ChickenHawk12
Chirping
- May 7, 2015
- 153
- 6
- 76
This is my first batch of chickens, we got them as 3 day old chicks last May. We had 5 BO's in a 4X8 coop with a 8X20 run, and we occasionally let them free range in the yard (but not too often because then our kids can't play in the backyard for weeks!). 9 days ago we found one dead in the run in the morning, looked like she'd been there all night. The others have survived the last 9 days, and in hindsight I think she may have been egg-bound and I didn't know enough about it to recognize it.
So, other than that, we've not had any mishaps and they all seem to be happy. But they have NEVER roosted. Maybe it's our fault, because my dad built the coop for us using some free plans he found, and we thought the crossbeams would serve as the roosts. I think they are too close to the roof and they never used them. So we made some makeshift free-standing roosts, but they want nothing to do with those either. They sleep all huddled at the door of the coop, heads sticking out of the door. Why do they do this? Maybe we should build a ladder so they can get up to the crossbeam roosts more easily? There is a giant pile of poop at the coop door because they all sleep there.
Then, a few days ago, they up and started laying their eggs in the middle of the coop instead of the egg box. Why would they do this? Did they discover that there's a phantom that keeps stealing their eggs and are trying to throw me off by laying them elsewhere? Does this have to do with the one that died?
I never knew chickens were so stinking weird.
So, other than that, we've not had any mishaps and they all seem to be happy. But they have NEVER roosted. Maybe it's our fault, because my dad built the coop for us using some free plans he found, and we thought the crossbeams would serve as the roosts. I think they are too close to the roof and they never used them. So we made some makeshift free-standing roosts, but they want nothing to do with those either. They sleep all huddled at the door of the coop, heads sticking out of the door. Why do they do this? Maybe we should build a ladder so they can get up to the crossbeam roosts more easily? There is a giant pile of poop at the coop door because they all sleep there.
Then, a few days ago, they up and started laying their eggs in the middle of the coop instead of the egg box. Why would they do this? Did they discover that there's a phantom that keeps stealing their eggs and are trying to throw me off by laying them elsewhere? Does this have to do with the one that died?
I never knew chickens were so stinking weird.