We have a compost bin surrounded by rabbit wire. It had been working great at keeping the chickens out until the snows came, and then the WLH hens figured out how to fly-jump over the fence and showed everyone else.
I was out on my deck about 30 minutes ago and noticed one of my WLH hens had something tangled around her leg - just above her foot - and was dragging it when she walked. I called my adult son out onto the deck and called the chickens out where we could try to figure out what this hen had gotten into. It didn't take long to figure out that she had tea bags from the compost bin wrapped around her leg (we tie our tea bags together when we make tea). My son put his coat and shoes on and went outside to try to catch her (ever tried to catch a WLH?!?). Luckily, she ran into one of the coops, so he closed the pop door and reached in the other door and grabbed her. I then took my kitchen scissors and cut the tea bags off her leg. If we hadn't spotted it, I feel sure the hen would have lost her foot; that's how tightly the string was wrapped around her leg! So, just a heads up; if your chickens visit your compost bin, make sure any tea bags you use are cut apart and/or have the strings removed before you toss them out to compost.
I was out on my deck about 30 minutes ago and noticed one of my WLH hens had something tangled around her leg - just above her foot - and was dragging it when she walked. I called my adult son out onto the deck and called the chickens out where we could try to figure out what this hen had gotten into. It didn't take long to figure out that she had tea bags from the compost bin wrapped around her leg (we tie our tea bags together when we make tea). My son put his coat and shoes on and went outside to try to catch her (ever tried to catch a WLH?!?). Luckily, she ran into one of the coops, so he closed the pop door and reached in the other door and grabbed her. I then took my kitchen scissors and cut the tea bags off her leg. If we hadn't spotted it, I feel sure the hen would have lost her foot; that's how tightly the string was wrapped around her leg! So, just a heads up; if your chickens visit your compost bin, make sure any tea bags you use are cut apart and/or have the strings removed before you toss them out to compost.
