Ever Been Locked In?

[N F C]

Time to share a story or two about getting locked in the coop and/or run...I'm not the only one this has happened to, right?

My first experience with being locked in happened when we were building the coop. Everything was complete except for some last minute details before moving the chicks in. I was on the floor in a corner painting and DH was doing some work getting the door lock in place. Once he was done fiddling, he latched the coop door and left to go on to other chores, not realizing I was still in a corner painting (at least, that's what he SAYS, lol). After about 30 minutes he finally came back to pick up a tool he had left behind only to find me mad as a wet hen! That was when we realized we had to come up with a way of unlocking the coop door from the INSIDE. Whew, took care of that real quick.

Did we learn from that experience when we built a large, covered run? Nope. Sure enough, DH "accidently" locked me in the run and there I was stuck, just me and the chickens, for about 15 minutes. This time he didn't come back before I managed to use a stick to move the run door latch. Thank goodness my chickens just happened to have a long sturdy stick on hand to help me out!

The lesson we learned from building our coop and run was, don't forget to make it possible for the chicken folks in your life to get out from the inside. We were so caught up in protecting our girls from predators getting IN the coop and run, we didn't think about the need for a human to get OUT of the coop or run.

Because it was kind of embarrassing and DH was so sorry, I wasn't going to write about this on BYC until I read of a similar situation happening to another member. Just wanted to point out what can happen so other's will be spared in the future! Save yourselves!

P.S. We've been talking about building a tractor for the girls, but I'm just not sure how I'll get out once DH locks me in that!

 

[Joey4880]

i once told my neighbors there kid was going into the coop harassing the hens and they told me there kids would never do that until he got locked in there for 6 hours

 

[EagleEyes]

Looks like I'm in good company here.

Well, your posts prompted me to go out and do something about getting locked in. I hate busting up my door to get out!
So I added a wire to unlatch the thing if it closes on me.

 

[Blooie]

Well, well. I just got locked in yesterday for the second time. First time it was totally my own stupid fault, hence the reason I didn't want to discuss it!

But this time it was KEN'S fault! He locked me in the coop. Now, what makes that especially bad is that it was 4 degrees outside. Yep, 4, and I'm locked in an unheated coop. Got a little taste of how the chickens are feeling this time of year. I was in checking on how Scout was faring during this cold snap and gathering eggs before they became frozen missiles. He came along on his way to the garage, saw that the hasp was in the open position, and closed it. I knocked on the door, he didn't hear me. I banged on the door - still didn't hear me. But then I yelled and called him some not so nice names. That, he heard.

 

[sourland]

You're sure that was by accident?

My one pigeon loft is two compartments. One is for breeding and the other is a young bird flying loft. I once entered the flying side and closed the gate behind me inadvertently causing the hook and eye latch to engage. Yeah it was on the breeding side, and I was on the flying side. The loft entry door was on the breeding side. After a considerable period of time trying to reach the latch through the wire and around a 2 by 4 with my stubby little fingers I attacked the door with a Kung Fu kick and pulled the hook and eye out. I then reinstalled it on the flying side.

 

[bigmrg74]

 

[21hens-incharge]

Yup.
Thought I was safe using a hasp but alas I was trapped solid. It was in the winter and took DH a good 45 minutes to come looking. I now keep a cell phone on me and am using a totally different latch system.
On the new run I am using a gate latch that I can put a string through to release from the inside.

 

[RonP]

I think DH felt so bad about locking me up he won't let it happen again (fingers crossed, lol).

Proof why mans best friend is his dog.

I accidently locked my dog in the basement all night.

He was so VERY HAPPY to see me in the morning!

 

[N F C]

Ya, well this thread was a lot funnier BEFORE I locked myself in (twice)
So, this morning I will go out and fix my broken door latch. (kicked the door open last night) First time I fixed the door, this time the latch.
I do need a new plan to get out from the inside. I'll have to take a look at it when I'm out there fixing it.

Q: What's funnier than the husband locking his wife in?
A: Locking YOURSELF in TWICE!

Oh man, I about spilled my coffee on that one!

Thank you for sharing!

 

[Blooie]

What made it double bad is that he didn't just close the hasp - he put the lock on it. No way I could have gotten out even if I was smart enough to have put a latch lifter on the inside. He said he thought I was in the office when he saw the lock off. Yeah, a likely story. I think he's just sick of eating Christmas leftovers and wanted to teach me a lesson!