Amphitecna
Chirping
Hello all,
I've been a recent lurker on this forum, trying to learn everything I could before our ladies arrived last weekend. We are absolute, utter newbies to chickens. My husband built our run, but we have a commercial henhouse inside. He wanted to make sure they had enough space so it's a big one, for a current population of 4.
We have two light Sussex, and two Cendrée, all from a local breeder. Oh and we are located in Brittany, France, but I'm an American and well, like speaking English. I wanted Sussex because they're reported to be so friendly and good company. The Cendrée were so pretty we couldn't resist.
Our city is smallish, but we are in an increasingly urban setting. Lucky enough to have 700 m2 for our yard though. Once the ladies finish getting used to their new environment, they will be free ranging. I am looking forward to having company as I garden.
So far I've been thoroughly enjoying the bed-time show- I never would have predicted that watching chickens put themselves to bed would be so entertaining.
They've not yet been here a week, and are about 5 months old. Not laying anything yet, but given the upheaval they've been through, and the frequent attention they are showered with, I'm not surprised.
I do have a few questions (well, a lot really, but I'll limit myself for the time being), and I suspect they've already been asked and answered ad nauseum here. So if there are any particular threads I should check out, please point me to them.
1- is it possible they don't really know how to be chickens yet? The breeder had them inside a barn in large pens, split up by size- the Sussex were in the same pen as the Cendrée and Coucou de Rennes -other birds/breeds were in other pens. There were no perches- just some sort of hay-like floor covering and their food/water containers.
My birds spent their first few nights sleeping in the nesting boxes. Those are now blocked off at night. But the idea of perching seems to be a mystery to them. Now they sleep in the main part of the henhouse- but only one seems to be on a perch, the others huddle around her.
We have some perches in the run, but I'm not sure they're actually low enough to be accessible (this is a point of discussion between my handy-man husband and myself). They are weak fliers and we clipped their feathers. But I also feel like they just have no idea that perching is a good thing.
Should I be worried, or will they sort it all out?
They also don't seem interested in worms or slugs, but again, maybe they'll sort that out too?
2- The run is open air and about 12ft by 6 ft by 6 ft (4mx2mx2m in case my math is off). It was built on a part of our lawn. They've already dug up the area under the henhouse, but I'm wondering about cleaning the rest of it. Grass still remains, but I suppose won't be there for very long. While there's still grass, do I need to rake up their poo, or will it just sink into the ground? The climate here is very reminiscent of the PNW with very mild summers and frequent light rain (heavy downpours are rare). I'm not thrilled about them walking around in that, but it also seems to "disappear" quickly.
It's nice to meet all of you! Looking forward to this adventure.
I've been a recent lurker on this forum, trying to learn everything I could before our ladies arrived last weekend. We are absolute, utter newbies to chickens. My husband built our run, but we have a commercial henhouse inside. He wanted to make sure they had enough space so it's a big one, for a current population of 4.
We have two light Sussex, and two Cendrée, all from a local breeder. Oh and we are located in Brittany, France, but I'm an American and well, like speaking English. I wanted Sussex because they're reported to be so friendly and good company. The Cendrée were so pretty we couldn't resist.
Our city is smallish, but we are in an increasingly urban setting. Lucky enough to have 700 m2 for our yard though. Once the ladies finish getting used to their new environment, they will be free ranging. I am looking forward to having company as I garden.
So far I've been thoroughly enjoying the bed-time show- I never would have predicted that watching chickens put themselves to bed would be so entertaining.
They've not yet been here a week, and are about 5 months old. Not laying anything yet, but given the upheaval they've been through, and the frequent attention they are showered with, I'm not surprised.
I do have a few questions (well, a lot really, but I'll limit myself for the time being), and I suspect they've already been asked and answered ad nauseum here. So if there are any particular threads I should check out, please point me to them.
1- is it possible they don't really know how to be chickens yet? The breeder had them inside a barn in large pens, split up by size- the Sussex were in the same pen as the Cendrée and Coucou de Rennes -other birds/breeds were in other pens. There were no perches- just some sort of hay-like floor covering and their food/water containers.
My birds spent their first few nights sleeping in the nesting boxes. Those are now blocked off at night. But the idea of perching seems to be a mystery to them. Now they sleep in the main part of the henhouse- but only one seems to be on a perch, the others huddle around her.
We have some perches in the run, but I'm not sure they're actually low enough to be accessible (this is a point of discussion between my handy-man husband and myself). They are weak fliers and we clipped their feathers. But I also feel like they just have no idea that perching is a good thing.
Should I be worried, or will they sort it all out?
They also don't seem interested in worms or slugs, but again, maybe they'll sort that out too?
2- The run is open air and about 12ft by 6 ft by 6 ft (4mx2mx2m in case my math is off). It was built on a part of our lawn. They've already dug up the area under the henhouse, but I'm wondering about cleaning the rest of it. Grass still remains, but I suppose won't be there for very long. While there's still grass, do I need to rake up their poo, or will it just sink into the ground? The climate here is very reminiscent of the PNW with very mild summers and frequent light rain (heavy downpours are rare). I'm not thrilled about them walking around in that, but it also seems to "disappear" quickly.
It's nice to meet all of you! Looking forward to this adventure.
Glad you joined.
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
