We were lucky last night!

[goldeneggtees]

My husband built a really cool picket fence using pallets that we recycled. We all thought it would keep our sometimes freeranging girls in the far back of our yard. Well, sad to day a few of them flew right over the fence yesterday sometime while we were away. We came back around 9:30 p.m. and I immediately saw one of our big plants was knocked over.

That's when I realized what was going on. 4 of our 8 were stuck on the wrong side of the fence. The other 4 made it safely into their coop. But these 4 had no way back in. We found 1 girl between the slots on the fence, 1 on top of our patio chair and 2 girls sitting on the window sill of the coop.

I was really scared for them and so happy we found them all and they seemed to be ok. Whew! Guess we'll have to come up with another plan for keeping them in!

 

[trilyn]

Thank goodness you didn't lose any!

 

[cluck-addict]

I have a fence about that high and they fly over ALL the time. DOn't worry. Chances are, if they can make it over, they can make it back.

 

[goldeneggtees]

Hi, yea the only problem is, they didn't fly back over

Silly chickens! They had quite the adventure yesterday. I'm really glad they were ok, of course two of my favs were in the mix on the wrong side of the fence!

 

[Ridgerunner]

There is another thread active right now asking if chickens are smart. You'd think if they could fly over, they'd fly back. But something may have frightened them or motivated them to fly over and they just did not have the motivation to fly back. Or perhaps there is a launching pad that makes it easier for them to fly out than in.

It sounds like your orpingtons are still fairly young. As they get older and heavier, they are less likely to fly over the fence. In the meantime, here is a link on wing clipping that may help you keep them in until they get heavier without going to a lot of expense and trouble. The feathers will grow back after a molt.

Learning Center Wing Clipping
https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-wingclipping.html

Good luck!

 

[cmom]

I agree Maybe it's time to clip some wings. Also, remember only clip one wing on each bird if you do clip their wings. This will keep them off balance when they try to fly.