We have 15 6wk old tetra tints in the coop and they free range whenever we're home with minimal effort getting them in at night. However on Fri. night a neighbor gave us 25 more grown chickens (rather wild/fighty and reluctant to be handled). We left them locked in the trailer over night, but my ditzy mother let them out in the morning (feeling bad bc they were crowded and didn't have water). Over the weekend I caught 7 (mostly out of the trees at night) and another 8 or so are hanging out in the yard. The remainder are scattered to the 4 winds. I know what I should have done. But since the cat is out of the bag, how do I put them back in??? The speckled and white hens roost way too high in our pines to grab. When I let the captive hens out to range might they coax some of the others in, or will they be led astray? They were free, so I'm not really out anything, but why let the critters eat them if I can keep em safe and gather the eggs to boot?
Bait em into the coop with feed is the best I can think of....only problem is they don't see your coop as "home" yet, so hopefully if you can get the ones you rounded up to stay in bounds, the rest will join in eventually.
Update The husband and I were out last night and caught 9, yes 9 more of the runaways off the roost. So of 25 we have 15 (and one got hit on the road). This morning 3 were strutting around the yard, so we'll go chicken hunting again tonight We've also put up a run and clipped their wings--I just hope I did it right and they are still there when we come home.
Great! Glad you caught so many! Next time put food and water in the coop and lock them in for a good week. Then they'll know that's home.
