September 26th, 2009 . Posted in Chickens | Comments Off
Tags: Chickens, coop, DIY, escape attempts, fence, naughty, weldmesh
I have had to put Victoria back into the pen a couple of times each day since I got back from Spain. Chasing Victoria around the garden isn’t that bad – sometimes it’s good fun chasing a chicken around the garden, but I think she finds it stressful and I don’t like having to do it when I have woken up late for work and she is being uncooperative. Luckily I have found a solution!
Hopefully this will stop her from escaping...
I have put a weldmesh fence on the side of the coop that she was jumping off – I don’t think she can clear the fence from the ground but she can easily jump from the coop roof into the garden. I have put the fence on the edge of the coop that she would jump off of – she can still get onto the roof (and crap all over it as usual) but she won’t be able to get out and destroy my garden. Now I just have to wait and see if it actually works…
September 21st, 2009 . Posted in Chickens | Comments Off
Tags: Chickens, escape attempts, feed, tame
When I got home from work today I found Victoria in the garden again. I walked up to the patio doors and she spotted me straight away before I opened them and I’m sure she knew that she was in trouble. She started pacing very quickly from side to side and trying to hide arond the back of the coop – she wouldn’t ever do this if she was inside the run. I think she knows that she is not allowed to be on my side of the fence as she behaves completely differently.
After a few minutes of chasing her around the garden I managed to get a hold of her and put her back in the run. I sat down down to feed the chickens some mixed corn and for the first time ever Victoria jumped up on my lap! This is pretty good considering how nervous she is. The others have always been pretty tame but Victoria has only been eating from my hand for a few weeks.
September 17th, 2009 . Posted in Chickens | 1 Comment »
Tags: Chickens, Electric Fence, escape attempts, naughty, poo
I got back from my holiday yesterday, and my girlfriend told me that the chickens have been very naughty the whole time!
When I spoke to her on the first day of my holiday, she told me that Victoria had already escaped once and had to be put back inside. That same night, before going to bed she decided to check on the chickens and Daisy was stuck outside the coop and the door was closed. She said that Daisy was pecking at the door, and she had to put her in through the roof. Daisy didn’t really appreciate being picked up and flapped about like mad which made life difficult.
The rest of the week was filled with escape attempts – Victoria managed to escape the run at least once a day and had to be put in. My girlfriend’s brother was also staying at the house and was sleeping on the living room floor. One day he woke up and opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Victoria tapping on the patio doors! They went outside to put her back in, and it turns out that she has figured out how to get back into the run – she sneaks round the back and jumps straight over the fence and onto the coop roof. I saw her doing this and noticed that she does touch the fence but it doesn’t hurt her because she is not in contact with the ground.
Today I came back home at lunch time and the chickens did the naughtiest thing yet. I bent down to give them some mixed corn and Daisy jumped straight up onto my shoulder. I didn’t really mind until she started trying to climb up onto my head, at which point I decided to try and get her off of me. Trying to get a chicken off of your head is not easy! There was a lot of flapping about and a bit of a struggle, and in the midst of it all Daisy did a big sloppy poo all over my jumper!
September 12th, 2009 . Posted in Chickens | Comments Off
Tags: Chickens
Yesterday I came to Spain for 5 days and left my girlfriend to look after the chickens. I showed her how to clean out the coop and collect the eggs, and fill up their food and water so she knows what to do.
She sent me a text message last night to tell me that Daisy had jumped the fence and was running around the garden after dark. She put Daisy back in the enclosure and realised that the door was closed already – Daisy was pecking at the door trying to get in. In the end she opened the coop roof and put Daisy in through the top.
Hopefully she can get through the next few days without anything too dramatic happening!
August 8th, 2009 . Posted in Chickens | Comments Off
Tags: Chickens, Electric Fence, fence
Today I am going to my girlfriend’s parents’ house and not coming back until tomorrow. Hopefully when I get back tomorrow the chickens will still be on their side of the fence! The thing that worries me most is that they will escape today, and not be able to get back in the chicken coop at night.
Here is a picture of the new setup, now that I have got everything in its final place.
The electric net is in the proper place now