Teaching chickens not to roam too far

[Shamo Hybrid]

Put up a fence! If the chickens feel they have enough room to roam they won't bother to jump over it even though they can. I had to do that because of coyotes and dogs trying to get my chickens during the day while they free range. They have a 4 foot fenced in area about 50' x 50'. They have never bothered (so far!) to jump over or fly over the fence. They are content in this area, you may want to try it. Use t-posts and goat fencing, you can always take it down and take it with you when/if you move! Good luck.

View attachment 1426207

I agree with this young lady here. I think having a fenced in area gives the chickens some sort of comfort like they are in a 'safe zone', so that is probably why they never dare venture out of the fencing (safe zone). But I'm no expert chicken behaviorist whatever you call em', I just think that that might be the case.

 

[ChickyNicky05]

I think people are misunderstanding me. I don’t want them in the neighbors yard, I guess that was unclear in my first post... I simply was asking if there was a way to train them to stay in an area as i felt bad containing them to a pen. I don’t need a dozen responses from people telling me it’s my job to keep them out of my neighbors yard... I am fully aware of that. I will not use any form of electric fencing and that is my personal choice.

 

[Chickassan]

Ok, simple honest answer then. No you cannot train them to stay in your yard. If they don't have a physical boundary they'll wander.

I think people are misunderstanding me. I don’t want them in the neighbors yard, I guess that was unclear in my first post... I simply was asking if there was a way to train them to stay in an area as i felt bad containing them to a pen. I don’t need a dozen responses from people telling me it’s my job to keep them out of my neighbors yard... I am fully aware of that. I will not use any form of electric fencing and that is my personal choice.

 

[BreanneRN]

Well, you know that saying, "Why did the chickens cross the road?" My answer, "Just because they could and no one stopped them"... Except for that big truck. Seriously, free ranging chickens does not really mean turning them loose without any boundary or restraint, at least not if you want to continue to have free range chickens.

 

[centrarchid]

I think people are misunderstanding me. I don’t want them in the neighbors yard, I guess that was unclear in my first post... I simply was asking if there was a way to train them to stay in an area as i felt bad containing them to a pen. I don’t need a dozen responses from people telling me it’s my job to keep them out of my neighbors yard... I am fully aware of that. I will not use any form of electric fencing and that is my personal choice.

Your current expectations are not realistic. One acre is generally too tight for even 1 chicken to restrict its ranging to if allowed out more than a couple hours per day. I am keeping 70 juveniles on about 1/4 acre but they are allowed out for only a couple hours and they have extensive cover patches and feeding stations that slow how quickly they radiate from the pens.

The recipe also smells of a fox or dog that will correct your chicken problems before long.