coop lingering issue

[lazy gardener]

Yes, take their feed away, save it for late afternoon. Give them some scratch to work for just outside the entrance to their coop, or under their outdoor shelter.

 

[aart]

It is mostly pasture. and the clovers, grass, weeds, and flowers are very plentiful and growing quick. Already had to mow the lawn around my house once, and that was after it got tall enough that I really couldn't justify further delay. I have previously tried to lead them to a small wooded area on the backside of the barn but they don't seem to like to venture that far. my main outlay obstacle is that the barn is a cinder block 8 stall horse barn and the back stalls, which are on the wooded side, do not lead outside. I guess maybe I need to find a way to get them some cover on the front end of the barn........ would reducing their feed a little have a good chance of increasing their will to forage and what should I keep an eye out for to ensure that I am not depriving them of too much feed?

Yes, take their feed away, save it for late afternoon. Give them some scratch to work for just outside the entrance to their coop, or under their outdoor shelter.

I think they are already feeding in the evening.

It's hard to say what to do, I haven't experienced this as my birds are confined....you certainly don't want to deprive them of nutrition. 2 months seems to be long enough for them to get their bearings and go exploring, but maybe not. Might be best to keep feeding them well and hope time and observation will give you some clues as to how to improve the situation. Are they laying? All hens or rooster too?

 

[Kikiriki]

from everything you have said, I think something scared the heck out of them. It is fortunate they still consider the coop a safe haven, though. You can make some movable cover to get them out foraging again.

Get some rebar, some PVC pipe, and some shade cloth. Cut the rebar so you end up with a couple of feet to stick in the ground, and three feet sticking out. Place them so you can slide the PVC on, reaching from one to the other to make a hoop house in a long tunnel, using the shade cloth over the top. Instead of shade cloth, you could use netting, but since they are already fearful, they need cover from the air. Try a short section and see if that gets them to move out into forage area...

 

[marcoseitz]

16 hens one rooster. They are laying decent but I have had a recent drop off I'm worried that they may be eating their eggs as I found one that seemed to be pecked open, so I started collecting them right after their laying hours (read a good blog on how to counter this but still in the works of sorting it out, guess that could be another factor in them lingering around the coop). I think I will take Kikiriki's advice and build a mobile shelter and lure them out to forage areas with some scratch first thing in the morning. thanks for all the help folks, I will update in a few days and let you know if I was able to get them out and about a bit more!!!!

 

[aart]

Egg eating can be a sign of insufficient protein, specifically animal protein...might want to tempt them to the shelter with some meat scraps or meal worms or some other animal protein.
Best of cLuck!

 

[marcoseitz]

We had not built an outlaying cover for the chickens yet but we did go out with the chickens a few times and dig up some weeds, turning over the dirt and uncovering bugs. the birds that had previously free ranged went right after it eating tons of worms and grubs while the previously coop raised birds mostly looked on and pecked away a bit here and there. After a couple days of doing this however, the other birds started picking more assertively and they now seem to be foraging more and even venturing as much as 100 yards or so from the coop to where there is additional tree and brush cover. Guess they needed a bit of a crash course on the fact that there is good live food to be found in the ground. We also mowed a good section near the coop at that time and they really enjoyed picking through the grass clippings. feeling pretty good about this flock now. Thanks for all the good information folks!!!!