I need to tell you all about my wild chicken chase

[hamster]

We like to let our chickens out and roam the yard when we are home. Aside from wandering a little too far around the corner towards the front of the house, we've never had a problem.

We do, however, have one very nervous chicken. As far as I can tell she hates us, and will likely die of an anxiety attack. She's also a runt, so she can fly better than the rest of the chickens without her disproportionate weight holding her down. So on Saturday, something terrifying happens to her. No idea what. We didn't hear anything or see anything, but the neighbor was out and probably made some sort of noise that startled her. Well, instead of going back to the coop for safety, she flew. A long ways apparently. The other chickens squacked to alert us, but they made the same noise they make when one lays an egg. Not an effective warning system. We realize she's not laying an egg, but actually gone, about an hour or so later. So we get in the car and drive around. Nothing. I leave a note for some neighbors who also have chickens, in case she decided to join their flock. They called when they got home, and found a chicken next door. It turned out to be ours. They tried to catch her, but she was running around in the blackberry bushes, so they tried to use a stick to get her out. Nope, she flew away. Like a good 200 years. If there was an olympic event for chicken flying, she'd probably win. She lands on the roof of a neighbors house in the cul-de-sac behind us. I run over there, and try talking to her to calm her down. I rung the doorbell of the house she was on, but nobody was home. H texted our friend, who is also an animal control office, about what protocol is for the situation. So he comes over. So now there's 3 people, including an animal control officer, and two bystanding neighbors intrigued by this chicken we're trying to get off the roof. Finally, we're able to corner her with a stick on one side and a large fishing net on the other. She at least flies down to street level, where we're finally able to corner her there and grab her. She was cold and stressed, but otherwise fine. Needless to say, we'll be clipping her wing(s) soon.

No real point to the story, but it's fairly comical now that it's all over.

[rubytue]

You had me laughing! Crazy chicken.

I have to ask.. did she cross the road in her flights?

[hamster]

Haha, as far as we know, only one at the very end. She didn't fully cross it until we tried to corner her though.

[takeonyou]

Lol! So funny!

[rubytue]

Jan 21, 2013 13:56:53 GMT -5 hamster said:

Haha, as far as we know, only one at the very end. She didn't fully cross it until we tried to corner her though.

... to run away from a hamster! 

[Deleted]

Oh goodness, that is quite a story! Glad everyone is back home safely

[hamster]

Oh, I forgot one part. For whatever reason, all of our chickens love peanuts. One will even jump on your lap if you have them. So I took a handful of peanuts with me, in hopes I could use them to lure her. So here I am, standing in these people's driveway, throwing peanuts on their roof.

For the record, it didn't work.

[Deleted]

So funny! Time to clip a wing. Just in case its new to you, you only clip one, keeping them off balance is what will keep her from flying.

Sent from my DROID3 using proboards

[pugz]

lolol

[hamster]

Jan 21, 2013 18:23:55 GMT -5 @ruralrabbit1 said:

So funny! Time to clip a wing. Just in case its new to you, you only clip one, keeping them off balance is what will keep her from flying.

Sent from my DROID3 using proboards

I've seen varying opinions on whether you should do one or two wings, but I suspect we'll probably just go with one. I was hoping she would fatten up enough over the winter that we wouldn't need to, but clearly that's not the case. Unfortunately we'll have to do it at night and it's been so damn cold I have no intention of spending any more time than necessary outside.

[Deleted]

Oh crazy, I didn't know chickens could fly 200 yards.

[hamster]

They normally can't! I mean, it might not have been 200 yards but it was a long ass ways. We might need to change her name to Raven or something.

[isabel]

This story is awesome! Glad your chicken is home safe and sound.

P.S. Did you ever update about that job offer you thought you were going to get?

[bunch]

Time for soup

[Velvetshady]

Why didn't I open this earlier

[hamster]

Jan 21, 2013 21:41:55 GMT -5 isabel said:

This story is awesome! Glad your chicken is home safe and sound.

P.S. Did you ever update about that job offer you thought you were going to get?

I did! I received an offer last week, and am still in the negotiation process due to his travel schedule and the holiday yesterday. I expect to hear something today, and it can't come soon enough at this point.

[isabel]

Yay! Good luck and Congrats!

[aspentosh]

I didn't think this would ACTUALLY be about a chicken chase Too funny.