During our time living on a remote island, we acquired 3 Austrolorps, a beautiful, black, heritage breed of chicken. This breed, when happy and healthy, will have unbelievably beautiful black feathers with shimmery, emerald green visible in the sunlight. Unfortunately, before we made our move back to our hometown, we lost one of our ladies to a Hawk! So, we only had 2 ladies to load into lobster crates ( a fishing family's multi-purpose tool ), transport on the mailboat, load into our van, and travel down the coast with. Have you ever been on a boat ride with a chicken? Have you ever taken a 4 hour road trip with a chicken in your vehicle? You should, it would add a sense of adventure to your life, guaranteed!
Once we were a bit more settled in our new house, and we had a proper chicken habitat, our ladies were thrilled. New grass, new bugs, fresh salt air, a new coop, and a safety fence!!! Woohoo! So, when a friend phoned to see if we could house some more ladies, we were excited to add to our tiny flock. This time we opted for a small dog kennel to transport our 6 new beauties.
Enter 6 young, huge Rhode Island Reds! There was a brief window of slow, one at a time, introduction of the new ladies to our Austrolorps. A couple of days of caddy pecking to establish their hierarchy and now we have a happy flock of 8. These new girls have added more entertainment, eggs, poop, and mischief to our daily routine.......
Our ladies are free to roam, inside of the perimeter of our fence. We love them and want them to be happy, but safe. So, on the several occasions, since the Reds have joined us, that I have gone outside to find one wondering on the wrong side of the fence.....I go into chicken whisperer mode and scoop the rascally chicken up as quickly as I can. I have lost count of how many people have seen me, in my pajamas with messy hair and the whole bit, chasing chickens!
First chicken to fly the fence earned her name " Amelia Earhart". Well, she must have told her sisters how fun her adventure was, because it wasn't long before others were on the wrong side of the fence.....So, what to do? Say a prayer of thanks for the Internet! Google it! I found a YouTube video on how to clip their wings. This is a pain free approach to help keep them safe, inside the fence.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YfYcR8N8eAs
So, with the help of my gang of homeschoolers, I have clipped wings on more than one chicken. Until yesterday I had only opted to clip one wing on any offending chicken, and all had been well, but we found a repeat offender on the wrong side of the fence. So, I scooped her up, brought her in and clipped just a few feathers on the other wing.....Fingers crossed.
Next order of business: to Rooster or not to Rooster? That is the question?
Blessings to you.
Thanks for reading,
Island Momma