Houdini Hens

Last word on chickens for the day.

When it's sunny or warm out during the day, I let the chickens out into their run under the deck. It's fenced off with chicken wire and gives them space to run and peck around in the dirt. When I'm working, I can get up, walk down the hall, and check them out by looking through the window. I just got up to make sure they were ok, and I only saw one chicken in the run. I was hoping to see three. Not one. (Pearl was relegated to the tractor because she was being pecked at.) The other two were nowhere in sight. This had happened to me before, during the summer, when the wind had blown open the door to their tractor and stayed open most of the night. I walked into the shower one morning, opened the window to check on them in the backyard, and saw that the door was open, with no chickens in sight. I could only imagine where the chickens were and was certain they were gone forever. At that time, I didn't know that chickens rarely roam too far from their home. I rushed out of the shower, threw on some clothes, and raced down to the backyard. The chickens were all there, in the covered part of the tractor, staring aimlessly at the open door. I was both amused that they didn't even think to leave, and relieved that they hadn't flown the coop. Pun! Anyway, so I run outside today, again, and Murtha (Houdini #1) is just eating grass in the backyard. She escaped, but probably figured that in this case, the chance of eating grass in the backyard is the same as the chance of venturing out and becoming roadkill. I leave her there in search of Sid (Houdini #2). No where in the backyard. Not in their house. Crap! I realized that I had left the fence door that leads to the front yard from the backyard wide open and reluctantly walked to the front yard, in search of my feathered friend. Our front yard is about 20 feet across, and separates our house from a pretty busy road. I walk out and of course she's there, just staring at the road and eating grass. I'm sure people walking along the sidewalk saw a random chicken. I had to chase after her in the front yard, and ended up pinning her up against the wall - the only way I could grab her.

Anyway - Houdini #2 is in the house, about to lay an egg (she was doing her butt sit ups right before she disappeared, so I figured it was time), Pearl is in quarantine due to the peck, and Houdini #1 and Tayler are chilling in the run. I secured the run a bit better than last time. And I'm behind on my work.