Yesterday a hawk landed on top of the run and all but 5 chicks ran back inside. The last 5 were in the corners frozen still and silent. I immediately shooed the hawk away and went down to check on them. They came out of the corner and the rest went inside except my 2 blonde silkies who can't figure out how to go inside the coop on their own to save their life (Any advice on that one too would be appreciated!). They exit the coop every morning with the rest but for some reason can't figure out how to go back...Anyway, everyone was back inside and I figured they needed a few hours to calm down and they were all laying in the corner in the coop as far away from the door as possible. I gave them frozen watermelon a few times and by the end of the night when the sun was setting I decided to maybe try to see if they'd come out in the run again. Stood there with frozen watermelon, a few came out but a minute later those ran back inside and wouldn't come back out. I closed the coop for the night not wanting to force them and figured this morning per routine they would come out like always and "recover" from the hawk scare. No such luck...
As you can see the run is half covered by a top to block shade. The hawk was on the far right corner.
The pic below was just taken a few minutes ago. Every morning I go down and open the door to let them out for the day in the run and they run on out and peck like crazy. They will go in and out throughout the day but usually spending the majority of the day outside. Because of the hawk scare they are just sitting at the door looking out. There are 14 total: 4 Silkies, 5 Bantams, and 5 Guineas. I'm not sure what to do?! The run is super safe and I'm sure it was traumatizing (The babies are all around 1.5-2ish months old) but how can I convince them to go out in the run again. They always are so excited to go outside and peck at grass and bugs so this is so weird for them. I thought a day later, they'd be better by now. Please help!!
Very new to the chicken world. Four Silkie Chicks as of 6/19/12. Four Guinea fowls on 6/23/12. Five Bantams on 6/27/12. Four more Guineas on 7/29/12. Current Number: 14 and growing :)
http://chicksandkeets.blogspot.com
Very new to the chicken world. Four Silkie Chicks as of 6/19/12. Four Guinea fowls on 6/23/12. Five Bantams on 6/27/12. Four more Guineas on 7/29/12. Current Number: 14 and growing :)
http://chicksandkeets.blogspot.com
