Roller fence?

[SF892]

I have five hens who free range throughout the day. My yard is large enough to be divided into separate sections - they have their side and then I have the section that my dogs use so that they are never together and so my chickens don't have to be locked up (I got them as a means of pest control to eat bugs, so securing them inside a run defeats their purpose).
The problem is that they keep hopping over the divider onto the deck and getting into the dog yard and wrecking the planters. Their curiosity has only worsened as time has gone on and I'm having to chase them out sometimes five times a day. Even the times where the dogs have been let out without making sure the yard and deck are free of chickens hasn't been enough to deter them and give them the idea that it's not safe for them to be there (no chickens were harmed, the dogs were called off, but they had a decent scare).

I know people have used roller fence to keep predators from getting into chicken runs, but has anyone had success at using them to keep their chickens contained? Are they even heavy enough for it to work? My next course of action is going to be clipping one of their wings, I avoided it as long as I could because I wanted them to be able to have a chance of escaping a predator if they needed to. Plus I've read that sometimes it's not enough to keep them from hopping fences.
Any other ideas would be welcome. While I could potentially make the fence higher, it's not my preferred option as it wouldn't be an easy task.

 

[nminusyplusm]

Knowing how coyote roller fence works I don't think it will contain chickens. Roller fence keeps four legged predators out by not allowing them to pull themselves up and over with their front paws. Would they be safe if you clipped their wings?

 

[SF892]

Most likely. At least I haven't seen any predator activity since I've gotten them. The dogs seem to deter the local wildlife. I'm just extra paranoid because we live in a rural wooded area that has coyotes, raccoons, hawks, etc. I was also hesitant to go through the trouble of clipping them if it wasn't going to actually prevent them from getting over the fence - the one they are using to get on the deck is only about 3' which I know is nothing to a chicken (the rest of the fencing is 4-6"), but since they have more than enough space to roam to keep them happy in their area (maybe about a 1/2 acre) I kinda hoped they would stick to that side and forage. But they are ornery buggers with a "grass is greener" complex.

Mostly I was hoping that a roller fence type set up would be unsteady enough when they landed on it that they wouldn't find it appealing to land there. I've honestly considered pigeon spikes and other such methods of making sitting on that fence unpleasant for them. They are unbothered by scare tape. I constructed a roosting bar right by where the fence was so that they could sit on that and not need to sit on the fence, but now they just use both and still go into the other yards.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

When they are young they tend to be more adventurous. Depending on the breed & weight, some can still fly after clipping a wing. I have three chickens that can fly. I like to use poultry/bird netting. Perhaps you can run a rope line high off the ground 7-8 feet high. Then, attach the netting to create a wall. You can even angle the netting inward so the hens get the impression that they are enclosed. I bought a roll of 6 foot wide netting, and I have used it for so many things. I can protect my hens from aerial threats, also border planted areas I don't want my chickens to enter, I even used it to make a safety net in the corner of our huge coop, to keep one hen from falling off the perch at night during an illness. I like to use clips to attach temporary nettings, zip ties are also good. It cuts easily with scissors too.

 

[aart]

How high is the fence?
Instead of roller that rolls off 4 legged's, topping your fence with a couple wires or a floppy section of chicken wire should do the same thing.
That will work if they are landing on top of fence before going over,
if they are just right flying over it won't help a bit.
Clipping wings sometimes works....but often not.

 

[SF892]

They were hatched at the end if April so they are still young and curious I imagine. A gold and a silver laced Wyandotte, a welsummer, an australorp, and a black sex link cross.

On the 3' deck fence they are flying up, landing, and jumping down onto the deck. While they can fly over the 4' wire fence they have only done so as an escape route when they ended up on the wrong side of the fence when I let dogs out without seeing them. They haven't actively tried flying over it. May try stringing wire or twine above the top of the 3' fence and see if they try flying over it. Thanks for the suggestion.