Chicken Run! Part 1

So the big day arrives when our new birdies were finally let out of the coop after spending a week together bonding and getting used to their new home.  We couldn't wait to let them peek their little heads out of the coop door to bask in the new day light and leisurely meander through the dewy grass...but not before leaving us a nice fat egg or two for breakfast in the coop.  The anticipation and expectation was high.

Did they live up?  That would be a negative.

The scene was this, husband lifts the bird door to the coop at the crack of dawn (I was hoping to be there to observe and offer instructions, but husband had other ideas), birds came rushing out...no eggs waiting either.  I finally arrive on the scene, doggies following to see what all the fuss is about and hoping I was really there to offer them their breakfast.  With baby on hip and doggies nipping at my pant legs I round the corner to find.... birdies hoping our fence line (that would be the supposed well-behaved young Orpingtons).  The black hens seeing the already charging puppies quickly high-tail it down the path into the woods.  The red hens decide that they'd better stick close (egg time right?) but then see puppies and quickly exit the premises too.  Where the heck did they all go?!  I yell to the kids to get their puppies as every move of the hens tempted them into thinking they were put there as chasing toys for them (or maybe the dogs recognized the familiar smell as the raw meaty bones they get daily, ahhh!).  So, after a few harsh 'NOs' and swat to the nose, doggies finally get the hint, course with birdies outta there, making the challenge officially over.  We had birdies and dogs all over the place in the matter of seconds, but then it was still again.  Leaving us wondering what had just happened, where we went wrong and why the heck didn't the chicken book warn us about this impending doom!  I believed we probably wouldn't see our little flock again, a waste of all that expensive hand mixed grain and gas money to get them.  Oh well, would try later to actually look for them.  Maybe, just maybe one or two could be found.  Only time would tell...

The day went on and I was starting to loose hope, my sister-in-law and her strapping boyfriend came over to help with some farm chores.  Little did they know they would be recruited for a chicken run, heh heh.  As the day progressed we caught a glimpse of a cluster of birdies getting closer to the fence...ah COULD IT BE...not sure...ah YES...it's the young Orpingtons!  Seven, eight and nine...whew, they're all there, a MIRACLE!  Now for the mystery black birds who took off into the woods.  Occasionally there would be a sighting or what we thought was one, but nothing concrete.  Until eagle eye sis-in-law spots noise and movement in the thicket where they were thought to have been spotted earlier.  Could they really still be there? We all wondered.  SIL tried calling, luring with feed and rattling bushes, but to no avail.  She enlists strapping boyfriend who is near by playing with fire.  Bravely (or maybe insanely) he proceeds to walk through the dense brush while being impaled by thorns.  Ah what love will do!  Finally gives up on that idea and mutters something about leaving them to DIE...well, maybe it wasn't that harsh.

SIL and strapping boyfriend, recovering from flesh wounds inflicted during brave chicken run...see legs.



During the latter parts of the day, most of the hens were spotted moving closer to the barn all except for the illusive mystery hens stuck in the thicket.  Husband finally suits up and decides to take a stab at it.  Hops on the ATV with bird cage, cutting implements and net...surely this will work.  Both of us agreeing that we will NOT be doing this every evening.  MIA birds just might have to become chicken stock...IF we ever can get them out of the thicket.



Papaw and children follow to offer moral support...



Here birdies...



Got one...just not in the net.



Sole birdie heads back towards the barn...


And that was all she wrote...1 out of 4.  Defeated, husband goes home and decides the birds just may have to become coyote food that night.

Then, when all had given up something magical occurred, it's called sundown.  We know all you experienced chicken farmers out there know this...and now we do too.  The chickens migrated towards the coop...EVEN the supposedly stuck mystery hens...all four arrived.  Had we waited longer in the day we would have spared ourselves some very unnecessary worry and work.  Although they needed a little coaxing into the coop, we ended the day with what we started...16 very free-ranged hens and a rooster.

What will the next day hold?  Stay tuned for part 2.