Animal Dome

Why Do Chickens Try To Escape? This Is Why!

By Jake Willhoite · · Updated

Why Do Chickens Try To Escape
Contents

Backyard chickens can give you a steady supply of eggs if you care for them well. Part of that care is keeping them safely contained.

Chickens do escape, especially from fences and runs that aren't secure. A loose chicken can end up in a neighbor's garden, on a road or in the jaws of a predator.

Why do chickens try to escape? Chickens usually try to escape because they are in an unfamiliar place, something has frightened them or they want to forage beyond their run. Chickens that wander off can also get lost and run from unfamiliar surroundings.

Below are the main reasons and practical ways to keep your flock where it belongs.

4 Different Reasons Why Your Chicken Tries To Escape

Chickens that are settled in their home usually stay close to it, but escapes still happen. How likely they are depends on your fencing, how your chickens are handled and each bird's personality.

The Chicken Is Not Used To The New Place

Chickens moved to a new coop or yard don't yet know where home is. Let loose right away, they may wander off and fail to return.

Keep new birds shut in their coop and run for several days, with food, water and perches. This teaches them where home is, so they return to roost at night.

After that, many keepers let their flock out to forage under supervision. The birds will usually head back to the coop at dusk.

The Chicken Is Scared

Fear is a big trigger. Dogs, cats, loud noises, predators and rough handling can all send chickens running or flying over a fence.

Most frightened chickens return to their coop once things calm down, but a bird that runs far may not find its way back. If a chicken is missing at dusk, search nearby hiding spots and calmly call or shake a feed container.

The Merck Veterinary Manual notes that moving calmly and steadily around birds helps lessen fear reactions. Avoid chasing or roughly handling your flock.

The Chicken Is Lost

A chicken that gets over a fence may not know how to get back in. It may run around the outside looking for a way in or hide somewhere unfamiliar.

Many chickens can flutter up and over a low fence, especially lighter breeds. A taller fence or a covered run helps prevent this.

The Chicken Wants To Wander Outside

Chickens are natural foragers and spend much of their day pecking and scratching. Birds in a small, bare run may push to get out to find food.

Give your chickens as much space, foraging material and enrichment as you can. Supervised free-range time is a good way to meet that need safely.

How To Prevent Your Chicken From Escaping?

These steps keep chickens in and predators out.

Put Up Taller Barriers Or Fences

Chickens are not strong fliers, but many can flutter over low fences. How high they get depends on the breed and the bird. Light breeds tend to fly better than heavy breeds.

Watch how your birds behave and choose fencing tall enough that they can't easily flutter over it. Remove anything near the fence that they could use as a launching point.

Create A Covered Run

A run with a roof or netting over the top is the most reliable way to stop flying escapes. It also protects your flock from hawks and other predators that come from above.

The Small and Backyard Poultry extension program warns that if you provide outdoor access, you should plan for predators from both the ground and the air.

Use sturdy wire such as hardware cloth, and secure the bottom edge so predators can't dig underneath.

Give your birds enough room. The same extension article recommends at least 1.5 square feet per hen indoors, with 2 square feet the most common allowance, and more for larger breeds. Many backyard keepers give more, and extra space inside and out helps reduce stress and pecking.

Will Your Chickens Try To Escape If You Let Them Out?

Chickens that are settled and calm usually stay near home and their flock. Running away is mostly a response to fear or unfamiliar surroundings.

If you let your chickens roam outside their fence, stay with them. Predators, traffic and neighbors' dogs are real risks, even for a tame flock.

Final Words

Chickens try to escape when they are in a new place, frightened, lost or looking for more space to forage.

Keep new birds confined until they learn where home is, handle your flock calmly, use secure fencing or a covered run and give them enough space and things to do.

Sources

More in Other Pets