My future father in law met our chickens today... Tragic tale inside.

[Indianfeathers]

I feel for you.................I have been there and done that! I have even hurt myself from falling down pretty hard. I came up with a nice compromise with my chickens and they are rather good chickens to put away now. It will take a few days to week for them to get the routine of it, but once they do it is so easy and relaxing......not to mention non-stressful! what I do is I call up the girls (usually when i call up the girls I have treats or food of some sort/this way they come running when i call) anyway I have cracked corn as a put away treat, because this stuff is like candy to them. I sprinkle just a few at my feet until all are there and then I start walking to the run with dropping a few sprinkles as I go. When I get to the run I open the door and I start to pour the corn in the run, when the last girl goes in I close the door behind her. In. Done. No more chasing!

 

[rmtp]

I have always walked with a large stick saying shoooo shoooo, shooooo shooooo. They hear those words and start going in..I think years ago I also bribed with bread or scratch too....I was truly laughing out loud reading your story.

 

[Shikens!]

Quote:
I did this with corn and bread before I discovered the girls would just walk right in if I herded them and it worked 2 days in a row. The third day all 6 chickies stood just outside the fence looking at me smugly then took off when I tried to entice them. Now they wont even pay attention to treats I throw in the coop when they are outside it. They are smart enough to know the treats will be waiting when they go inside later. LOL.

We really never have a problem putting them away. Except for today of course.

 

[Shikens!]

Quote:
This is what I normally do to. Or i just wave my arms.

Glad my horror brought you some joy. LOL!!!

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

I let my chickens out to free range in the afternoon. They are exploring their surroundings more & coming closer to the house. When it is time for them to head to the coop for the night, I bring either 2 slices of bread or corn tortillas with me. I yell Chick Chick Chick & wave the bread in the air. They come a running, then I walk towards the coop, tossing bits of bread ahead of me, and they are trotting being me trying to beat each other to get the pieces. The ones who did not come over, see what the ones who are now in the coop have, and they come running around the corner. I stand back from the gate & keep tossing pieces into the run area, till all are in, and shut the gate till it is bed time & can close them up for the night.

 

[reereechickens]

That is sooo true about comparing chickens with kids!

 

[lovinlife]

How funny! I'm sure you were a sight!

Once I let my chickens out of the run, I don't try to herd them back in. That would be futile since I have 29 chickens in the big run and they free range on 10 acres. They go in on their own at dusk and I don't have to chase them anywhere.

 

[Shikens!]

Quote:
I would love to do this but I can't. I supervise my chickens from a close distance at all times when they are out of the coop. We don't have a hawk problem we have a hawk infestation. I pick up hawk feathers all the time, they perch on my CHAIR, they sit in the tree above my coop just waiting. Not to mention all the other hawks that don't hang around but still patrol my yard daily.

I can't stand outside all day long so they have to go back in the coop.

 

[cat1994]

Lol sounds like the fear I had when I had to go and halter up my horses in front of all theses old framers who had grown up with horses all their lives. They had gotten out of my pasture and walked through my neighbor’s cattle fence over two miles away. I got home from school to find a row of farmers lined up in my yard talking to my dad about my horses walking through all their fences and messing with their cattle. I hurried up and said I would saddle up my oldest boy and rid him while leading my younger one all the way home then come back and help the men fix their fences. So we all loaded up and went to the field my boys were in and found them gazing among the cattle like they had been there their whole lives. All the men got out of their trucks and lined up to watch me walk up to my boys and halter them up and saddle my old man. I could feel their eyes on my back and prayed that my boys wouldn’t make me look bad in front of all these experienced men. I just kept hoping in my mind that my boys would just be good as always and make me look good in front of all these men and… they did, they were happy to see me and didn’t act up at all. All the old men just shake their heads and mumble about how good of horses I have, made me feel great and look good to, but my boys could of just as easily act up and embarrass me.