I had to share this. I went out before work this morning, still dark, to check on chicks in brooder inside the coop. In this particular run I have 6 buff orp hens and 5 black austorlorps. I forgot to latch the door to the coop. When I arrived home this evening, to my surprise the coop door was wide open, but all eleven of the girls were in the run! My son had arrived home about three hours earlier and came out and asked why I left the door open? I told him it wasn't on purpose and asked if he had put them back up without closing the door. He told me no, that he had been watching to see if they came out the coop door since he had been home and he said none of them would even attempt it! He said from time to time one would come up and stand about a foot inside the door and look out like it was daydreaming. LOL I went out and opened the run door and they came running out like there was no tomorrow! Go figure. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
They are just as territorial as us - we haven't clipped the wings of our hens, and they NEVER go outside of our yard. Mind you, our yard is huge. Sometimes they sit on the fence and watch the neighbours!
Yup, mine stay in their little yard when we free range everyday...they feel safe in their own "world". But do remember to close that door when no one is around...you never know what is lurking out there in the big bad world and it would be heart breaking if something happened. LOL
