So There I Was: How I Got Trapped In My Very Own Predator-Proof Chicken Run
I’ve done a lot of stupid things in my life. Ok, let me rephrase that. I’ve done a lot of things that might be considered unwise. There. That’s kinder, isn’t it?
I don’t mind telling on myself, especially if it might help someone else. So here’s the story…
(If you want to skip to the punchline without the background context, scroll down to the video at the bottom of this post.)
It was Mother’s Day, 2025 and I was trying to get some chores done before the family came over for a BBQ. I was so very proud of my design and build of a three-part chicken run door. It is a Dutch Door style, where the top part can open separately from the bottom.
I got the idea for the door while my husband was away on a business trip and surprised him with the finished product when he got home. I spent 4 days straight designing, buying lumber and doing the actual build/install. This is what it looked like during the build.
Pay no attention to the wood filler where I accidentally installed the latches backwards and in the wrong spots
I wanted the top part to open separately from the bottom so I could toss in scratch and produce and other treats without the little velociraptors escaping. I also built a small chicken door into the bottom of the design with a ramp on it so the chickens could get chunneled into a chicken tractor or just the yard in general.
I’d built things before, but never something this complex, requiring so many different tools and skills. And honestly, I probably couldn’t have done it at all if my husband hadn’t spent the last several weeks teaching me about construction while we custom built this coop and run.
But still…Have I mentioned that I was SOOO proud of myself?
Designing our custom roll-away nesting boxes
And then, 6 weeks and lots of challenges later… it was finally finished. The whole coop and kaboodle.
My design was working great. Whenever I needed to go into the actual run, I would open the top door and leave it open, then unlatch the bottom door and slip in before my whippet Maverick could catch a snack. When I was finished hanging out with the girls, I would reach my hand out of the opening and pop that bottom latch to let myself out. I thought I was sooooo smart.
This is the part where I channel my husband’s fighter pilot storytelling style… SO THERE I WAS…
On Mothers Day, doing my chicken chores. A gust of wind comes up and blows the top door shut. And it latches. With me in there.
I heard, rather than saw it happen, as I was bent over filling the dust bath at the time with my back to the door.
It was the oh-shit moment to end all oh-shit moments.
The first thought was panic, the second it’s ok. You have your phone. You can call for help. So I did. I called my neighbor, who came and let me out (but not before laughing hysterically at my expense, and rightly so, I suppose).
When my family came over and I told on myself, I let them all have their laughs too, my son marched right into the garage, grabbed a drill and some paracord and and fixed it up for me.
Why didn’t I think of that in the first place? I wondered the same thing after it happened. Who knows? Anyway I made a short video and put it up on my YouTube channel hoping to help others avoid the same mistake I made. To date that video has gotten more views than any of my other videos. I guess people like watching other people tell stories of their stupidity.
Here’s the video, and please - LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE! ;)
Till next time friends,
Lynda
Stress…amiright? This experience reminded me to tell you about the free video I recently recorded of a teaching I do on the science of stress. In other words, why is stress so bad for you and what happens to the body during stress? You don’t have to be a member of this site to view the video and it’s completely free. You’ll find the link below.
It was developed to teach cardiac patients about their nervous systems and how fight or flight affects the body, but honestly I feel like anyone and everyone should learn this stuff, so please, if you know anyone you think would benefit from this teaching (and who doesn’t want to become one of my future cardiac rehab patients), please feel free to share the link!
This video will teach you how to understand your body better to help preserve your health and prevent disease.
