Betty the chicken…full of spunk…she’s a flier!
She’s one of the new girls in our colorful flock of chickens; a barred rock beauty full of spunk.
She frequently flies the coop (well she actually flies the chicken yard)…
…is she trying to impress the others
…does she think she’s full of super powers
…does she think she’s better than the others
…or…does she do it just to perturb me?
She doesn’t even walk out of the coop…she flies!
Here’s the deal…we clipped her wing. She’s been with us a little over a month now and we’ve clipped her wing TWICE! I say wing, not wings, because that’s what we do. We always clip only one wing for a reason: when a chicken tries to fly with only one wing clipped, she will be ‘off balance’. If we clipped both wings, a determined chicken could still fly if they flap hard enough. Or, as in the case of Betty, she’ll fly no matter what.
“Hey, wanna see something cool?”
With that said, how is Betty still flying over the fenced in chicken yard? We don’t know! But, the better question is why? She doesn’t go far. She stays right around the chicken area. She doesn’t explore the yard. She doesn’t wander into the woods. She just hangs out around the others, but on the other side of the fence.
“Catch me if you can!”
Maybe she’s saying “na-na-na-na-boo-boo” to the others who can’t take flight with her. And, of course she gives me a run for my money when I have to catch her to put her safely back in. She darts back and forth, again probably saying “na-na-na-na-boo-boo“, but this time to me! That’s probably it…she’s the joker of the group, telling the others “watch this crazy lady catch me“.
We keep our chickens contained in a large chicken yard for a couple of reasons. It is for their safety, but also let’s keep it real…I don’t want to step in chicken poo throughout the yard.
Light bulb moment…I just figured it out (I think)! Betty is having pecking order with me. She’s showing me that she will fly out of the chicken yard if she want to…no matter how many times we clip her wings.
“Where did this taller fence come from?”
Ssshh…here’s a secret between you and me…don’t tell Betty. I recently ‘pecked’ back…we made the fence higher. Look at her standing on the old fence, trying to scale the newer, taller one. She’s full of spunk and determination…we’ll see if she ‘pecks’ back.
Wish me luck!
8 Comments
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I loved the story about Betty! I have a Bard Rock named Betty and she is the friendliest and also full of spunk. She hasn’t flown out of the coop ( I have netting on the top) but she is a hoot. Thanks for sharing!
My two Barred Rocks ‘fly’ also when none of my other 4 breeds do extensively. They don’t hop down or up or run—they have to use their wings and ‘fly-hop’ (not over the fence yet). But I’ve always thought it was odd that they were different in that respect. I’ve learned to stand back and be prepared for the wings to flap!
I think it is cute that she keeps escaping. I like her independent?ence . put I’m not the one that has to chase her. I’m wondering if she is being pecked on.
Help, I don’t know how to post a different question. So excuse me for using your topic. I have had chickens for fifty plus years. I recently retired and got six bantams. They are spoiled rotten. They will cuddle in my arms, etc. with seeming contentment. But every so often they will start to “vibrate/shiver” for awhile. They are not cold and don’t seem to be scared. They don’t keep it up, just do it for a few minutes. Do you know what causes this? I am 72 and love the comfort of my banties but I don’t want to hurt them. Thank you.
Chickens can’t see very well, so if you remove the top bar and just have side posts to hold the wire fencing, they often won’t even attempt to jump/fly over because they can’t determine where the top of the fence is. I think they may think the wire fencing just goes on and on forever upwards as it just blurs away into the sky, so to speak. LOL Remove the horizontal post across the top and you may just succeed in outpecking (or outsmarting, rather) cheaky little Betty.
I have chickens at my Backyard would like your help to improve.
Even though it looks like she is flying she is actually jumping, thats why the clipping is not working. If the top of the old fence was the wood bar shown in the picture she was probably jumping to the bar and landing on it and then jumping to the other side. With the added chicken wire she does not have a solid place to land and will probably stay in. I have had good luck with just putting up a 24 inch high fence of chicken wire with nothing for them to land on and that cured the “getting out” that they were accomplishing by going over a 42 inch chain link fence that had a top bar for them to land on. As to why its probably just a simple case of the grass is always greener. If the other chickens were to follow her lead then they would probably wander further away. My 2 cents.