Free Ranging Chickens: Stories and Such

[Candiru09]

Chickens are surprisingly HARD to catch!!!
When we first moved the chicks from the brooder to the coop, I had similar problems. They had one of those watering-things where it's a dome with a lid, and you fill up the dome with water and screw the lid on and flip it upside down so the lid would fill up with water.
Anyway, we didn't have the full run installed quite yet, so most of them were in the coop. When I would take out the water dispenser, I had to leave the door cracked open when I filled it because I had trouble unlocking the door with one hand while holding the dispenser. (keep in mind, this coop was made from scratch, along with the human door. The latch wasn't put in quite the right spot, so it sometimes took two hands to unlock it. At one point, it took a screw driver to re-lock the hatch...) The door wasn't very heavy, and when there was a breeze, the door would blow open. At one point, I was busy trying to fill up the dome part in the garden, and little did I know that the door blew open and my chickens were having a hay-day running around outside. By the time I turned around, all 18 of my chickens were all over the place. It took 2 hours to get them all back into the coop. And my dog was absolutely no help whatsoever. She chased one for 30 seconds, realized it was a lost cause, and laid down in the grass while watching me scramble after chickens. Some would allow me to pick them up, but the majority, I had to catch and chase them back into the coop. This has happened more than once. Thankfully, we found a much better solution for getting them back inside. They recognize the sound of their treat bag with nuts and seeds and mealworms and whatnot. We just shake the bag and they follow us in a row hoping we'll drop something. What do you like to give your chickens for treats?

I have 2 bags of treats
One with sunflower seeds.
And one with seeds and worms.
If I show up with the worm bag they hunt me down.
If I show up with the sunflower bag they'll follow me but aren't as interested.
Its amazing how these creatures can be so smart and so stupid at the same time.

 

[Windy Wings]

OH MY GOODNESS...I just went to lock up my chickens for the night. And GUESS who I found in the GARDEN?

 

[Windy Wings]

I have 2 bags of treats
One with sunflower seeds.
And one with seeds and worms.
If I show up with the worm bag they hunt me down.
If I show up with the sunflower bag they'll follow me but aren't as interested.
Its amazing how these creatures can be so smart and so stupid at the same time.

So true!!!

 

[Windy Wings]

I think I really should let them spend the night in there...

 

[Windy Wings]

What kinds of chickens do you have?

 

[Candiru09]

What kinds of chickens do you have?

My first 3 birds were cornish crosses, 1 of which is still alive
About a week after we got the cornishes, we got to California tan chicks
And about 6ish months later we got 9 new chicks
A diamond duchess
A gold laced wyandotte
A black sexlink
An amberlink
A Sapphire sky
An australorp
A barred rock
A buff orpington
And a mystic maran
One of each chick the chicken store had

 

[Candiru09]

OH MY GOODNESS...I just went to lock up my chickens for the night. And GUESS who I found in the GARDEN?

Chickens love to do things you dont want them to do.

 

[Windy Wings]

My first 3 birds were cornish crosses, 1 of which is still alive
About a week after we got the cornishes, we got to California tan chicks
And about 6ish months later we got 9 new chicks
A diamond duchess
A gold laced wyandotte
A black sexlink
An amberlink
A Sapphire sky
An australorp
A barred rock
A buff orpington
And a mystic maran
One of each chick the chicken store had

You have so many different kinds!!! :0 That's super cool! We have 5 red sexlinks, 5 black sexlinks, and 3 americanas. Is your black sexlink a hen or rooster, and is it aggressive at all? I think I have some bully chickens, and I think it's 2 of my black sexlinks.

 

[Candiru09]

You have so many different kinds!!! :0 That's super cool! We have 5 red sexlinks, 5 black sexlinks, and 3 americanas. Is your black sexlink a hen or rooster, and is it aggressive at all? I think I have some bully chickens, and I think it's 2 of my black sexlinks.

My black sexlink is a pullet named Salisbury and yeah she is a little aggressive. If one of my pullets is getting bullied, there's a good chance it's Salisbury picking on them. She's also the most confident and headstrong out of my 13 birds. If I open the door to the run she's always the first to try to jump out!

 

[Candiru09]

Here she is!