They keep running away...

[along76]

I've only been raising chickens for about a year and a half, but my hens have started to run away more and more frequently. I have two Easter Eggers, two Rhode Island reds, and two Plymouth Rock hens. They are free range, and have always stayed close to their coop. Their coop is regularly cleaned, and they always have plenty of feed, grains, greens, minerals, and water. Their wings are all clipped on one side. They all get along fairly well (but the reds can be bullies sometimes). Nonetheless, they keep hopping the fence and keep going further and further away from my house, into my neighbor's yards and backyards. One of them has already been killed by a dog. Am I doing something wrong? What can I do to get them to stop?

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! Your birds need to stay on your property, and that means better fencing, or a totally enclosed run for them. There's no other solution. If you have a too small coop, or birds causing serious flock drama, those issues need to be fixed too.
I wouldn't be happy to have someone else's birds in my yard, and definitely not more than once!
Mary

 

[drewskimac]

Welcome to BYC! Well, as Folly's said, you need to create a way to keep them on your property. I've had to resort to a closed run for the same reasons, in addition to them DESTROYING the flour beds. Chickens really love to free range - unfortunately, when you give them a inch, they will take a mile.