How do you keep the birds out of the main yard?

Most of the birds I have are fliers it seems. I have a 52 inch fence around some of them, which they are able to fly over, especially the turkeys and bantams. Poop is everywhere. I hate it and do not know the best way to stop it other than wing clipping each bird. What else?

I've had turkeys fly over 12 feet. If you don't like the birds, I'd suggest you'd be better off getting rid of the ones you don't like honestly.

I suppose you could fully enclose the pens of the fliers if you wanted to. I doubt wing clipping will even phase turkeys with such a low fence.

Once mature, our turkeys never flew anywhere, its that juvenile period where they go everywhere. The chickens, well I know who the flyers are and as long as they are content they stay in the pen. If I have to move them from one coop to another I have to clip their wings, but I still have one who knows how to use her feet to climb the fence and she pretty well goes where she wants. But, I like her so she stays. We also have a motion sensor sprinkler that helps keep free ranging birds where they belong.

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The entire farm yard is fenced with rail fencing and page wire farm fence. This keeps the birds in. Why I am not sure because within the farm yard, they will slip through the page wire into other critters pens. In spring I netted a whole section of page wire between the lambs and pigs. I know you understand why. Deer fence netting is annoying to the animals and they avoid it but I have found it has to be secure or they can also get caught in it. I use ties to secure it temporarily or wire or plastic twine for a more permanent project. The Muscovy ducks fly over their fenced pen, but only the girls. The male stays on his side. They are excellent fliers. Most of the chickens can fly over their 52 inch livestock panel and netting enclosure. Actually, maybe because of the bitter cold today, they finally stayed put. I did not let the turkeys out today...just couldn't do it. Yesterday they were on the cedar roof of my house.The turkeys are in a 16 x 8 foot turkey tractor and there are only 8 of them. I do feel sorry for them in summer and even though I move that tractor, they never get to do what turkeys love so I let them out. They fly into the goat pen, but cannot get out. They fly into the sheep pen, but cannot get out. Why, I just do not understand. One nearly met her demise when she flew into the Berkshire pen though and had I not been there to rescue her, she would have been their Thanksgiving dinner. The Bantams fly everywhere. They are the least problematic because they are people shy and avoid the house. Yay!
Each area has a house of some sort with a roof, so that cannot be the reason they want to be elsewhere.

Tara, your set up is very admirable. I have only been here since late March of 2011 and have much work to do to create spaces for the critters. I do use livestock panels a lot. Two of my dogs will jump any fence at all that I have except the 7 foot fence in one area. This is good and bad of course. No predators come near the critters, but I have lost 2 dogs to the highway who were fence jumpers. They learn that from each other (jumping).

It is frustrating to have the poo everywhere and I must say winter is very clean. The animals tend to stay in their yards except the Muscovy girls and the Bantams and I lock the turkeys in. I am going to try a solid slab fence at the house to fence in the yard. Maybe if they cannot see what is over on the other side, they will not be tempted to go there, but that will have to wait until next year. Sigh.

In my experience birds are more likely to fly over fences when they can see a clear perch to jump on then over. I have q feeling your flying problems would get worse with a slab fence, unless maybe if it is significantly taller.

A fence as short as yours is an easy go. Any fence with a solid rail on the top is usually a go too. I have a 6 foot chain link and they were getting over that until I put a top on it.

I am like Tara, I have a top on all smaller pens to keep them in if I have to, in comfort and dry. They freerange when I am here.

In Australia there is such a fox problem that they often have a higher fence, but have it loose at the top. Not tightened, but a bit loose and floppy. The foxes can't climb them and the birds are unable to land on top of them and hop off. Personally I don't like the look of them, but I know many that have used the loose, floppy fencing successfully.

Um, Coopslave, a 6 foot chainlink is only 8 inches higher than a 52 inch livestock panel...

By "top" do you mean that there is wire over the enclosure? In BC where birds, particularly starlings, are a problem, the berry fields are netted for acres. The netting goes over the berries at approximately six and a half feet and is rolled back for the winter. I tried both net and wire, but last winter the snow tore down the net and the wire sagged greatly when the snow/ice became heavy. How do you attach a top and what is the best material? Is there a best size? Thank ewe.

Um, Coopslave, a 6 foot chainlink is only 8 inches higher than a 52 inch livestock panel...

That's why I said it was an easy go, they had no problem getting over the chainlink.

I have enclosed runs attached to my coops. Each run is about 10' x 10'. I put a top (built a roof) over each one to keep the birds in when I want them to say in. This gives me an area, if I go away for a few days, they are safe, dry and still have room to do some activities.

I don't like net or wire tops, but I know they work for other people. I like my birds to have a dry, secure place if they don't get to free range. Mine get out on a 3 day cycle usually, especially in breeding season, or now to give the hens a break from the cockerels.

If you have a large area it is tougher to do. Mine rarely come up to the house and never into the veggie garden. Like others have said, if they have interesting things where you want them to stay, they don't come looking for other stuff. Mine have a huge hay field, a treed area and bush to investigate and rarely come up to the house of carport.

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You could try keeping a mean, chicken eating dog in your yard. You might loose a few dumb ones off the start, but eventually you will end up with only smart birds that know better!

The Fat Ewe wrote:Um, Coopslave, a 6 foot chainlink is only 8 inches higher than a 52 inch livestock panel...

6 feet is 72 inches...

The real simple, easy solution is to coop up your birds in a covered pen.

Glad to see you are minding your P's and Q's here, DWD. I keep returning to this thread expecting to read that you are endorsing a good old fashioned turkey shoot!

Seriously though, I have the solution. Mine were running and pooping all over the place. The gazebo looks like a poop bomb hit it. I caught them all one night, removed the flight feathers from one wing, and placed them in my 9' pen. The top three feet is loose chicken wire and it is hard to see where it ends. The turkeys are enclosed and the yard is poop free. Well...mostly poop free. I have free range geese.

Country Thyme Farm wrote:

The Fat Ewe wrote:Um, Coopslave, a 6 foot chainlink is only 8 inches higher than a 52 inch livestock panel...

6 feet is 72 inches...

Thanks Country Thyme, for the quick math lesson........

I didn't think 52 inches sounded very high. Just over 4 feet if I would have bothered to think about it!

Schipperkesue wrote:Glad to see you are minding your P's and Q's here, DWD. I keep returning to this thread expecting to read that you are endorsing a good old fashioned turkey shoot!

Seriously though, I have the solution. Mine were running and pooping all over the place. The gazebo looks like a poop bomb hit it. I caught them all one night, removed the flight feathers from one wing, and placed them in my 9' pen. The top three feet is loose chicken wire and it is hard to see where it ends. The turkeys are enclosed and the yard is poop free. Well...mostly poop free. I have free range geese.

Pints and quarts...? Yes, they do go down good after shooting birds!
There you go Eileen, you could do like Sue said and shoot them all.
I don't know why I didn't think of that!?!

Troublemaker!

Geese? Aren't they the highest volume nastiest poopers there are???

Duh, it sucks to get old. Of course 6 feet is not 8 inches higher than 52 ,which is only 5 feet. I am glad the younger generation can still add.

Well, I am thinking then, if I would create a permanent run for the turkeys, they are better in moveable tractors where they can have fresh grass half the year and clean ground. Or, as Country Thyme says, just get rid of things that do not make one happy. I find myself calling them Neanderthals because of their limited intelligence (Tara, you would have have made a great teacher...compassionate to the slower learners).

One thing I noticed today is that the turkeys pick the oats out of their grain feed and leave the wheat. OK OK, everything is new to me, like a kid going to a farm for the first time. I guess most of you know they prefer oats to wheat and are crazy about dog food. I let the turkeys out for 4 hours today, basically from 8 to noon and when they were stalking me, I lured them into their own house, nya ha ha. That is what they get for following me around!!!

52" is only 4'4". 5' is 60"

So your fence is not even 4 1/2 feet, most birds would not struggle to get over that, although I would!

Coopslave, I got that...what I meant is 52 inches plus 8 is only 5 feet.

Anyhow, I do not want the birds in my yard so will try fencing and if that does not work, tractors in the summer and a run that is covered in the winter are the options I think are best.

The Fat Ewe wrote:Anyhow, I do not want the birds in my yard so will try fencing and if that does not work, tractors in the summer and a run that is covered in the winter are the options I think are best.

I am with you on that, Fat Ewe. As much as I enjoy watching the birds roam around, turkeys perching and pooping up the gazebo, and a flock of angry geese blocking me from leaving the house, hissing and plopping all over the front step is not pleasant. Last night we could not even enjoy a movie in the living room. The geese gathered under the picture window and spent their time loudly commenting on the movie as we tried to watch.

Fortunately I have an easy fix. I just need to close a gate cutting of the barnyard from the homestead.