Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Betty the escaping chicken


Betty is our cheeky chicken. She has managed to defy every single attempt at keeping her in a contained area of the garden. We have put a low black fence around the trampoline and chicken coop giving a very generous area for the two chickens to roam free. Wilma seems happy with this arrangement but Betty wants to explore further a field than her mild mannered feathered friend.

We have tied black cable ties to the top of the fence to put her off balancing on the fence as she prepares to hop down to the grass on the other side. Fail. 

We increased the height of the fence by adding some flimsy gutter guard, again hoping to make an unsteady landing place. Fail. 

We have clipped her flight feathers. Fail. 

We have meticulously lifted her and put her back on her side each time she gets out hoping to "teach her" like you would a young child. Fail. 

We had accepted that she is an explorer and eventually gets back over and returns to her nesting box at night and we were ok with that... Until the day she escaped the back yard completely. With dogs in neighbouring yards we thought she had met a messy end but luckily found her busy exploring in some long grass nearby. 

At 7am the following morning a neighbour found her inquisitively watching a big barking guard dog from the safety of the street side of his fence. She was rounded up and returned to us where she promptly hopped from grass to decking to spa-lid to top of fence post and out again! 

We have managed to add some trellis to the fence top to make life tricky for her but something tells me this is the view of Betty we are likely to be seeing over the coming weeks!

2 comments - click here to leave your comment:

  1. Cheeky Betty, be good for your mum!

     
  2. Oh that pesty little girl- hope she minds you better- it would be a sad day not to find her!