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Chickens are the go-to animals for most homeowners because they require small space, so they are mainly reared in the backyard.
These animals benefit the homeowner in many ways. For example, they lay eggs, are a readily available food free from GMOs, and are a source of entertainment, as some homeowners claim.
The challenges of rearing chickens come when your animals try to fly over the fence. Letting them over the wall is dangerous because they could meet predators or get lost.
Luckily, keeping your chicken in your backyard is easy, and we will explain how to keep them from flying over the fence.
Can Chickens Jump High?
One common characteristic of all birds is the ability to fly. Chickens are birds that can fly, but not too high, like doves and eagles.
Kitchens have tiny wings and heavy flight muscles, unlike small, lightweight birds. Therefore, they can hardly carry their bodies in the air for long or greater heights.
However, since the heavy wings can enable chickens to fly shorter distances, they can fly over short-yard fences.
Once one chicken flies over the wall, the rest will try to follow suit, and you could find all of them missing.
But what could motivate the chicken to fly over the fence? Let us find out.
Reasons Your Chicken Will Fly Over The Fence
Your chickens will feed and drink water peacefully in their enclosed area on the balcony without attempts to escape.
However, with the right motivation, you could notice some of them try to jump high up the fence to escape. Some reasons your chicken will want to fly over the fence are:
First Days In The Coop
Your chickens’ first days in the coop with be challenging, especially if they previously moved around freely.
These egg-laying animals might take a while to get used to their new home and try to escape.
During the first week of rearing your chicken in the coop, you can help them adjust.
Gently chase the hens and cocks into the pen at night, and they will get used to it after some time. It will keep them from going over the fence.
Due To Fear
Someone has probably told you not to be a chicken, and you wondered why they would call you so. Being a chicken describes fear, a characteristic of the egg-laying animal.
Chickens are an easy target for predators, which makes them more alert.
If your chickens sense danger, they will try to fly over the fence.
These birds are living animals, and since they are afraid of predators, they defend themselves by trying to escape the danger zone.
They Want A Safe Space To Lay Eggs
You might create the safest space for your chicken to lay eggs, but these dismal flyers trust they can get better egg-laying spaces.
Your hen will try jumping over the fence after spotting a fantastic place to lay her eggs. It could be under a tree or bush, which is different from your open coop.
They Want To Wander
Chickens wander to look for food, so closing them up in a coop holds them captive. Therefore, they will fight to gain freedom by trying to jump over the fence.
Besides wandering for food, your chicken has a spirit of adventure, and they want to explore the areas beyond the wall.
Tips To Keep Your Chickens From Flying Over Fence
Keeping your chicken in the yard is safe. Birds of prey, rodents, and snakes cannot find their way into the coops.
However, since you cannot explain this to your egg-laying birds, you should prevent them from jumping over the fence using these easy tricks.
Build High Fences
Chickens are heavy birds with tiny wings that cannot support their body weight high up in the sky. Therefore, they can only fly for shorter distances.
One way to keep them on the safe side of the yard is by building high fences.
If your fence is not too high, add wire fencing or a mesh on top to keep your chickens in the yard.
You can also increase security from predators by installing an electric chicken fence or overhead netting to ensure no funny animals enters your chickens’ coop.
Chicken Run Enclosure
Your chickens will likely try flying over the fence for freedom. Since they are wandering animals, you can give them more freedom by installing a chicken-run coop enclosure.
The run enclosure prevents them from escaping the yard and allows them to scratch the ground for worms and small insects.
They also feed on fresh grass, and the extended area will enable them to stretch their wings.
Giving your chicken some freedom will reduce their urge to jump over the fence to explore.
The birds are also safer from predators in the enclosure, and you won’t argue with your neighbors because of your misbehaved chicken.
Clip Their Wings
If you cannot get high fences or a run enclosure, clipping their wings is another alternative to keep your chickens safe in your backyard.
Trimming the wing feathers makes it harder for the chickens to fly so that they will remain in the backyard.
Clipping the wings is easy. Chickens and other birds use the longest feathers at the front of the wing to fly, so you should trim these.
In most chickens, these flying wings are ten and have different colors. Cutting one side of the wing is enough because it creates an imbalance making it hard for the bird to fly.
Since the wings grow back, ensure you repeat the trimming process yearly.
Feed Your Chickens
Chickens will attempt to fly over the fence to look for food. It happens to homeowners who don’t adequately feed their egg-laying friends.
Keeping your chickens full and their thirst quenched reduces the urge to escape the backyard.
You can create reminders on your phone if you forget to feed your chicken. Give them different types of food like crumbles, pellets, and mash.
You should also pour the water into clean containers to protect them from bird diseases.
Keep Them Entertained
Yes! Your chickens need some entertainment not to attempt jumping over the fence. When boredom kicks in, your hen or cock will try jumping the wall to get the fun.
There are many ways of entertaining your chickens, but don’t jump in the yard to dance for them. They will ignore you all day.
An excellent way to entertain your chickens is by giving them something to play with. You could tie a head of lettuce on a higher place for them to jump and pluck the leaves.
The chickens will get fun plucking out the leaves, reducing their energy.
You can also get your broilers a swing to perch on. It increases the fun in the chicken run enclosure and is also a way to distract your chickens.
Another option is placing a bale of hay in the backyard. Since the chicken like kicking grass with their feet, this will be a perfect source of fun.
Final Words
Keeping your chickens from flying over the fence is easy. First, find out why they want to escape the balcony to know how to solve the problem.
To keep your chickens in the backyard, build a high fence, feed them well and keep them entertained.
You can also build your birds a run enclosure and clip one wing for an imbalance when flying.
