Yesterday was a rather eventful one. Didn't start out that way...but! So in the morning I let my 4 little ladies out of the coop as usual to play and scavenge in their temporary run while the permanent run gets built. Since beginning to let them 'outside' during the day at first I would sit out there the whole time making sure everything was alright. What I had to do to give them some outside time as my run isn't finished is I took oddball scraps of chicken wire, hardware cloth, etc. (just about anything I could find) and fashioned an enclosure approximately 8' x 7' x about 2-1/2' tall...all wire...took some ingenuity but it worked. The only area I couldn't fully enclose was where the door to the coop opens, which leaves about a 3' x 3' area open.
But being the proverbial problem solver I took a very large piece of sturdy cardboard and kinda cut it to fit the spot and laid it on top of the open area kinda overlapping the top edges of the chicken wire leaving the door open so they could get to their water and feed. So over a period of several weeks this has worked great, so much so that the past several days I've been getting them all set up and going back into the house and checking in on them about every 10-15 minutes. How I accomplish this is the fact that their coop/run area is only about 25' away from the front of my trailer and I can just peek out the front window right at them and I count heads..yep, I see 4 heads, all is well is chicken land.
But not yesterday. Keep in mind that I have a little 5-pound chihauhau (Zoe) who is obsessed with my girls...has been since the day I first brought them home as day-olds. Their initial brooder box was a 'clear' Rubbermaid tote tub and she would sit there for literally hours with her nose pressed up against the tub whining and talking at them...oh, she wanted them alright...for dinner!
Anyway, back to yesterday. As I said all was well in chicken land, I'm on the computer (as usual) and I stand up to take my 10-minute peek at the little run and I count heads....1....2....3....NO FOUR!!! There she was, outside the coop, circling it obviously wanting to get back in with her sisters....holey moley!!! Instant survival mode kicked in and I immediately thought "oh @(!*!$!!, where's Zoe?????" I jumped out of the trailer and Zoe was sleeping on the front edge of the porch (not just 30' from the girls) I said "Zoe! I have a treat for you!!" She jumps up and in the trailer...I slammed the door shut, gave her a treat, and took off back outside.
My 4 little ladies are Black Australorps and are very docile and friendly (thank God!). So I walked over very very slowly talking gently to my little escape artist...meanwhile my heart is pounding out of my chest...but tried to stay calm. At first she was thinking of bolting, but after only 2 tries I scooped her up, loved on her and petted her....then I plopped her right back into the little run...YAY!!!
The best I can figure is that she jumped up on top of that cardboard cover thingie and out she went...naughty little BA, naughty little BA!!! After retrieving her I plopped my own aged butt
into my adirondack chair out there and calmed myself down. My little escape artist walked over to the edge of the little run, looked up at me and I swear she was giving me the "evil chicken-eye" as if to say "What? Can't a girl have a little wild time??"
Ever since getting my little flock I have been OCD about them...now I know why...that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it...
Have a wonderful day out there in chicken land everyone...I'll be sitting outside today watching my little girls....like..a..hawk!!
But being the proverbial problem solver I took a very large piece of sturdy cardboard and kinda cut it to fit the spot and laid it on top of the open area kinda overlapping the top edges of the chicken wire leaving the door open so they could get to their water and feed. So over a period of several weeks this has worked great, so much so that the past several days I've been getting them all set up and going back into the house and checking in on them about every 10-15 minutes. How I accomplish this is the fact that their coop/run area is only about 25' away from the front of my trailer and I can just peek out the front window right at them and I count heads..yep, I see 4 heads, all is well is chicken land.
But not yesterday. Keep in mind that I have a little 5-pound chihauhau (Zoe) who is obsessed with my girls...has been since the day I first brought them home as day-olds. Their initial brooder box was a 'clear' Rubbermaid tote tub and she would sit there for literally hours with her nose pressed up against the tub whining and talking at them...oh, she wanted them alright...for dinner!
Anyway, back to yesterday. As I said all was well in chicken land, I'm on the computer (as usual) and I stand up to take my 10-minute peek at the little run and I count heads....1....2....3....NO FOUR!!! There she was, outside the coop, circling it obviously wanting to get back in with her sisters....holey moley!!! Instant survival mode kicked in and I immediately thought "oh @(!*!$!!, where's Zoe?????" I jumped out of the trailer and Zoe was sleeping on the front edge of the porch (not just 30' from the girls) I said "Zoe! I have a treat for you!!" She jumps up and in the trailer...I slammed the door shut, gave her a treat, and took off back outside.
My 4 little ladies are Black Australorps and are very docile and friendly (thank God!). So I walked over very very slowly talking gently to my little escape artist...meanwhile my heart is pounding out of my chest...but tried to stay calm. At first she was thinking of bolting, but after only 2 tries I scooped her up, loved on her and petted her....then I plopped her right back into the little run...YAY!!!
The best I can figure is that she jumped up on top of that cardboard cover thingie and out she went...naughty little BA, naughty little BA!!! After retrieving her I plopped my own aged butt
Have a wonderful day out there in chicken land everyone...I'll be sitting outside today watching my little girls....like..a..hawk!!
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