4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Jules.]

I was asked this question today at my hen party, & I remember reading somewhere that hens eyesight isn't over brilliant for distances & they willl only stray within sight of their hen house.

The figure 50 seemed to ring a bell with me, but I couldn't remember whether it was 50 yards or 50 metres.

 

Anyone know?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

No idea . My garden is so small they'd be lucky to get 10 metres away from the eglu . They seem quite happy to sneak onto the driveway if I leave the gate open - that's not in sight of the eglu .

[Sandychick]

Mine have very good eyesight when there is some sweetcorn emerging from the kitchen door, and thats 70ft away!

 

I think how far they stray from the hen house depends on the chickens. Mine are thankfully not great explorers. They could get over the fence if they put their minds to it but haven't ever tried. I also accidently left the gate open for about an hour. When I noticed, they were all standing where the gate should have been as if it was a magic line that they couldn't cross. I don't think this is normal though!

[Electricbarbarella]

again really small garden but mine could easily get into next doors garden or escape, they just dont seem to want to.

[Helen&Lee]

Well, the cube is at the back of our house and my chooks can wander along the side of the house into the front garden which they often do.

 

They have always found their way back to the cube at the end of every day though.

[Milly]

Quite a long way, and certainly out of sight of their eglu. We have ours inside an electric fence so they are nomally confined within that but sometimes if we are around we let them out and they are happy to go quite a long way (100 metres or more?). They do have their favourite spots however, under certain trees and so on.

 

It helps that we just need to rattle their treats bowl and they come running.

 

Milly

[iar fach goch]

mine will wander as far as they are able to, we have quite a large garden which they regularly explore, but they all (eventually!) come back when I call them or rattle their treats tin. One has managed to escape once, she found a small hole in our fence and was having a whale of a time in next doors veggie patch!

[sandyhas3chucks]

mine will wander as far as they are able to, we have quite a large garden which they regularly explore, but they all (eventually!) come back when I call them or rattle their treats tin. One has managed to escape once, she found a small hole in our fence and was having a whale of a time in next doors veggie patch!

I have a long gardenm they are mostly out of sight of the Eglu, happil;y as ex bats mine are usually close to where ever I am!

[cathybc]

I only have a small garden but I think the girls would go as far as I would let them - they get very upset when I don't let them walk all the way down the drive ! And they are certainly happy to go out of site of the eglu.

[Woodcat]

We had one lady who would walk down that garden come in through the catflap sneak through the house and up the stairs and have a poke around in all the bedrooms we had to turn the house into fort knox to keep her out. So ours deffinatly stray beyond the sight of their house though they usually return and if they don't they are asleep on one of the beds.