I've had 24 chicks in my house for the last 8 weeks and just couldn't stand them in here anymore, so yesterday I finally got a little cage ready for them outside and moved the 14 packing peanuts into it. I have to think about what to do with the 10 bantam cochins until they're ready to integrate with the older girls, so they're still in my computer room.
Anyway... this morning when I went out to check on the babies outside, their cage was ripped open, and they were all standing next to it. I got a couple of kids to come help me, and we put them back into the cage. We counted 13 - one was missing, darn it. I put a cinder block over the hole in the cage, and took the kids to school.
I didn't think about the dog's tether being long enough to reach the cage, as he doesn't bother the chickens. He sleeps inside, and so I didn't think it could have been him that let the chicks out.
I went outside a few minutes ago, to find the cinder block moved away from the hole in the cage, and the dumb pit bull laying in the middle of 13 8wk old barred rock cockerels, with the biggest grin on his face. I got the chicks back in the cage, moved the cinder block back over the hole, and moved the dog's tether. I called my husband, who said he had thought it must have been the dog that let the chicks out this morning, as he'd gone outside to potty when DH was getting ready for work, and didn't come back in the house for a few minutes.
This dog has been letting the cochins out of their brooder every chance he gets for the last couple of weeks. I've got them in a rubbermaid tub, with a piece of window screen duck taped down on one side, with clothespins holding it in place on the other so I can have access to them. When we don't pay attention to the dog in the house, he sticks his fat nose into the brooder, knocking clothespins loose, and letting the chicks out. Then he just lays there in the middle of them, letting them climb on him, with his big pit bull grin on his face.
OH and a happy ending to the day's story... when I went out to hang laundry on the clothesline, I heard a baby peeping out in the weeds, and found the lost one out scratching around happily. The older chickens and the cats weren't bothering him. I caught him, and stuck him back in the cage. 14 packing peanuts again!
Now what to do to secure the dumb temporary cage...
Here's a pic of him last week, after letting babies out (with our temporary house chicken just for fun):
Anyway... this morning when I went out to check on the babies outside, their cage was ripped open, and they were all standing next to it. I got a couple of kids to come help me, and we put them back into the cage. We counted 13 - one was missing, darn it. I put a cinder block over the hole in the cage, and took the kids to school.
I didn't think about the dog's tether being long enough to reach the cage, as he doesn't bother the chickens. He sleeps inside, and so I didn't think it could have been him that let the chicks out.
I went outside a few minutes ago, to find the cinder block moved away from the hole in the cage, and the dumb pit bull laying in the middle of 13 8wk old barred rock cockerels, with the biggest grin on his face. I got the chicks back in the cage, moved the cinder block back over the hole, and moved the dog's tether. I called my husband, who said he had thought it must have been the dog that let the chicks out this morning, as he'd gone outside to potty when DH was getting ready for work, and didn't come back in the house for a few minutes.
This dog has been letting the cochins out of their brooder every chance he gets for the last couple of weeks. I've got them in a rubbermaid tub, with a piece of window screen duck taped down on one side, with clothespins holding it in place on the other so I can have access to them. When we don't pay attention to the dog in the house, he sticks his fat nose into the brooder, knocking clothespins loose, and letting the chicks out. Then he just lays there in the middle of them, letting them climb on him, with his big pit bull grin on his face.
OH and a happy ending to the day's story... when I went out to hang laundry on the clothesline, I heard a baby peeping out in the weeds, and found the lost one out scratching around happily. The older chickens and the cats weren't bothering him. I caught him, and stuck him back in the cage. 14 packing peanuts again!
Now what to do to secure the dumb temporary cage...
Here's a pic of him last week, after letting babies out (with our temporary house chicken just for fun):
