When Chickens Escape: A Night on the Homestead
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Tonight I survived a full‑blown chicken jailbreak and I’m still trying to get my heart rate back under 200.
I went out to give the girls some scratch and let them free range with me for a minute. Everything was peaceful… until I turned around and saw Mabel casually strolling through the cattle panel into the pasture like she was heading out for a sunset walk. I hollered for my husband (who was in the shop, blissfully unaware) and ran to the pasture door. By the time he heard me and came out, I looked up and realized it wasn’t just Mabel.
FIVE. FIVE of my six chickens were now standing in 15 acres of open prairie like, “Wow, look at all this land we own now.” I panicked. They sprinted. I sprinted. It was a whole rodeo. I managed to startle them back through the panel one by one… until Hey‑Hey decided he was making a break for freedom. So there I was, chasing my rooster around the corral like a deranged ranch hand until I finally herded his feathery butt back into the run.
Everyone is safe. Everyone is locked up. And Mabel absolutely got the stink eye for starting the entire fiasco. Hardware cloth installation begins tomorrow, because the more we learn, the calmer our little homestead feels at dusk. It’s funny how a night of chaos makes the quiet routines feel even sweeter—the chicken coop clocking in on time, the scratch bucket ready, and that warm oven waiting for sourdough dough when the day ends.
We’re threading more care into our space—a little upgrade here, a notch of patience there—and the hens remind us that this slow, simple life is built one small morning and one safe fence at a time.
If you enjoy backyard chickens as much as we do, you might love our Chicken Collection.