Thursday, November 12, 2009

GET R DONE - Mutiny in the Chicken Palace

Welcome to this weeks' segment of GET R DONE FRIDAY!

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Turn your speakers on, and enjoy the music I selected for this post today!!! It's a catchy little tune, and I hope you like it!

The past few days I've been trying to get to the bottom of my hens' escaping their protective compound. I thought we had things solved when we clipped wing feathers a couple days ago. But, the next day brought more of the same escapades from my flighty friends - with Cleopatra leading the MUTINY! Every time I would place the girls back in the pen, Cleopatra would be on the loose once more. I trimmed her wings shorter twice more, to no avail. There was no more left to trim, poor bird - but she was not giving up her chickenly schemes! (Cleopatra is the reddish brown hen to the right in the photo above. Priscilla is the hen to the left.) Finally, I thought I had figured it out - they must be 'hopping' up on the nest boxes, then springing up to freedom over the top of the chain link fencing around their coop. I found a big tarp and fastened it to the fence directly over the chicken palace. I figured that would GET R DONE!

Upon returning home from the store, there was Cleopatra, running free once again, undaunted by that silver colored tarp! I was really frosted! Chicken keeping is not for the meek of heart! I followed her round and round the outside of the pen, looking for a chance to grab her and stuff her back in with the other girls! As I walked, I watched her movements. A skid was in her way, and rather than fly up over the top of it, she chose to squeeze through the narrow slats sideways....HMMMMM!

I nabbed her 'hind leg' as she tried to squeeze through, but it gave me a clue. I put her back in the pen and looked around. BY GOLLY - she and the other hens had been TUNNELING their way out of there! I noted where they had been taking dust baths, and some areas were next to the fence, and if they flattened down low enough, they could crawl to freedom! I spent the next hour filling in holes that I thought they could never get through, and put patio blocks over some of the holes they made while scratching for bugs and taking dust baths - (I borrowed the picture below of the dust bathing hens...they are so sweet, aren't they?)And, I left for the afternoon. When I returned, all the hens were still in their little yard, so I rewarded them with some veggies and bread from their Grandma (my mom!). I think I was finally able to GET R DONE!

Link on to Mr. Linky below, and visit others who may be joining us with their GET R DONE's today! And, have a great weekend!

10 comments:

abnsigoslady said...

I have been thinking about getting a few chickens....better think some more...ha. Laura @ the mansion

Anonymous said...

Those little chickens look so cute. I'm glad those are the ones we eat. Anyway -- thank you for hosting this party. I heard about it today in blogland, and was anxious to participate. I, too, have a party on Wednesdays, called "bobbypins bragfest". ...and if you don't feel comfortable bragging, I'm happy to do it for you. It's a fun party, and perhaps you'll find yourself able to participate next week. In the meantime, I'm going to take a look around here and visit some of the other posts. Thanks again!

Barbara Jean said...

Thanks for hosting Monica.
Too tired to read right now, so will get back tomorrow night.
Barbara jean

Old Time Cindy said...

I always heard that chickens were smart! :)
Living it up at Lakewood,
Cindy

Chatty Crone said...

What a wonderful story you tell - those darn redheads are trouble you know.

Glad you got your problem fixed.

Chicken Fry - cute.

LADY JANE said...

Mutiny...perhaps Jalina Rose has a bit of her own Mutiny going on! But we are trying to coax her from the little nest! Stop by and visit and get an update! Hugs! Me

Neabear said...

I'll come back later after we get to our hotel. We gotta leave and get out the door.

Diann @ The Thrifty Groove said...

Hi!

Your hens are so beautiful. I love the different colors.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

ocmist said...

Great post... Those smart, sneaky hens!!! Linda

SEE! Now if you'd have let your corgis round them up before, they wouldn't have WANTED to escape again! AND, you wouldn't have had to trim their feathers either, because the corgis would have helped THERE too, I'll bet! OC

Angela said...

I was getting ready to say they are escaping because they are hungry! lol But the dust holes did come to mind too! Sneaky little girls aren't they! lol

My neighbor who has chickens has hers in a pen and she lets them out to run free and then she puts them back into their pen. At least that is what I think she is doing. She has so many chickens in her pen that there is no grass left in there. It is all dirt and they love to sit in those dust holes.

Gotta love that song!

Get R Done Friday!
Angela