In a battle with girls any ideas welcomed please

[angelat]

hi all,

i have a garden which is half and half of patio and garden. the girls have there coop and barked area in the garden half but they are not contained in the picket fence my husband made i always open the gate and let them free range.

when my previous hen died (i replaced her with a rescue hen as a friend for the other one) i let my old hen come on the patio and when the rescue hen came i let her come down too. now after a couple of weeks i am trying to claim my patio back and gate them up in the garden part (there is plenty of space with borders aplenty for them to work on. its a nightmare they are trying to jump over the wall (getting rescue hens feathers clipped at weekend) and the trellis fence. i am so tempted to let them go wherever cos quite honestly its so tiring! any ideas. when i am at work my son says they are not so bad its when they hear me in the kitchen or they can hear my heels on the tiles they start going mad and get really excited! any ideas would be very much appreciated. thanks

angela

[chris]

Mine do the same - they jump up a 10' wall (well try to ), scraping their beaks/feet/etc - just greedy buggers!

A floppy fence will keep them in - if it's not a solid place for them to land on and hop over, they'll not attempt it! (plastic mesh up against the picket fence?)

[Glutton4...]

... and take off those heels - wear slippers instead!

[frias]

Worse than spoilt children aren't they. It doesn't matter what space I give mine they want more. In the winter I let my lot free range as long as I'm in the garden but they destroy so many plants that in the summer they have to be contained within an electric fence. It doesn't stop the odd one flying over as soon as they hear the back door open. Humans = treats!