Hello, we recently added 4 hens to our backyard we received from a farm. We have a small chicken type barn that they sleep in and also use for the nesting area to lay eggs. At night we close those doors as well as the fence that closes it off from the rest of our backyard. During the day I open both the barn and the fence to let the chickens roam our yard. Our backyard walls are 6' high but the chickens have jumped up on to it before they figured out to roost in the barn.My problem is that we have one smallish hen (a bantum I think) that is braver than the rest and yesterday flew up to the wall then into the neighbor's tree to roost, it was too high for me to reach with a ladder so I left her there over night. Now the neighbor hasn't seen her nor I have. Should the chickens' fenced area (it runs the length of the house, dog run type size) be covered with a roof? Should they only be out while someone is watching? Should I clip their wings? I do make sure at dusk to round them up and shoo them into the barn if they haven't already gone there.Sorry so long, any help would be appreciated.
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I would clip one of their wings to stop the flying. I have a cover over my duck's pen area to keep out the neighborhood cats. It is made in sections so I can get in easily. It is made of 2x2's and chicken wire, you can see part of it in our pictures of our ducks.
Only clip on wing, but be careful not to go too short! Good luck in finding her, but an owl or hawk could indeed carry a small lady off. If they will be unsupervised I would put a cover over them.
I thought I had lost one of my girls and went into panic mode, searching everywhere, asking neighbors, ect. Turned out that she had found a hidey hole that I didn't know about and was happily watching me run in circles. I hope your girl turns up!
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I thought I had lost one of my girls and went into panic mode, searching everywhere, asking neighbors, ect. Turned out that she had found a hidey hole that I didn't know about and was happily watching me run in circles. I hope your girl turns up!
Lis