What a way to spend a day!

Picture this; It’s a beautiful 90 degree-Friday afternoon, you have two summer workgroups in doing various projects in the community, and are trying to get ready for a community BBQ hosted by the group that is staying at your center.  You are hard at work making the pasta salad; chopping veggies like mad because you know you have a meeting about another matter coming up at 2 pm and want to be ready and well prepared. All of a sudden someone runs in the center and hollers, “Your chicken Escaped!”

You don’t panic; you think, “Oh well I guess I better go catch her and put her back in, and how the heck did she get out in the first place?” You and your son, both of which are rather tall and uncoordinated go out side and see the little Rhode Island Red hen just happily scratching away on the outside of the fence.

First you determine where she got out, it is the middle of the fence closest to the drive way, she just oozed out under a gap in the fence apparently. Ok, now you go open the door to the coop because you just know you can run her right into it, and all will be well.

WRONG!!

Chickens are quick! We run her around the fence, up under the coop, out the other side and right back around we go. This went on for what seemed like hours, but was only minutes and 2 or 3 laps around the coop. Looks like that won’t work so we decided to each take a side and try to corral her into the coup, that didn’t work any better, she just kept right on evading us. The rooster tried to get in on the act by going into the coop and headed for the door. I cut him off at the pass and shut the door. We tried blocking her attempts to get away with a table, a trash can and some tempting corn to no avail.

Finally I said to my son,  “lift the fence up where she got out and maybe she will go back in that way.” The whole time we were chasing her, she was trying to find a way back in through the bottom of the fence and it took me forever to come to the conclusion that hey, if she can get back under we can call it good and carry on with our day. He got the fence blocked up with a few rocks, and we chased her for a few more laps around the coop, fence, and parking lot. Finally she got to the gap in the fence and refused to go around the rocks to get back in and the chase was on once more.

Three more laps or so and we got her going in the right direction, she got back under the fence. the rocks were moved and piled around the part she had gotten out of, and she was secured once more.

I swear the rooster was laughing at us the whole time.  The chicken was fine, just a bit winded, and we managed to not have to have oxygen, the pasta salad got done before the meeting, and the rest of the day went smoothly.

I’m thinking that if we have another escape, we will have chicken for dinner.

It’s all in a days work!

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