Thank you ALL so much for your help! Last night we let the hens out about an hour before dusk. We decided not to put a light in the coop. They all went around eating all the juicy bugs and then right at dusk, marched right into the coop and up onto the roost. It was all rather anticlimatic after the great chicken roundups. They are happy and we are happy! Thanks again and God bless.

-- Lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), March 31, 2001

Answers

Lesley, chickens are easy. Wait until you tackle goats! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 31, 2001.

HA! You got that one right, Vicki! And they're bigger than cats!

(:raig

-- Craig Miller (cmiller@ssd.com), April 01, 2001.

Use a powerful electron magnet and attach some magnet+ tags to their collars. Keep the magnet in your barn and turn it on when you are ready to have them come home. Brings 'em right in. (Does use an awful lot of electricity, though....)

-- sheepish (WA) (rborgo@gte.net), April 01, 2001.

I regularly feed my goats, by hand, old bread that I buy as 'animal food' from the Bakery Discount store for $2 a garbage sack full. They eat it up like candy. So-o-o whenever I want to move the goats, I just lure them with bread. No problem, they will follow anywhere I go with bread in my hands. Also feed the chickens this same old bread torn into smaller pieces. Now the chickens will come when I call them. How do you call chickens? Like my mama and grandmama did before me (and like my grandkids do now). "Chick-k-k, chick, chick, chick!" Happy farming to ya and God bless!

-- Eve in FL (owenall@lwol.com), April 04, 2001.