Single hen

[nutterly_uts]

now our garden no longer looks like stepto's yard, the chickens will be able to free range. One of my chickens who would be the most likely to try to escape is going back, as she is also the culprit of the recent bald bums, among other minor problems. The light sussex worries me though. She was wing clipped and will be again but i am worried she will still be able to clear our 5ft or so wall? Is this likely? What can i do to stop it? My silkies i have no fear with.

Also, would my light sussex be able to see off local cats if they managed to get into the garden while we aren't looking? I'm presuming my silkies wouldn't be able to?

[ted]

From what I gather 5 ft would be a tall order (excuse the pun) but they like to find launch pads so if there is anything they could get to near the wall then that is worth removing... In terms of cats we have 7 bantams and they see off the local cats quite successfully. An accurate peck to the cats nose seems to be all they need to learn. It was a bit frightening at first as the cats "stalk" the chickens. When they got too close they were charged by some of the ladies and seen off...

 

Good luck!!

[redsky]

When I first got my chooks home, Geraldine 'escaped' as I was trying to put them into the new hen house. She managed to hop & flap over a 6ft fence!

 

After clipping her wings, she doesn't seem to be able to leave the floor.

 

I let the chooks free range in my garden with just a 1 metre netted fence to keep them away from the flowers - they seem fine with this and haven't escaped yet.

 

DIY tip - Focus sells pond netting 4m x 1m for just £4.99 - cable tie this net to some cheap garden canes for a cheap removable run fence.

[chickenanne]

In theory they probably could escape, but mine seldom show any interest in doing that. We're lucky in that they have made it to the front garden a few times, bue are easily tempted back with some corn.