Birds Escaped!

[dixygirl]

I left my month old chicks in their pen this morning when I fed them and let them out of the coop. I went outside this afternoon to find them all loose and together walking behind the horse all over the place!

They are obviously able to squeeze out of the welded wire fence that is tripled with chicken wire and deer netting somehow! Well, the spent 7 hours free ranging with the horse. Thank God everybody was there walking all crowded together. I just KNEW I was going to have a chore to herd all these tiny babies across the field back into their house. But I didn't! By the time i went over to open their pen's fencing, they had saw me over by their house and all came together like a miniature mob and went back in their pen and coop all by themselves!

Well I am amazed. Number one, I am amazed that nothing got them during the 7 hours since they were roaming around outside. And number two, I am amazed at how well behaved the band is.

Thank goodness everything was ok this time. I don't know how I am going to keep these bantams from slipping through the cracks and going on another adventure.

Well at least they're OK.

 

[Ellie_NY_chick]

Whew - were you ever lucky!

The horse was probably enough to keep any predators from bothering them!

 

[steffpeck]

I am glad your babies were ok. See it happens to even the best of us, no matter how safe we think they are. Mine got out somehow, even though they were safe ( I thought) and my dog got them.

 

[dixygirl]

Oh no Steffpeck! I am sorry. My dog killed one too so I know how you feel.

Yeah things do happen when we least expect them.

 

[FloridaChickenChick]

My girls escaped, too, this morning, and my chow got one. She has been trying to eat a chicken since I put them outside. It was a cr@ppy way to start the day, looking out the window and seeing Missy walking by with Red in her mouth (Red, of course, was my favorite). I am surprised by how upset I am...I know I love my chickens but we've been joking about it so much that I guess I sort of forgot that I *really* love them, not just love them as a joke.

I made the chicken yard really secure on the sides that face the inside of our property, because I knew Missy would be after the chickens. I just never considered that the chickens might want to venture beyond their safe place! It's MY fault, which makes the whole thing worse, but at least the chickens broke OUT instead of the dogs breaking IN. I guess that's some consolation.

I'm so glad your girls made it home safely! And thinking of that, grateful that the remaining 11 of MY girls came right back to their yard when I called for them.

Now I gotta go fix the back wall of the chicken yard...they LOVE being "out".

 

[dixygirl]

Oh no FloridaChickenChick! Everyone is have break outs today. Bet the moon is in headstrong Aries or something. The natives are restless.

I'm so sorry for your loss.
Good luck

 

[FloridaChickenChick]

You know, I just went and caught up on a thread about a member here whose son is recovering from open heart surgery...I'm very very sad about Red but things could be so much worse.

Now I really AM going to fix that chicken yard!

 

[Salve&Fluffer]

It is good that the chicks survived for 7 hours! Our chicks used to actually jump out of their mini coop. When we put a cover on,they squeezed through the 1 inch bars!