Hey Gang! Whatcha think of my plans and Rooster issue? - Page 30

 Chickens may be lovable, but no one can accuse them of being intelligent.

Looks like my coop!    Some roost as they should, some in the rafters sideways...and some cuddle in the corner near the door.  No clue why they do that!  Plenty of roosting room for sure.  About a third of them are the floor folks and I believe they were the last ones to go in the coop at night, I referred to them lovingly of course..as my short bus kids.  Your chickens are doing really well.  Mine go crazy over watermelon.  When I go into their run or near it, they all come running to see if I brought them something.  Can't wait for fresh eggs! 

Sometimes dumber than a box of rocks. 

we've only got two roost bars for our 5 chickens (will be 4 after we get rid of our rooster). the top one is about 5 feet long, bottom one is about half that. we (trying to be good, proud, responsible chicken keepers!) wanted to make sure they weren't crowded and could roost comfortably. well, they all roost on only the top one every night which didn't surprise us terribly, what with roosting on the lower bar being a lower dominance position, but squabble amongst themselves for positioning to be the closest to one end of the roost. i just shake my head when i look in at them using about 2 feet of the space they have, with 3 feet wide open on the top roost, and bottom one empty...they also usually alternate sitting > standing > sitting > standing, seemingly to pack themselves in even tighter and take up as little space as possible...

Tony, mine do the same thing, there is two groups that huddle in packs on the roost. The three chicks that 2nd Broody Mama hatched still bunk together in the broody house they were hatched in. The chicks I bought in March, bunk with my silkie roo in the silkie house on a board.

We lost our roo on Monday, he hurt his leg a second time & never recovered from the second injury. Today I found our remaining Light Brahma had passed. Have not had a good year with our chickens.

The flock is sure a good looking bunch! 

The grass lasted a lot longer than I thought. But you'll be happy with the sand and so will the gang. Mine adore sand baths. There's a nifty trick with sand that's hard to do with a dirt run to cool the run down on very hot days. I water down the sand, to make it damp but not soggy, and the evaporation will cool the air down a good ten degrees! The chickens love to hunker down in the cool dampness of the sand. Cheap air conditioning!

Those nest boxes are awesome looking