Prevent jumping a 4’ fence?

[Ridgerunner]

Hi. The chickens will have their own predator “proof” run but it is inside a yard with a 4’ fence. On nice days when I’m home to supervise I’d like to let them out in this yard. Rhode Island reds and barred rocks, I assume they can easily fly over that? Are my only options going to be totally enclosing the top or using electric wire? I was wondering about pvc roller bars that people use to prevent dogs and coyotes jumping over. Or do they not land on it first and just fly straight over?
Thanks!

Your chickens of those breeds should have no problems flying over that fence if they want to. My chickens of similar size have no problems flying up to my 5' high roosts. The secret is in the "want to".

What does the top of your fence look like? Is it solid where they can fly up and perch? Chickens often like to perch, then you never know which side they will hop or fly down on. That's a real common way for them to escape, even with a relatively high fence.

I use a 4 ft high electric netting. Since the top is not a good perch they don't fly up there. The only time I see any escape is when I have a bunch of cockerels that get into fights. One gets trapped against the fence and goes vertical to get away. Sometimes they come down on the wrong side. I have had hens trying to get away from an amorous rooster do the same thing but that is pretty rare. With my electric netting there are a lot fewer escapes if there are no really narrow areas or tight corners. With your back yard how big is it and do you have tight corners?

I had three full sized fowl hens flying out of my 5 ft high main run whenever they wanted to, which was every day. They learned how. I used 5' wide welded wire to raise the fence. I overlapped the bottom 18" to attach it and left 3-1/2 ft sticking up. I also ate the ringleader, not sure that was necessary but I did. With that extra height and no place to land on top they stopped going out.

Fox can climb really well. A coyote can jump over a 4' high fence. Raccoon, possum, bobcat, many dogs, and other predators can get over that fence. If it becomes a problem having wire sticking up another 3-1/2 feet could help a lot.

 

[KimbosKluckers]

This
I have a 3' fence and my dual purpose breeds don't fly over it. My lighter Easter Eggers have flown over it but only if they see something on the other side that they really want and don't have inside the fence.

I believe @centrarchid did an experiment and found that clipping both wings was more effective than clipping just one. I clip both wings on my ducks and it has kept them inside a 4' fence.

Ok so really depends on the chicken and what incentive they have. It’s a welded wire fence to T-posts, pretty floppy on top. I guess I’ll see what happens. Thanks so much.

 

[KimbosKluckers]

Your chickens of those breeds should have no problems flying over that fence if they want to. My chickens of similar size have no problems flying up to my 5' high roosts. The secret is in the "want to".

What does the top of your fence look like? Is it solid where they can fly up and perch? Chickens often like to perch, then you never know which side they will hop or fly down on. That's a real common way for them to escape, even with a relatively high fence.

I use a 4 ft high electric netting. Since the top is not a good perch they don't fly up there. The only time I see any escape is when I have a bunch of cockerels that get into fights. One gets trapped against the fence and goes vertical to get away. Sometimes they come down on the wrong side. I have had hens trying to get away from an amorous rooster do the same thing but that is pretty rare. With my electric netting there are a lot fewer escapes if there are no really narrow areas or tight corners. With your back yard how big is it and do you have tight corners?

I had three full sized fowl hens flying out of my 5 ft high main run whenever they wanted to, which was every day. They learned how. I used 5' wide welded wire to raise the fence. I overlapped the bottom 18" to attach it and left 3-1/2 ft sticking up. I also ate the ringleader, not sure that was necessary but I did. With that extra height and no place to land on top they stopped going out.

Fox can climb really well. A coyote can jump over a 4' high fence. Raccoon, possum, bobcat, many dogs, and other predators can get over that fence. If it becomes a problem having wire sticking up another 3-1/2 feet could help a lot.

“Ate the ringleader” Problem solved! It’s a welded wire fence attached to T-posts, somewhat floppy on top. There are no corners except right at the coop part. It’s oval shaped and about 150’x 80’. We do get those predators here but they will only be out on days I’m here to watch and when the dogs are out (separate yard) I’ve never seen anything during the day Also a mini pig on patrol. I hope to not need electric but we shall see what happens. Thanks so much.

 

[Debbie292d]

This
I have a 3' fence and my dual purpose breeds don't fly over it. My lighter Easter Eggers have flown over it but only if they see something on the other side that they really want and don't have inside the fence.

I believe @centrarchid did an experiment and found that clipping both wings was more effective than clipping just one. I clip both wings on my ducks and it has kept them inside a 4' fence.

I go with one wing as that's what parrot owners do with their parrots before taking them outside. These are $2K or more birds so we'd not be doing it wrong. I believe the point is, if doing two wings and they grow feathers in a couple of weeks, they could fly again. If it's one wing, they can't as they'd fly crooked.

 

[AinaWGSD]

I go with one wing as that's what parrot owners do with their parrots before taking them outside. These are $2K or more birds so we'd not be doing it wrong. I believe the point is, if doing two wings and they grow feathers in a couple of weeks, they could fly again. If it's one wing, they can't as they'd fly crooked.

I worked for a board certified avian vet for years. The preferred method was to trim both wings far enough that they can't easily get lift but can control their decent so they don't crash and hurt themselves. For large macaws the first 5 would usually do the trick. Smaller birds like budgies and cockatiels usually need 7-10. My amazon is a strong flyer and while she didn't get much lift she could maintain height a good 50 ft even with 6 flights trimmed. The gold standard recommendation when taking parrots outside is to harness train them because no wing trim is guaranteed.

Years ago I posted a photo tutorial on how I do wing trims. Let me find it. Not only do I prefer trimming both wings, I also prefer to cut the feather shafts individually with a pair of scissor style nail trimmers. It's less likely to accidentally hit a growing blood feather and I think it looks much nicer than just cutting across with regular scissors.

Found it! The fence we had at the time was 4' chain link with a top bar

 

[Debbie292d]

I worked for a board certified avian vet for years. The preferred method was to trim both wings far enough that they can't easily get lift but can control their decent so they don't crash and hurt themselves. For large macaws the first 5 would usually do the trick. Smaller birds like budgies and cockatiels usually need 7-10. My amazon is a strong flyer and while she didn't get much lift she could maintain height a good 50 ft even with 6 flights trimmed. The gold standard recommendation when taking parrots outside is to harness train them because no wing trim is guaranteed.

Years ago I posted a photo tutorial on how I do wing trims. Let me find it. Not only do I prefer trimming both wings, I also prefer to cut the feather shafts individually with a pair of scissor style nail trimmers. It's less likely to accidentally hit a growing blood feather and I think it looks much nicer than just cutting across with regular scissors.

Found it! The fence we had at the time was 4' chain link with a top bar

I appreciate it but I've had Sophie a B&G macaw for over 20 years and Julio, a rescue B&G for about 10. They have harnesses but I don't use them anymore. I don't even do the one wing anymore as the distance from the house to the aviary isn't far and they lean in to get to it as they're excited. That's the extent of it, but this is where I get my points from and it's how I always did it, as I had been taught a couple of decades ago. And there I dated myself again!