Stuck upside down between the roost and the wall joists...

[Farmgirl1878]

What an incredibly stressful night it’s been!! Hubby and I went to our friends’ campsite to decorate and pass out treats tonight. When we came home an hour or more after dark, I went out to do a head count and lock the coop doors. My light Brahma, David (she’s a girl), was missing!! I finally found her stuck upside down between the joists. She got stuck somehow between the roost and the wall... I’ve no idea how long she was stuck there, but it had to be at least two hours. Thank goodness I went out to do a head count or she would have been there all night.

She’s now safely tucked up in the puppy cage after having a snack of chicken crack and spilling water all over the basement floor. No broken bones, scratches, scrapes, or anything I could see. These girls are gonna give me white hair!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Yikes! Glad you found her. We used to have one place where chickens would get stuck. We finally eliminated the area. Chickens sure like to keep stuff interesting.

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Little David slept a lot better than I did last night! I took her back out to the coop and put her up on the roost a few minutes ago. She was all nice and warm and snuggly and cooed a little bit. Settled right down on the roost, so I’m hoping she’s got nothing more and a few bruises and memories of a really awful out of body experience!

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad you found her in time. I have had pullets get stuck behind nest boxes, stuck between equipment, or found hanging from a waterer. It might be good to look around, perhaps reposition the roost farther from the wall, and just toddler-proof any possible problems. I perform safety checks every day, fastening open doors, pick up strings from feed bags so they cannot be swallowed, remove buckets that can turn over and trap or injure, and look for any other possible hazards. Just reading the emergency forums threads for a few days will show how many things that can happen to chickens. Hopefully, she will have no injuries.

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Me too Eggcessive! The extra roosts are going out into the yard today. I only had them in there for the Littles to sleep on, but now that the Bigs “allow” them up on the permanent roosts, no one really uses them except to shorten the hop up to the poop board. And since everyone is perfectly able to hop twenty-four inches up to the poop board, they can be moved.

She seems fine this morning. Moving a little slow, but normally. And she ate and drank with the rest of the flock, so I hope she’s just stiff. Whew!

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for the update.