Need tips to catch two chick escapees

[Fairview01]

I would open the gate just enough to let them get in but not so much that others can get out but late enough in the evening so the flock won't want to wander to far from roost. Works best if the gate opens in of course.

Or

Wherever they are spending the night at probably isn't to far away. Watch where they go and once on the roost and asleep, unceremoniously snatch them and bring them backbone to the flock.

 

[alessadry]

Arggh, I was able to lure a chick through the small gap. It took some effort as he squeezed through but voila' he was inside! Next, what does the chick do? Panics because the other chicks are left behind and goes back out through the gap with zero effort! Not only, now there are 3 chicks outside! It looks like mama is at that point of not wanting much to do with them. Only one chick is faithfully by her side and she's happy enough to be with that chick. Hubby is late from work, so guess I will have to spy on them as it starts getting dark to see where they go to sleep and then wait for it to get darker and then snatch them as Fairviewo1 suggests above. After that, I will have to cover the gaps, I don't want this to happen ever again.

 

[lcwmt]

Arggh, I was able to lure a chick through the small gap. It took some effort as he squeezed through but voila' he was inside! Next, what does the chick do? Panics because the other chicks are left behind and goes back out through the gap with zero effort! Not only, now there are 3 chicks outside! It looks like mama is at that point of not wanting much to do with them. Only one chick is faithfully by her side and she's happy enough to be with that chick. Hubby is late from work, so guess I will have to spy on them as it starts getting dark to see where they go to sleep and then wait for it to get darker and then snatch them as Fairviewo1 suggests above. After that, I will have to cover the gaps, I don't want this to happen ever again.

Yikes! I think I would put the mama and other chick out of the pen, but close to the gate, until the wanderers home in. Then entice mama back into pen with treats, the chicks should follow.
(and now you are certain where they get out you can block it up.)
Back in the Summer a couple of my pullets regularly found themselves on the wrong side of the run. Like cats of course. It can be difficult to herd them back in, even when they really really want to be where they belong. Mama is more a creature of habit than the chicks, you may be able to use that to your advantage? How exactly do we "think like a chicken"??? Good luck!

 

[azygous]

I don't understand why you haven't just made a big "party" just inside the yard with the gate wide open, tossing scratch grain, letting all the chickens exhibit noisy excitement and greed over all the wonderful seeds and grain, a real noisy mob scene (picture pigeons in a park getting fed cookies and bread crumbs), sure to attract the attention of the three prodigal chicks who will come running toward the circus inside the gate to join the wild party. Once the three have joined the party, slam the gate. Mission accomplished.

 

[AUChickenGal]

I don't understand why you haven't just made a big "party" just inside the yard with the gate wide open, tossing scratch grain, letting all the chickens exhibit noisy excitement and greed over all the wonderful seeds and grain, a real noisy mob scene (picture pigeons in a park getting fed cookies and bread crumbs), sure to attract the attention of the three prodigal chicks who will come running toward the circus inside the gate to join the wild party. Once the three have joined the party, slam the gate. Mission accomplished.

This. Open gate. Throw treats. Step back. Once all chickens are on the correct side of the gate, shut it. Also, fix the fence ASAP; once they find an escape route, they will keep going through it.

 

[ShiftyShickens]

chickens are both lovable and devious.

 

[alessadry]

I wished it was that easy. The gate the chicks escaped from is small, if all the chickens managed to get out I expect them to go in panic mode and go back and forth around the 1 acre fenced area trying to get back in. I know because inside the fenced area is another fenced area and some chickens get in "panic mode" some times and can't figure out how to get back in the entrance which is three times the size of this one.

The larger gate they never go near it because we get lots of deliveries and cars going and they are very suspicious of it. I tried today giving lots of treats to the chickens who were following me and none of them wanted to get too close to the gate area. Even though a couple did, the chicks were not going past the corner necessary to get to the big gate. They kept going back and forth. I see this a lot, chickens don't seem to grasp the concept of corners, they rather go back and forth in frustration than go past a corner.

We were able to get two. They were inside a thorny bush and even though it was almst pitch black they were scared and screaming and not at all easy to get. One we got right away, the other my husband had to chase and fell to the ground to catch it. And the third took off, screaming in the deep bush and was no where to find.

We were getting too far from home and were getting too close to our boundary lines and had to call it quits when hubby saw two big eyes of some predator. As we were leaving, we heard the chick again but it sounded like it was being chased and possibly killed. I feel terrible but at least we have two that I am keeping in a crate nice and warm at home tonight. If I try to put them in the coop at this time, I am afraid I would wreck havoc to the sleeping hens and rooster in the coop and they might not be able to get under mom for warmth.

Yup, as mentioned small gap in fence was fixed the moment we caught the chicks.

 

[lilmillefleur]

Good work catching them! It's always hard. Sorry about your last chick.

 

[alessadry]

Thanks. It helps thinking that at least two are safe.

It seems to me chickens are easy to catch at night when you are only dealing with one. You catch that one by surprise, it might scream a bit but then you're done with it. Problems start when you have more than one and they go in panic mode.

 

[azygous]

Glad you got the two, anyway. How many chickens do you have? Total?

Chickens can be trained very easily from even the smallest chicks. Using food and a clicker or other cue, they will learn to respond and come to you. There should be no need for what you've been putting yourself through trying to round up these wayward chicks.

Also, while chickens do exhibit confusion when they escape the confines of what's familiar, they will eventually learn where the entrances are if given the time and opportunity to figure it out. Yes, even the smallest chicks will learn. They are not brainless as a lot of folks assume.

I understand you have a hectic interface with outside vendors, but chickens are able even to accommodate themselves to that if given the chance to learn. As long as the hectic activity is reasonably regularly scheduled, chickens will learn it as well as you have.

But above all, I encourage you to train your chickens to come to you when you give the signal. In less than a week, you will be confident that you can get them back into your yard at a moment's notice.