My chickens broke a window and escaped....

[jerseygirl1]

I came home from work yesterday to find my leghorn running around the backyard, thinking I left her out all night - Then I notice......the window in the coop is missing.......
They (or one) must have jumped up to the window to roost on the ledge, and broke it. Three escaped, I found two, but one escapee is still outside wandering. It doesn't help that I leave in the morning when it's dark, and come home when it's dark, so hopefully she will take care of herself. My DH nailed some plywood on the frame, and will replace the window over the holiday. No lesson learned here by me, but hopefully my chickens learned a BIG one

 

[urban dreamer]

WOW, I hope they didn't get hurt from the fall or broken glass.

 

[jerseygirl1]

My thoughts, too, but the glass window is VERY old, like from the 1930's so it only broke in three pieces, very LARGE pieces

 

[Paganbird]

My windows are all covered with wire from the inside so that if one breaks (or is broken into by a predator) my chickens are still relatively safe.

 

[Plain Old Dee]

Are you sure it was your chickens that did it? Unless the glass was really thin, they generally don't weigh enough to break the glass without pretty much flying into it at full tilt. Was the broken glass on the inside or the outside of the coop? (I'm thinking it could have been a predator of some kind. I watched a 'coon carry a rock to my friends coop window and hit the window with the rock until it broke!)

 

[jerseygirl1]

That's my next step after the cold weather is gone, it's just too cold to do that now and replace the glass

I thought someone may have done it, but we are in such a secluded are, I doubt it
Also, the glass was on the OUTSIDE,so it was done from the inside and NOTHING can get in my coop that wasn't already there, and the chickens were all OK when I got home,just missing three out of 20
MYy leghorns are quite the flighty bird, so I think one of them did it

 

[newchicksnducks]

I'm glad most of your flock is accounted for. As Paganbird says, getting hardware cloth covering the windows would be a good idea. Personally, my wire is on the outside of the window...don't want a predator breaking windows, even if they can't get in through the hardware cloth.

 

[urban dreamer]

Quote:
I looked up your avatar, very cool. I have two tat's myself. You need more pictures of your chickens

BTW, I agree with the wire, great idea.

 

[Paganbird]

Quote:
I looked up your avatar, very cool. I have two tat's myself. You need more pictures of your chickens

BTW, I agree with the wire, great idea.

Thanks!
I have the wire on the inside... because the windows are pretty high off the ground. There are ledges inside for the birds to get up closer to the windows (this is in my bantam coop) so the wire keeps them from actually being able to come in contact with the glass. I think a predator would have to dangle off the roof, and get in a well-aimed throw to be able to reach the windows. They are too high from the ground.
And, yes, I know I need to post more pics of my chickens. I'm horribly impatient, though, and I hate how long it takes me to resize & upload my pics to this site. My peas are 5 months old now. I'm ashamed I only have their ugly poult-looking baby pics on my page. Maybe tomorrow!