NHMountainMan
Free Ranging
As I was about to head outside to close up the run and tuck in the chicken for the night, the motion sensor lights and preditor warning sounds all lit up and went off.
So I sprinted to the coop to fight off whatever evil had befallen my flock. (Sprint is a massive exaggeration - with both knees and both hips replaced, I'm about as fluid as the Tin Man)
Turns out, it was the chickens themselves. They normally are sitting on their roosting bars, with the auto pop door closed, and I lock the run.
Instead they were still outside the run. Some were perched on the window ledge, some on the ground. I hearded them inside, and found 2 more had gotten into the coop.
After getting them all inside, only 11. Two were missing. I assumed a predator had killed 2 and that's why they didn't tuck themselves in normally.
By now it's pitch dark, and I'm turning on the electric fence and I notice my 2 missing pullets perched on the roof's peak. It took me another hour to figure out how to get them down from their 12' high perch. Me on a ladder with a fishing net duck taped to a long pole.
All chickens rescued and recovered.
So - what would cause such a change in behavior? Why didn't they head inside as they normally do?
So I sprinted to the coop to fight off whatever evil had befallen my flock. (Sprint is a massive exaggeration - with both knees and both hips replaced, I'm about as fluid as the Tin Man)
Turns out, it was the chickens themselves. They normally are sitting on their roosting bars, with the auto pop door closed, and I lock the run.
Instead they were still outside the run. Some were perched on the window ledge, some on the ground. I hearded them inside, and found 2 more had gotten into the coop.
After getting them all inside, only 11. Two were missing. I assumed a predator had killed 2 and that's why they didn't tuck themselves in normally.
By now it's pitch dark, and I'm turning on the electric fence and I notice my 2 missing pullets perched on the roof's peak. It took me another hour to figure out how to get them down from their 12' high perch. Me on a ladder with a fishing net duck taped to a long pole.
All chickens rescued and recovered.
So - what would cause such a change in behavior? Why didn't they head inside as they normally do?