The Houdini Chicken Thread - Stories of your escapee chickens

[MegsEggsx]

Well, I don't know about you but my chickens always seem to be escaping. No matter how much fencing I put up they always find a way. Especially my bantams who are particularly adventurous and small enough to fit through everything, and often find themselves in sticky situations of which I have to rescue them! I am sure I am not the only chicken owner with lots of 'houdini' stories, and I want to hear them! I realised there are not many threads already about this so I decided to make my own, so please go ahead and share all your stories of your escapee chickens!

 

[CraftyHen]

I have 1 coop in my garden area that a few select gals get to enjoy each year. Last summer, I was working in garden and suddenly Wham!! the door at the end of the run slammed open and out flew 2 hens about 6 ft off the ground and screeching like a fox was on their tails. Scared me half to death. Then they landed and calmly began scratching as if it was all normal. The other hens gathered at the run door and stared at them like they were crazy.

 

[3KillerBs]

My current pen is not covered; it's composed of 100 feet of 48" electric poultry netting. Chipotle, the California White, can fly out any time she wants to. She can also fly back in when we catch her outside and try to walk up to her to put her back.

Popcorn, the SLW, used to squeeze under any spot she could find between the fence and the ground but hasn't dug her way out in several months.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I guess I can't really call it escaping when they don't go anywhere, but...

I normally leave my run door wide open when I'm working in the coop or run. There's a 12" tall wire shelf that I leave across the opening (low enough for me to step over) and most of the birds stay in because of it. But there's always a bird or two that likes to jump the fence, so either I need to remember to shut the door behind me (which usually doesn't happen) or I need to go retrieve chicken(s).

Currently I have 1 fence jumper. She hops out, I pick her up and toss her back in, she hops out again, etc. She's currently molting so doesn't want to be picked up, so I have to herd her back to the door, which is a bit more annoying.

 

[MegsEggsx]

I guess I can't really call it escaping when they don't go anywhere, but...

I normally leave my run door wide open when I'm working in the coop or run. There's a 12" tall wire shelf that I leave across the opening (low enough for me to step over) and most of the birds stay in because of it. But there's always a bird or two that likes to jump the fence, so either I need to remember to shut the door behind me (which usually doesn't happen) or I need to go retrieve chicken(s).

Currently I have 1 fence jumper. She hops out, I pick her up and toss her back in, she hops out again, etc. She's currently molting so doesn't want to be picked up, so I have to herd her back to the door, which is a bit more annoying.

Ah yes, I have the same problem. Whenever I leave the gate that leads from the chicken area to my backyard open for even 10 seconds I have all 7 of my adult chickens on my lawn!

 

[CraftyHen]

My current pen is not covered; it's composed of 100 feet of 48" electric poultry netting. Chipotle, the California White, can fly out any time she wants to. She can also fly back in when we catch her outside and try to walk up to her to put her back.

Popcorn, the SLW, used to squeeze under any spot she could find between the fence and the ground but hasn't dug her way out in several months.

The leader of my 2 escapees was also CA White. She was always looking for a way out.

 

[3KillerBs]

The leader of my 2 escapees was also CA White. She was always looking for a way out.

Some call them "flighty", I call her "active and curious".

 

[MegsEggsx]

For reference my 2 main escapees are called Meg and Hay-Hay who are bantams and my 2 best flyers are called Comical and AJ so they escape a lot too.
Here are some stories:
- Meg escaped into our neighbour's garden - My sisters and I spent ages frantically searching for her when we were closing up for the day and then I spotted her in our neighbours garden and we got her safely home.
- Comical outsmarted me - I put up extra fencing to stop Comical and AJ from flying over my gate into my backyard lawn, but she managed to still balance on the wobbly millimetre thin wire and get over. She is a seriously good flyer for a chicken.
- Meg and Hay-Hay managed to find a way to get out into my backyard lawn - They have their wings clipped so they couldn't fly over, but their tiny bodies managed to slip through a gap in the fence and reach the yard.
- Meg and Hay-Hay ventured out into the front yard - This I was not happy about and fixed up immediately, they slipped under the gate and got out onto my front yard. Which is so dangerous because of cars, other peoples dogs, my cats, other people's cats etc.
- Meg had a near escape from death from my cat - When I caught Meg and Hay-Hay out in my front yard, I knew I had to act fast so I made the hard decision to take Hay-Hay and come back for Meg because I could only carry 1 chicken. As I was quickly walking away I heard a lot of squawking and turn around to see my cat Wednesday and the very shaken up Meg squawking and running around like she had lost her head. I didn't even see Wednesday beforehand, I yelled out for my sister and she came running obviously knowing something was wrong after hearing the squawking. Wednesday got a punishment, and both Meg and Hay-Hay were fine but neither of them dares to go out the front again.

 

[Daniellebell1]

I know this thread is a bit older, but I'm finding myself in the same boat this summer. I have 4 lovely ladies, almost a year and a half old. My two New Hampshire Reds (Tilly and Ladybird) have both started hopping the fence and meandering down the street.

I've thought about clipping their wings, but we have a lot of cats in the neighborhood and I would rather they have a better chance of escape from the cats. The Partridge Rock and Buff Rock (Zippy and Ruth, respectively) are equally capable flyers but they don't seem to have the same wanderlust. Tilly especially is curious and investigative, and she just loves to go exploring. I think there's a good chance she'll explore her way into a neighbor dog's mouth, but perhaps that is the price of freedom?