The wind ripped the cover of the run loose, and a pullet got out. Duckling fixed that by opening the coop for two more to get out, and then shutting the door, and spending forever chattering before telling me I had escapees. A fox (is suspected) has wiped out too much of the flock to risk free ranging, so I hurried down. The two hens were trying to get in the coop, but were too freaked out to make the whole thing very easy.
I let mine into a portable pasture when I'm around during the day, and I tried to give them a huge area but one of my net fences has bigger holes and the hens kept going through them. And then very few had any idea how to get back in. Once I found a light Brahma all by herself in the evening hunkered down next to the barn looking like a big white chicken dinner. Even the small-hole portion of the fence is only 3-3.5' tall! So I cut their space in half and am only using the small-hole fence. The OEGB hen knows exactly what she's doing, which is good because she can fit through just about anything lol.
(My portable fences were bought for goats so the bigger holes worked for them. I'm trying to use what I already have as much as possible. The secure run is enclosed in 6' chain link.)
