And now...the run....

[TerryH]

I had the immediate mental image of your chicken doing the dance from the beginning of "Laverne and Shirley" LOL

lol... She is very aptly named. She is super funny and adventurous. She was the first one to venture up on the roost, first one to eat out of my hand, first one to jump up on my lap etc... Of course she has a sister named Shirley.

 

[aart]

Here's a shot of the apron on the back. It's 24" of 1x2 welded wire pinned with 6" landscaping staples. I still need to do the apron on the west end and install the landscape timbers around the outside of the south and west. The end can be measured in hours now instead of months or weeks or days.

We did open the pop door but no one was very excited about making the leap. To no one's surprise the first out the door was the ever adventurous Laverne. She went down the ramp a couple of times but never ventured off the stump. I'm sure they'll love the run once they get over being terrified of it.



It was a sad day though. Pat went to his new home.

Edith the little BLRW pullet has never been away from him. She's out there now whining.

Guess she'll be ok in a day or two.

It takes them some time to venture into a space....great pic, love the peekers out the pop door!

Apron over grass looks good, should be able to mow right over it...unless you mow really short.
Just dawned on me, replacing the railroad ties over the other aprons effectively shortened your apron by the width of the tie,
as any digger will probably start digging at the edge of the tie instead of the run wall to go under.
Probably doesn't matter, since the garden on that side is already a decent buffer, but something to keep an eye on.

 

[TerryH]

It takes them some time to venture into a space....great pic, love the peekers out the pop door!

Apron over grass looks good, should be able to mow right over it...unless you mow really short.
Just dawned on me, replacing the railroad ties over the other aprons effectively shortened your apron by the width of the tie,
as any digger will probably start digging at the edge of the tie instead of the run wall to go under.
Probably doesn't matter, since the garden on that side is already a decent buffer, but something to keep an eye on.

There is 12" or so of apron past the ties. Hopefully that's enough. The garden soil level is 6" above the run soil level so it would be quite the hole that would have to be dug to actually get in the run from the garden side.

I'll open the door as soon as I get home from work. I'm anxious for them to start using the run. They've never been outside before so I know it's a scary thing for them.

 

[User395221]

I'll open the door as soon as I get home from work. I'm anxious for them to start using the run. They've never been outside before so I know it's a scary thing for them.

My "go to" tool for encouraging movement in a direction is the tossing of food. Something yummy on their ramp and out in the run, and they might be encouraged to give it a go. C'mon Laverne and Shirley, Schlemiel, Schlimazel! Get out there girls!

 

[aart]

I'll open the door as soon as I get home from work. I'm anxious for them to start using the run. They've never been outside before so I know it's a scary thing for them.

It may take some cajoling to get them out, sprinkling some treats on the ramp and stump could help.
Then getting them back inside ..hahaha...that could be a challenge and take some time to get in the habit of going back in to roost at dusk.
Like the encouragement and delight when your kids first start talking...not long and you wish they'd STHU... haha!.
So your next chicken keeping lesson will be......'Herding Chickens'...the 'rattling treat scoop/bucket/whatever' is a good thing to start right now if you haven't already.
Have fun!!

 

[Birdydeb]

Love the pic of the peekers. I forgot to get a pic when we turned ours loose for the first time in the run. I used a small pan with some feed to get their attention and they came on out.....slowly. For the first hour they would run in and out as new noises, etc. scared them and then one of them found an unfortunate tree frog in the run and the hilarity was on! The race around and around the run was on as first one and then another got a hold of the tree frog. Needless to say Mr. Tree Frog was dinner that night. So much fun to watch their excitement and bit of fear as they get used to the run. That was a week and a half ago...now they come out like pros.

 

[BrentG]

That looks awesome! Love the garden too -- do you have problems with weeds coming through the mulch pathways? I've been considering putting landscape fabric/mulch down with mine but everything I read says it only works for a couple years then weeds come through and it's a disaster. I love the look/maintenance factor though.

 

[TerryH]

My "go to" tool for encouraging movement in a direction is the tossing of food.  Something yummy on their ramp and out in the run, and they might be encouraged to give it a go. C'mon Laverne and Shirley, Schlemiel, Schlimazel!  Get out there girls! 

We had some meal worms on the ramp and the stump. Laverne ate all of those and then went back in. lol...

 

[TerryH]

It may take some cajoling to get them out, sprinkling some treats on the ramp and stump could help.
Then getting them back inside ..hahaha...that could be a challenge and take some time to get in the habit of going back in to roost at dusk.
Like the encouragement and delight when your kids first start talking...not long and you wish they'd STHU...  haha!.
So your next chicken keeping lesson will be......'Herding Chickens'...the 'rattling treat scoop/bucket/whatever' is a good thing to start right now if you haven't already.
Have fun!!

lol... sounds like fun ahead. Pretty sure if they hear the meal worm bag or the scratch container being opened they will come back in. We will see. Gotta get the bone heads out first.

 

[TerryH]

Love the pic of the peekers. I forgot to get a pic when we turned ours loose for the first time in the run. I used a small pan with some feed to get their attention and they came on out.....slowly. For the first hour they would run in and out as new noises, etc. scared them and then one of them found an unfortunate tree frog in the run and the hilarity was on! The race around and around the run was on as first one and then another got a hold of the tree frog. Needless to say Mr. Tree Frog was dinner that night. So much fun to watch their excitement and bit of fear as they get used to the run. That was a week and a half ago...now they come out like pros.

Thanks for sharing that. Good times ahead for us and them with this new adventure.