Runaway teen chicks!

[bakerjw]

The girls survived their first tractor move over the weekend. There was some drama and clucking involved involved but in the end all ended well. So to reward them for their bravery during the exercise I came out with some potato peels from some baked potatoes from dinner the night before. As usual they started to crowd the door of the run when they saw me sit down like I do when it is treat time. Some of the more adventurous ones will venture out close to me to get the peels before running back in while making the "I've got something please don't take it" sound. For one of the girls running back in didn't seem to be part of her ingenious plan. After jumping to grab the peel she hopped over my outstretched leg and took off into the yard. That, in and of itself, wasn't too bad. What added to the confusion was when 3 others saw her dart out with a treat and proceeded to follow her lead and make a dash for it. I caught #4 before she could get away but immediately had 3 very fast moving birds running around out in the yard. I walked after them and they rounded the tractor and hopped back inside but for a few minutes they had the taste of freedom. The only bad part of it was that my wife was inside and missed the entire spectacle.

 

[colowyo0809]

Lol, we let the chicks loose in their pen yesterday since I was finishing up their coop and they all crawled right through the electric poultry netting, even with it on! So, the coop is big enough they can just stay in the coop for another couple of weeks until they are big enough not to do that! Or until I figure out if they can actually feel the electricity, which means the voltage wan't high enough! But, watching four grown men running around chasing 11 chicks and trying to catch them was hilarous!!

Someone would get close to a chick and she would dart back through the fence, run down a little ways, and go out again!

Ahhh, good times!

 

[chics in the sun]

Cute! I get mine back into the coop with treats, but my BR is so much smarter than the PR that it causes problems. It takes the PR so long to figure out what is going on and how to get back into the coop that by then the BR has gobbled up her treats and run back out of the coop and is jumping up to get the treats out of my hand! BTW, I've read that potato peels are bad for chickens - can't remeber why, but you may want to check.

 

[The Sheriff]

Cooked potato peels are ok, not raw.

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
RAW potato peels are supposedly bad, but COOKED potato peels or skins are perfectly fine.

You may now go back to your regular programming: chasing chicks!!!


I have a bantam lavender cochin pullet about 16 wks old, she looks like a fluffy ball, and when she runs she reminds me of those wind-up toys with the feet that step forward.... those feathered little bedroom slipper feet! Boy, she can SCOOT, though. She got out and wanted back in, but kept finding the wrong place(s) to get back into the run. I had to herd her towards the run gate. She didn't go there in a straight line, but zig-zagged here and there. I was laughing so hard when she got safely into the run I almost couldn't see through the tears.