They all knew and trusted me – so I could easily scoop them up and do whatever was needed.
*****
I don't even try to catch my chickens outside. I'm too old for that shit.
I keep my pullets inside their coop until they start laying in there and that becomes their safe spot. Once I do let them free range, I let them out just after daybreak and then at dusk whenever I go back out to lock them back up for the night to keep them safe from predators, they're already in their coop roosting.
If I do need to catch one during the day, I just get behind them and kinda herd them back to the general direction of their coop and they'll run inside to their safe spot, making it much easier just to pick up the one I want.
In addition to other junk, there is always an old fishing net hanging on a peg next to my coop. One near the front door of the house as well...
ReplyDeleteMine tend to come running back to the coop when I shake a bag of treats for them.
ReplyDeleteMine do the same thing if I put some grain in a coffee can and rattle it.
DeleteWhen catching one for the hatchet a hook on the end of a piece of heavy wire did the trick.
ReplyDeleteDaryl
My dad grew up on a farm. He used to talk about how as a child he'd be killing himself laughing watching his grandmother running around after a chicken with an axe in her hand trying to catch it so she could cut its head off.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's my mom, who still says sometimes that we'd all be vegetarians if we had to kill our food. I've long ago stopped arguing with her about it.
As a kid, I used the wire with a v shaped hook on the end. It extended your reach some and the v shape did a good job of holding on once you snagged a leg.
ReplyDeleteMuch easier to let KFC catch them first and put them in a bucket that you pick up later.
ReplyDelete@Luis-ChokingTheChicken
I always waited until dusk. If they don't return to the coop lots of times they will nest in a tree about four or five feet off the ground. Walk over, pick em up and put em in the coop.
ReplyDeleteWhen my chickens are out running around and I can't coax them back into the penned area or scare them back, I get mad and say screw them. I shut up the pen and go on my merry way. They just have to fend for themselves when a stray dog or one of the many hawks come around. They usually come back to the coop after a couple of hours, and I let them in when I get back home. My neighbors are pretty tolerant - free eggs and all.....
ReplyDeletesam
You need a poultry hook.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.premier1supplies.com/p/poultry-hook
When I was younger and we had a chicken yard with 25-100 birds. We had a 3 foot heavy duty wire that was straight except for a curved hook at the end. The hook was a little wider than a chicken leg. If we could get within 3 feet or so we would hook them by the leg.
ReplyDelete