chickens in VA
In the Brooder
Hi,
I am about to adopt my first chickens - 4 3-year-old Golden Comets. They belonged to a friend who's trading them in for younger models since they don't lay much anymore, so it's either the foxes get them or I do. My friend treated them pretty well, but definitely as livestock, whereas I view them as pets and want them to live as fulfilled little chicken lives as possible in their remaining years. At my friend's house they've spent probably about 98% of their time in a tractor, though she occasionally let them out to free range. I plan to let them free range more, eventually possibly most of the time in a large enclosure with a llama or two to guard them. Neither the llama(s) nor the llama pen are here yet, though, so for now the girls will only be free ranging when I'm around to supervise. They're not trained to go into their coop at night, since they've always just been in their tractor, and they're used to having food available 24/7. I'm not sure that it's safe for me to leave food out all the time for them since there are more bears, etc. where I live than where my friend does.
The girls are already bonded with each other, as they've been together since they were chicks, and I'm taking all of them, so that should help. I have also been offered (by a different friend) various roosters, but so far I've said no since these girls have never encountered one and I'm afraid even a nice rooster might be too traumatic for them! Does this make sense, or am I being overly protective?!
I'd appreciate any advice on how to get the girls used to their new home, and also how to bond with them as pets when they haven't really been brought up to do that. I figure that if it's possible with battery hens, it should be possible with my friend's chickens, who at least haven't been abused! I have a fair amount of experience with other types of birds (parrots, wild bird rehabbing), including traumatized/neurotic birds, but this is my first attempt at chickens.
Oh, also I have cats! The friend from whom the chickens are coming has cats herself, and says the chickens hold their own nicely, but I have more cats than she does (11...gulp...they're a former street cat colony I was feeding where I lived before, and they moved with me). They're all pretty tame, not remotely feral anymore, and they don't hunt in a pack or anything. Actually they know I don't approve of their hunting at all and most of them more or less respect this despite thinking it's completely idiotic of me. However, they've never seen chickens before and I do anticipate intense interest, so I'm hoping the girls won't be too upset by a circle of fascinated furry faces, and poking paws, round their run for the first week or two. I could of course chase the cats away from the run (they learn pretty quickly when water from garden hoses is involved), but my instinct is that it's probably best to let them and the chickens get used to each other asap.
I am about to adopt my first chickens - 4 3-year-old Golden Comets. They belonged to a friend who's trading them in for younger models since they don't lay much anymore, so it's either the foxes get them or I do. My friend treated them pretty well, but definitely as livestock, whereas I view them as pets and want them to live as fulfilled little chicken lives as possible in their remaining years. At my friend's house they've spent probably about 98% of their time in a tractor, though she occasionally let them out to free range. I plan to let them free range more, eventually possibly most of the time in a large enclosure with a llama or two to guard them. Neither the llama(s) nor the llama pen are here yet, though, so for now the girls will only be free ranging when I'm around to supervise. They're not trained to go into their coop at night, since they've always just been in their tractor, and they're used to having food available 24/7. I'm not sure that it's safe for me to leave food out all the time for them since there are more bears, etc. where I live than where my friend does.
The girls are already bonded with each other, as they've been together since they were chicks, and I'm taking all of them, so that should help. I have also been offered (by a different friend) various roosters, but so far I've said no since these girls have never encountered one and I'm afraid even a nice rooster might be too traumatic for them! Does this make sense, or am I being overly protective?!
I'd appreciate any advice on how to get the girls used to their new home, and also how to bond with them as pets when they haven't really been brought up to do that. I figure that if it's possible with battery hens, it should be possible with my friend's chickens, who at least haven't been abused! I have a fair amount of experience with other types of birds (parrots, wild bird rehabbing), including traumatized/neurotic birds, but this is my first attempt at chickens.
Oh, also I have cats! The friend from whom the chickens are coming has cats herself, and says the chickens hold their own nicely, but I have more cats than she does (11...gulp...they're a former street cat colony I was feeding where I lived before, and they moved with me). They're all pretty tame, not remotely feral anymore, and they don't hunt in a pack or anything. Actually they know I don't approve of their hunting at all and most of them more or less respect this despite thinking it's completely idiotic of me. However, they've never seen chickens before and I do anticipate intense interest, so I'm hoping the girls won't be too upset by a circle of fascinated furry faces, and poking paws, round their run for the first week or two. I could of course chase the cats away from the run (they learn pretty quickly when water from garden hoses is involved), but my instinct is that it's probably best to let them and the chickens get used to each other asap.
