Loose Chicks!

[candy37]

I'm not sure where to post this so I put it here...hope I'm right.
Anyway...
Imagine my surprise today when I was walking outside and looked at the back porch to see 25 chicks running around loose!

Since the open doorway is partially blocked off to keep the dog from jumping up there and harrassing the chicks I ran through the house. One of the windows on the porch only has top glass and no screen so I was afraid they would fly out the window or door if I went crashing out there. Carefully opening the door, I find my chicks walking around, pecking at the wood floor, flying up onto the washer and dryer, climbing shelves...basicly just getting into everything.
I look at their home, which is just a dog kennel with the top and bottom facing each other to make it a larger area and a window screen over the top to keep the from flying out. Somehow the screen got knocked to the side and they all flew out the opening.
Anyone ever try to catch 25 3 week old chicks that spaz out anytime someone gets near them?!

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry but I finally figured out to put a little bit of their feed on the floor to keep them in one place and snatched them up quickly, putting them back into their home. I counted them twice and I think I got them all...but last time I thought that my dog got a snack!
I weighted the screen on top of their home, hoping they won't escape again. My poor heart can't take much more after the last 2 days with these little critters!

 

[rdranch]

The escape and rounding up of the flock is an excellent reason to get them used to coming to you for treats and food. I use a small plastic coffee can for their scratch garins and learned not to shake it until I am in postion as they swarm me to get their scratch. The more time you spend with them the better. We raised our girls in the basement and i was down there several times a day every day. At that age they are still kind of spastic but that is overcome as they grow older and associate you with food, water and waste removal (who's taining who). Our girls look to me as the alpha of the group. Raising them has been one of the most rewarding animal experiences of my life. On weekends my favorite thing is in the morning with a cup of coffee and watching our 18 girls take over the corral and the horse and behaving. The horse does still chase everybody once in a while, he just likes to play. The horse did find out the hard way not to go charging into the feeding stall with a dozen or so chickens as they will all go flying out right past his head making alot of noise on the way. It was the first time I ever shot coffee out of my nose laughing so hard. Enjoy your girls and they will reward you in many ways.

 

[FamilyOfChickens]

Quote:

Ahh...You have no idea.

 

[Scrambled Egg]

I love the chicks gone wild story but the horse,flying chickens and coffee out the nose made me laugh out loud!! If more people had chickens, less people would need therapy that's for sure! I love the noises they make and baby chicks smell so earthy and clean. I do have one that's hyper-reactive though, she gets hysterical and flaps and screeches like a silly old woman when anything at all startles her, the rest are pretty calm. My babies identify with me so much that if I make a "shhh shhh" sound they will sit down next to the fencein their pen and nod off!! They are very spoiled to say the least! They are scaredy chickens of the older ones though and haven't been brave enough to mingle in the pen with them yet. They all sleep together in the same area but the little Rhode Island Reds huddle in one clump and the Dominiques sit on the roosts. The Doms all have distinct personalites, anyone else notice that their chickens have different traits from one another?

 

[devora]

Quote:
I'm exhausted just reading about it!