped up during the excitement of our first hunt. And naturally the place they are laying is scary, deep, dark and dirty. Once it's shaded in the after noon, I'm not about to be crawling around in there. Yes we have snakes, rats, raccoons, opossum, and others.

All three are laying now, which is very exciting! They all lay in the nesting box, except for our Wyandotte, who lays next to the nesting box inside the coop. I am not sure how to encourage her to get all the way inside the nesting box.

We do have a small enclosed run, and we can keep them in there if needed, but I like giving them space.

Is it possible that they get bored when they are looking to get over the fence?

 

[JayJo]

We're in San Jose too. Hi neighbor! The chickens do make a mess of the yard. And they easily hop 3' fences. Wing clipping worked marginally for us; our Easter Eggers were still able to fly. My husband built this 5' fence and knock wood, it seems to be finally keeping the girls contained. Simple design; just a wood frame with hardware cloth screwed onto it. I just put wood/ leaf chips in the run from an arborist who came to trim our trees and also started raising mealworms and I think with those two things to do, the chickens are less bored and less inclined to want to escape these days. Good luck...

 

[aart]

Quote: Well, no, they won't grow back until the birds molt.....usually at around 18 months old.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Well, no, they won't grow back until the birds molt.....usually at around 18 months old.

Thank you for clarifying.

We're in San Jose too. Hi neighbor! The chickens do make a mess of the yard. And they easily hop 3' fences. Wing clipping worked marginally for us; our Easter Eggers were still able to fly. My husband built this 5' fence and knock wood, it seems to be finally keeping the girls contained. Simple design; just a wood frame with hardware cloth screwed onto it. I just put wood/ leaf chips in the run from an arborist who came to trim our trees and also started raising mealworms and I think with those two things to do, the chickens are less bored and less inclined to want to escape these days. Good luck...

They will eat the beetles as well, I also raise meal worms. And red wigglers.
Quote:

Is it possible that they get bored when they are looking to get over the fence?

I don't see how. There is tons of stuff to do here. I think the grass is just always greener on the other side. They are curious little busy bodies. Maybe they are looking for a safe place to lay or just checking out my neighbors' toxic plants. There are bugs a plenty and an acre of greens and trees. I am working on getting them a swing set. I wanna get a wood one with steps so my goats can climb it to. I think they just don't know their boundaries. They always seem to know where I DON'T want them!

 

[melissamende]

Then you defeated the purpose of clipping wings. You are supposed to clip only 1 so the bird will be off balance when it tries to fly.

****, I did the exact same thing and was wondering why they were still getting so much air :/

 

[rosemarythyme]

Poop happens. I consider it to be little fertilizer packets. My dog considers them to be snacks. Your birds have their own ideas regarding the perfectly landscaped yard: They will put the stinkiest and foulest of their poops on your deck, patio, and front steps. They will dig dust baths in the middle of your lawn, most likely where you are most apt to walk, so that... if you are not paying attention, you will fall into their craters. They will disperse any mulch into the grass. They will eat all of your favorite vegetation. Any vegetation they don't eat, they will shred. Any vegetation they don't shred, they will dig holes into the root systems so they can wallow and dust bathe under that particular plant until it's dead. Deer netting is great for protecting specific areas from their attention. You can cut a 7'W roll in half with scissors to yield 3.5' rolls. It's practically invisible and easy to put up with thin fiberglass fence posts. The chickens will bounce off it, they will run circles around it, but because it's so transparent, they don't think to try to fly over it. I wouldn't use this for a run, but it works great to fence them OUT! Leave the garage door open, or any door for that matter? They will organize a self guided tour. The tour leader will lead them through, as they discuss and inspect each new item they find. they will spend hours inspecting the contents of your garage, checking out all horizontal surfaces for perching comfort, as well as decorating all of those surfaces with poop.

This was hysterical! And so true. I catch my dog licking my gardening boots all the time. And my chickens happily tore up the chard I'd planted (and then refused to eat it, but continued pulling it up as if they'd never seen it before.) Thank goodness they've never found their way into the garage, the closest "escape" so far was 1 chicken followed me right out the gate when I'd finished mowing but forgotten I'd removed the 1' tall mini fence-outside-the-fence (wire shelving zip tied to the actual run fence). As soon as I noticed her hot on my heels I gave her a look and she did a 180 and went right back into the run.

 

[tracykennedy]

Just a quick update - they have stayed in their fenced in area since I last posted. They really are quite fun little companions.