Will my hens escape?

[LimaDelta]

We have a hedge boundary at the rear which is patchy in places, especially at this time of year. The hens will have a run but we still want to let them into the garden occasionally. How likely are they to get out? The photos show some of the thinner parts of the hedge. I have heard they don't stray too far from their roost/food, is this true?







Any advice gratefully received.

[FredericRobinson]

They'll get out, mine go through, over and under my 5 bar gate, and over a wall and fence, they come back though, they don't get lost.

[Gandahar]

If they have Netflix and can watch old Nick Park movies I'd be worried, if not, then I think you are ok.

[LimaDelta]

Managed to secure the kids anyway

[P700DEE]

I think you will be fine with the hedge. Mine have a few places where there is just thin hedge rather than hedge and chicken wire and they can never be bothered to pick their way out. Five bar gates etc. yes under , over etc. They may not be able to fly but winged assisted jumping is fine and the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. They do always come back to the roost and food in the evening. They don't roam huge distances but do like any bird feeders locally

[kiethton]

more of a worry for me would be a fox getting in through the gap vs. the bird getting out

[bomb]

Have you not seen the documentary : Chicken Run ??

[FredericRobinson]

kiethton said:

more of a worry for me would be a fox getting in through the gap vs. the bird getting out

I wouldn't rely on any hedge keeping foxes out

[Stickyfinger]

One of mine got the name Stvenia McQueen......she jumps over any fence ! They will get through the hedge.

Trust me to get Cream Legbars....better known as "Columbian Escape Chickens"

I have given up now and just let them wander about, but they are always back in before dusk.

[dci]

As said above chickens will generally do whatever the fk they want. We had one come in through the cat flap before and jump up onto the top of a 6ft wall. There is no stopping them!

[Auchnagiggle]

They'll get out. They know where home is to come back each night but eventually they tend to go broody, find somewhere well hidden to lay a clutch of eggs and that's the last you'll see of them if you let them free range. Or the fox takes them. All of mine in the past got the wanderlust after about 9 months and that was the last I saw of each of them.

[FredericRobinson]

On the other hand I've never had any not come back