A little worried -- Will chickens go to bed by themselves?

[foxchasr]

I'm a newbie too .... from Day One, we started with our hen and rooster and a makeshift coop my boyfriend built not knowing I was coming home with these 2

Shortly after our first 2 were settled in, I would incorporate a new hen about every 3 weeks until we reached 4 hens and our rooster. My boyfriend since built a brand new coop for them and only that first night did I have to hand carry each hen into the new coop. Each new one which was brought home, went right into the new coop by themselves. Easter, I bought 2 chicks, which I kept in a big rubbermaid bin from the day I brought them home at 2 days old until they were about 3 months old. The problem though was that the new chicks never would go into the coop with the rest, they would wait at my back slider door for me to open the door and put them in their bin! They outgrew their bin pretty fast and would come into the den and jump on a recliner we had around 7:30 pm each night and then I would have to hand carry them and put them into the coop. One night, I was upstairs in my office working and didn't realize it was after 8 pm and to my PLEASURE, I came downstairs and couldn't find Haleigh and Jamie ... they found their way to the coop. As much as I miss our nightly ritual of them coming to the door and me bringing them inside for that half hour and the fact that I could carry them and hold them when I would bring them to the coop (Jamie btw turned into a rooster and was massive, but is the most friendliest rooster you would ever want to meet and doesn't fuss at all with our original rooster, knock wood), I'm happy that they all found their way to their coop. My boyfriend built an absolutely gorgeous coop with a big barn door on the front and there is no sight like all of them filing in for the night, just precious

 

[Tropical Chook]

I was afraid of the same thing but then last about ten days ago I started let them out in the evenings and they would always go back into the run/coop as soon as darkness starts setting in. Then a week ago I decided it's time for them to free range throughout the day and I really so glad I did. Now we open their door at about 06h00 and they can't wait to get out, then we close the coop so the broodies have some peace and quiet in the coop. In the evening we simply wait for them to start congregating around the coop door, and if we leave it too long, it looks like they actually start getting worried, and so when we open the door, they get inside as quickly as they can. Well, that's apart from the duck who never seem to be in any type of a hurry. The amount of food I was going through in a week now lasts almost two weeks, and none of my birds have lost any weight. In fact, given that I now no longer have any of my own vegetables growing, I'm not surprised...

I check on them several times each day and I have seen their crops are always full so I don't think they need access to the pellets, and besides, if I do open the run, during the day, and they go in, they still don't bother with the pellets much, but instead, they just make a mess of all the nice fresh shavings. So, the way I see it is when they wake up, they dive into the pellets, and then before they start scratching around, they go out. In the evenings, they only go in seconds before roosting time. The result........a lovely fresh and tidy run/coop

As another member has also said, I too find the whole chicken thingy to be very easy.

Good luck
TC

 

[lauraleigh]

It's really fun hearing about the different ways the chickens adapted to the hen house, or going from Rubbermaid to The Big House, or looking a little worried if you don't get there on time. What great personalities! Thanks for sharing your stories! I love every one of them!