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

[sophia_chicken]

Hi, I have just returned from a poultry auction with 2 cream crested legbars and 2 white leghorns..... Does anyone who keeps these breeds know how high they can flap up to? I have a 6.6 foot fence round the garden, will this keep them contained or should I clip them?

 

Also in this freezing weather, will vaseline really help stop the leghorns getting frostbite on their huge floppy combs? They are really flighty and nervous, so I don't wan't to stress them out handling them unless it is really going to help them.

 

Thankyou for your help....

 

SOPHIA

[Egluntyne]

My Fenton Blues, which are very similar to the Cream Legbar have no troule flapping onto the top of my walk in run which is over 6' hight....depite me clipping a wing each a couple of months ago.

 

I never bother applying Vaseline to my girls wattles and combs as their Eglus are well ventiated and so moisture, which is a factor in the development of frostbite in combs, isn't a worry in out climate.

 

Should the temperature drop below minus 10 degrees I might have a rethink though.

 

If you apply it at night when they have gone to roost, they will be drowsy, and won't make much of a fuss.

[Barkisland]

My Cream Legbar can most definitely fly. She is very skittish and easily spooked, and flew over my husband's shoulder (he's 6'4") and out of the run last weekend, landing half way up a very dense and tall conifer

[Madbird]

My cream legbar is convinced she is an eagle! So clipping her one wing was a must

[abwsco]

My cream legbar is VERY nervous. She will just about eat out of your hand but that's it

[chelsea]

I've never used vaseline either and my girls have survived 2-3 winters

[LJ's Chooks]

our cream legbar regularly checks out the garden cos she's fed up with the company of the other chooks....

 

Root much prefers playing with the pidgeons outside their normal pen.... she never jumps the fence when we're watching though... and normally only does it when we have house guests who find it hilarious when we chook eggcentrics start chasing round the garden with grapes and corn chatting to our gorgeous Root as she goes....

 

a couple of laps and then she's normally happy to go back in ... normally to a good telling off from the other chickens as she re-enters the pen.

[helenmb]

I find that my 2 Leghorns and Legbar are all flighty, only one of the Leghorns has a floppy comb at the moment (my Buff Mottled one) but haven't as yet gone for vaseline as its not been below -2 during the day time. She seems quite ok. I haven't clipped their wings as I wanted them to be able to get away from a fox if necessary when free ranging and TBH I haven't found it that effective as they can still escape with a wing clipped. My splash Leghorn is the most crazy - you can't get near her and she is a bit more of a loner in the group too - not sure why?