Two girls escaped! Fencing question.

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Thanks! Just as soon as we have the money... meanwhile, it's supervised exercise!

 

[mkearsley]

Quote:
On the website you linked, it said only clip ONE wing. I was wondering why? We've clipped both wings of our four hens. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop the little boogers from jumping! I caught one who had jumped from the compost pile up to the top of their hen house, another little hop & she'd been over our 6' fence! We had a rooster at one point in time who loved to jump. I was just waiting to find him on the roof of the 8' shed! He'd jump from the ground to the top of the hot-tub, to the top of our porch swing, if it had been a little closer, he would've jumped to the top of the 6' fence or the shed. I'm sure he was trying to figure out how to get to the roof.

 

[riftnreef]

Clipping the wings does not stop flight, only shortens the distance. The idea behind cliping one wing is that it will make level flight inpossible...if you clip both, you re-create the ability for level flight, just in shorter distances. Now ya know...lol

As for me, I have an 8' tall run which I was sure would hold them...but alas, they are determined when they put their featherd little minds to it. This past summer they learned to get up the fence with feet and feather power! My wife called me in from the kitched to see all 10 birds roosting on top of the run! I was more than a little surprised. The fix was easy...just some bird netting across the top, but I did learn that even an 8' fence would not stop them if they really want the fressh green stuff on the other side...

 

[HHandbasket]

I agree with the deer netting suggestion whole heartedly because I had a similar situation just this past weekend. We acquired a brand new 14-week BCM pullet recently, and I was letting her free-range in the backyard on Saturday. I went out after a short while and couldn't find her ANYWHERE. Heard her making little chickeny noises from the other side of the back fence (there's an empty space back there that was once an alleyway), and I went around front to see. We live near a corner, and she had made her way out & several neighbors had seen her. Long story short, it took some doing and the assistance of some REALLY nice neighbors (and then me crawling through thorny rose bushes), but we finally got her home, safe and sound. I couldn't figure out how she'd gotten out, then I found a small opening in the fence that the rest of my girls (large fowl, pretty much fully grown) can't get through, but the 14-week pullet was able to squeeze her happy li'l self right through it.

DH came home and whipped out his handy-dandy staple gun and installed some green deer netting across the back fence. No further escapes have been made, and all is peaceful in the coops of Endinay Farm.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Definitely gonna get some very tall t-posts and deer netting. That a whole weekend project.

Meanwhile, I just went down to put the black australorps back in their pen (they stick very close to home) and let the eggers out while I supervised. While I was tossing out handfuls of oats for them to peck, I noticed our under-the-deck space where we currently store kindling, firewood and hay. Starting moving things around to block some of the holes to see if we could use it as a winter home for the eggers, when something made me turn and look for my girls. My one escape artist, Libby, was about to be a snack for a big cat! We don't have cats and we're in our fenced backyard so you better believe i screamed and hollered and chased off that cat.

Adding deer netting to our current fence wouldn't keep the cat out.

Now... I really truly need a decent run for them. Yeah, I can shore up under the deck, but there's no way I can prevent any diggers from getting in there (surrounded by sand) so I'm thinking about taking a 15x6 spot in the corner of my fenced back yard and making a covered run for them. Would that be enough room for them to get plenty of exercise, even on snowy days like today?

We have 5 eggers + 1 blue americauna roo now but will be adding misc. girls here. And might want to put a second one beside it for the 5 black australorps plus more.

Thoughts?