Escapees

What a delicious view

These are our Buff Orpingtons out in the pasture pen.  They love the fresh grass every day and are growing really well.  They are almost thirteen weeks old now.  They'll continue to grow larger for a few more weeks.  We'll be culling the cockerels and will most likely keep the pullets for our layer flock.  We have quite a few older hens who will be culled this fall once they stop laying. They'll be replaced by these pullets.

Because these birds are much lighter than the Cornish Cross were, they are energetic and are eager to roost and jump out of the pen.  Every time I try to feed them by myself, at least one escapes.  Mitchell, my seven year old son, was supposed to be helping me feed them today but was distracted by one of the barn cats. In the mean time, these chickens kept trying to jump out of the pen while I was trying to hold the roof up and grab the feeder out of the pen.  I was able to keep all but one of them in the pen.

Then, the chase began.  I let her walk around the pen. She stayed pretty close to it because she wanted the feed I had just put inside but she couldn't figure out how to get in.   I was holding the roof open with one hand so she could jump in, all the while trying to make sure others didn't jump out and try to catch the escapee with my one free hand.  My son just watched.

I finally got him to hold the roof up while I chased the chicken through the pasture. She finally made her way back in and went straight to the feeder.

I will admit that this is not the first time this has happened to me.