Escape Artists

Here's another one that I didn't read about in the chicken books. Some of my feathered kids have turned into escape artists. If I don't open the coop soon enough in the morning, some of my little dears will stage a jailbreak. Don't let them fool you; "dumb cluck" is a contradiction of terms.

Take Honey, for example. I named her Honey because at first she wasn't the brightest crayon in the box and you just wanted to say "oh honey,, bless your heart..." Don't let that sweet face fool you though; if there's a way out of the coop or the run, she'll find it and stage a break worthy of a Stallone movie. The other morning, I went out to parole the chickens and Honey and Fuzzy were roming around the back yard. The minute they saw me, they hightailed it back to the run, squeezed under the gate and stood there blinking innocently at me. It turns out they had popped the screen out of the window and literally flew the coop. So I had two escape routes to fix - the window and the gate. Just what I needed before coffee.

The good thing is that if I can keep Honey in the coop, the others will stay in too. Not only is she a bad influence, but she's the smallest of the chickens. It's just a good thing she's cute and a good layer, and I'm a real softie. She'll break out of the run and when I put her back in, she'll peck around the yard, clucking happily and I forgive her for being naughty.

At least they don't go far when they escape. Dogs will roam for miles and cats can go anywhere but chickens will stay close to their coop. The farthest they'll go is the side of the garage near the front of the house. My only concern is that hawks, eagles and neighbor dogs will go after them so that's why they don't get to free range all day, every day.

I should write a book...