Posted by Natalie Beddek on September 4, 2010 at 12:21pm
We have recently fenced our hens into a large portion of our section so they cannot get into the vege gardens but they jump/flap their way onto a post and out. Even with a clipped wing. They have plenty of grass, scratching area, trees to climb, food to eat in the run.
Any suggestions for keeping them in - apart from the obvious - make the fence higher.
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Hi all, We have extra chicken wire on the trouble spots and it stops the hens from escaping now. Only trouble is they nest in one of the big trees and our oldest hen always gets up in the morning and lands on the outside of the fence!! And given I have been slow to put her away the last few mornings I think she is now laying in the garden somewhere. Have to have an egg hunt tomorrow. Goes back in easy though. Thanks for the ideas.
We found that we had to clip both wings on our chooks, as, with only one clipped, they could still get over the fences quite easily. With both wings clipped they haven't a show.
Our chooks are used to being given treats and so we just give them something they like to eat and catch them one at a time. Gary holds them upsidedown by their legs, which makes them become very calm,we spread out a wing and I trim the wing with the scissors, and then repeat with the other.
We also used the extra wire, as Vicki recommended, on the lower fences. Now the chooks stay where we want them-hooray!
Thanks. I will consult with the master builder and have a go at both of these probably. Should be easy enough to add a single wire and there are only two places where they go over.
Vicki Hill > Natalie BeddekSeptember 8, 2010 at 10:03am
Good luck! I hope you get a reprieve soon - be sure to give us an update on your successes (and failures!) :)
I remember this set up at one poultry place I went to - they had normal height chicken wire fences and then had an extra single wire running around the top of the fence, I think about 15cm above the top of the chicken wire. The chooks can only see the main fence, not the single wire. If/when the chooks try to jump the fence they only jump as high as they think they need to - just enough to scale the fence. Because they can't see the wire, they get a fright when they 'hit' it and I imagine they're so confused by it that they don't try again. I hope that makes sense.
Replies
Our chooks are used to being given treats and so we just give them something they like to eat and catch them one at a time. Gary holds them upsidedown by their legs, which makes them become very calm,we spread out a wing and I trim the wing with the scissors, and then repeat with the other.
We also used the extra wire, as Vicki recommended, on the lower fences. Now the chooks stay where we want them-hooray!