Chicken Run

Yesterday, while doing school, we let the chickens free range unsupervised for quite sometime.

Yep, I think you know where this is going.

We went outside to discover our flock had gone onto our neighbors property.  Not too bad.  We have cool neighbors.  So off to their property we went.

Well, lately our method of herding the chickens into the coop has been to lure them with treats.  We say, "Here chicky chicky"  and shake the scratch grain bowl.  Usually, it will grab their attention.  Then you drop a big pile.  They come running. They peck until there's no more. Then you hansel and gretel them with a trail of goodies back to the coop.  We probably spend an average of 30 mins or less on this process daily.

Yesterday.  Well.

"Here chicky chicky"  shaking the bowl said I.

"Chirp chirp" said the crickets while the hens stared at me.

"Here chicky chicky" shaking the bowl harder and harder.

"Chirp chirp" said the crickets and the hens stare became more blank.

They didn't budge.  No they didn't.

I noticed the rooster wasn't with the flock. I scanned the area.

Behind our house is a seasonal creek which is a steep drop off with overgrown brush and downed trees.  It's kinda no mans land.  Okay, let me rephrase...no woman's land.  My husband likes to explore.

Anyhooo, there the rooster was.  In no woman's land.  A 5ft horse fence between us two. I called him, shook the bowl.  He tried several times to walk through the fence.  I knew it would be a long afternoon.

"Okay, let's gather the ladies."  I told Katie.

Chickens will run from you.  So as long as you are "chasing" them (just a slow walk will cause them to run) in the direction you want them to go, you're good.  Occasionally they will drift off in the wrong direction.  Katie and I will grab long sticks and come up alongside their right or left and direct them by blocking the wrong direction.

Well, when the rooster saw us from behind the fence herding the ladies, he cried out to them.  His cry was causing them to become bold and run toward me (and him) into no woman's land.  Realizing we could possibly loose the whole flock, we decided to step up the rescue effort. We blocked them off, cornered them into a fenced area, and tossed them over the fence into our property one by one. We guided the hens back into the coop and focused on the rooster rescue.

And of course, the rooster was no where to be found when we returned!  I would call "Here chicky chicky" and he would "Cock a doodle dooooo" back but was far off into the woods at this point.  We walked the fence tirelessly shaking the treat bowl.

Eventually, we gave it up.  We try to have the motto that "The strong will survive out here" but it's hard to embrace that motto.  So we gave in because we couldn't relax with Mr. Rooster out there somewhere. We got in the car to drive the property lines around the vacant acres and acres of no woman's land. We weren't out too long when we spotted Mr Rooster:

Well, Hello Mr. Rooster.

  No.  We didn't scold the rooster.  That's the old me without Jesus. :) Did I imaging choking him just a little?  Yes.

I said in my sweet voice," Oh, Mr. Rooster, where have you been?  We missed you so much."  (This is where my husband usually says, "Honey, are you talking to the animals?")

Katie ran back to the house to get the treat bowl.  And again we heard crickets.  So guess what?  I went into no woman's land...just a tad.  And we herded up the rooster and attempted to guide him back the loooooong way.  He was not happy to comply.

He was so mad at the hens when he got back in!  He grunted and flapped at them...They all cleared away.  We gave him some grains.  The ladies didn't dare touch them!  This might be the day he moves into chicken manhood.  Any other day, the ladies pick on him.  (Honey, you can be so proud now.  The dog finally lifts his leg to pee and the rooster is crowing and bossing the ladies around.  You've done a fine job.)

Back in the coop

That was so fun, can't wait to do it all over again. 

The Chicken Whisperers Lacey and Katie

"The chicken was running so fast that we couldn't find where it was.  And then we found him a little far from our property.  I shook the bowl, he didn't like to come back. So we pretty much ended up LOL trying to chase him all over and then he began to go toward the road. We had to capture him and then we led him back all the way to his nice home. Though he didn't like it.  The end." ~Katie (7 years old)