Urgent! I Need Advice On How To Get Two Free-range Hens and a Rooster In a Dog Kennel!

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poirotgrl said:
Thank you, Tom. Really. That's some super helpful insight. I never thought about the fact that they might actually sleep better and feel more secure caged at night. We have no problems with them during the day. Our rooster is on point during waking hours. Plus, we're constantly keeping an eye on them from dawn to dusk. But, it's clear to me now that they have to have some sort of enclosure at night. Like I mentioned above, all I had available this evening was a large dog crate. It seemed like enough room for two hens and a rooster. I covered it with a thick sheet and I've been checking on them at least once a hour. My girls are making their sweet, little chicken snoring sounds, so I'm assuming they're okay. My biggest problem is I'm leaving in a little over a week and have no clue what to do with them while I'm gone. My husband's ex is coming by to take care of my kitties and originally she was going to make sure the birds had enough food and water. This is actually asking a lot from her. This chic is NOT an animal person. There is no way I could get her to come by every evening and attempt to get the birds in anything. My rooster would more than likely try to jump her. And, even if she did get them in, she'd have to turn around the next morning and come let them out. So, twice a day for two weeks. That's not happening. So, I'm left with keeping my birds as safe as I can for the next few days, but not sure what to do after that. My husband's of the mind to just let nature take it's course, but that seems pretty heartless to me. I do have a huge barn out back, but it's not secure in any way. And, I do have access to a lot of lumber but I certainly would have no clue as to how to go about making a safe enclosure. I'm just at a loss! Sorry, didn't mean to ramble on. But, really, thanks for the insight.
Cynthia Ellen
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:welcome :frow You really do have a dilemma. Do you have some pictures you can post for an idea for what you can do? Can you build a spot in your barn for the birds maybe with some of the wood for framing and put some wire around it big enough to keep the birds in while you're gone with an access for food and water. I feed my birds once a week but I have 40# hanging feeders in all of my coops. I also have auto waterers so I don't have to deal with constantly taking water out, but I also have a lot of birds and several coops. Good luck...
 
Just Tom said:
How about putting some food in the coop? When I feed my pets I keep their food in a bottle or can and when that happy feeding time comes I shake the bottle before and while they eat. When I shake it he bottle they run frantically to me, or anyone else who holds the bottle.
I seen it work with cows. When they escaped their pastuer and mom called the cops. Cops didn't know what to do. Got farmers son to come over and he chased em around in his Jeep. When the old farmer found out he went to the back of his barn and shook half a bucket of food. And imeaditly all the cows ran back through the hole in the fence, into their barn.
Works with horses, dogs, cats, and chickens.
Chickens like cages. They sleep better being kept safe. They are not wild, they are man made. I've raised mine in 2' x 2' cages kept em in for years, and I'll take one out let it walk around for once and if they see a cage they will go sit in there.
Some of my chickens live wild and they often hang out in the open cage. It's open, it doesn't protect them, if a mongoose comes by they would be stuck with no escape.
Rember the cage is not meant to contain the chickens but to protect them.
Good luck
Click cluck. Just Tom
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:welcome:frow I do the same thing more or less. I have a special treat bucket and calls for my birds and when they see me with the bucket calling they come running for their treats. We have some Sand Hill cranes that come every day and when they see me with the treat bucket they come running because they know I'll be putting treats out for them too. Good luck...
 
21hens-incharge said:
Yup....I still missed it. :idunnoPerfection eludes me.
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My husband's of the mind to just let nature take it's course, but that seems pretty heartless to me. I do have a huge barn out back, but it's not secure in any way. And, I do have access to a lot of lumber but I certainly would have no clue as to how to go about making a safe enclosure.
Click to expand...

You probably saw that "I do have access to a lot of lumber" and were distracted.
 
Isadora T said:
This does seem heartless, but like you said your husband has had chickens in the past with a coop (which I'm guessing was too small) and had a negative experience, so I would suggest not trying to take his experience to mean that he doesn't care. It can be hard, I know, but try not to take it too personally or as if he's a bad person for thinking this way. He probably just doesn't know. If he only had chickens and did them one way and it didn't work out great, that's his experience. Hopefully we can get some new chicken experiences going and he will see how beneficial coops are and that chickens put themselves to bed every night!
I've had my own experience with my husband thinking / doing things that seem very harsh to me, and most of the time we've been able to work something out. I guess I bring this up because I would hate to see something like this to hurt your relationship. I wish you all the best. :hugs
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Thank you, luv. I'm certainly not holding it against him. I think our biggest problem is that these birds are pretty much wild. We didn't handle our hens like we should and we never handled our rooster. Therefore, they're hard to manage. It's almost impossible to get these guys to do anything, and our Rocky runs the show. He's not going to let you come near him or his girls. We lucked out by chance and hot dogs and bananas and were able to get them in the kennel last night. There was no going tonight. We just let them go up on the ladder. We tried to barricade one side of the carport. We also have both windows open and all the lights on. I keep going out there to check on them, too. My rooster is honestly not the nicest on the planet, but I love him all the same. Bless his heart, he has the last two girls tucked under his wings. All this just sucks. If I do birds again I'm going to have to have a Fort Knox coop. Loosing birds like this just sucks. My husband just wants them to live out their lives happy and free. I understand. But, in these parts free at night means dead. So, I think can get him to compromise. Free range during the day and coop at night. Thank you, for your kind words. That's really thoughtful of you to not want me to be upset with my husband.
 
I just wanted to tell everyone who responded to my post, thank you. Honestly, I never post on sites like this for fear of overly harsh critics and not so nice people. I took a chance out of desperation, and the exact opposite has happened here. You all have been so helpful and kind, and no one has been judgemental in the slightest. I've really been feeling down lately due to my bird loss, and I'd pretty much decided I was never going to do this again. However, I'm seriously considering giving it another go. Again, thank you for your kind words and support. What a great bunch of folks! 💕🐓🐔🐣
 
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Soo, are you saying your husband was depressed seeing the chickens cooped up, or the chickens were depressed? My coop is 4'x8'x7'tall and my hens and roosters have no problem going in it, every evening. I let them out every morning into a 8'x8' covered run, which opens up to a 12'x 25' open run and they seem totally content with that, by what I see. I have 2 yr olds mixed with 3 month olds and they all get in the coop, at night. If anything, at least put up some kind of roof over them, so the owl can't see them from the air, at night!
 

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