Annoyed >:(

[BirdBrained]

well you may think I'm cruel but I'll be honest,I'm in the process of building a run for my chickens right now but they have been in a pen/coop for some time now,I bought them on a whim and had to build something for them to stay in and add on as I can,they can't free range my dogs would have them as snacks.They are bantams and have plenty of room,they are on the ground so they can bathe and scratch.I have 3 in their almost 5x5 pen,soon to be done (possibly today) their 4x8 run.there you have it,if I'm a bad person then lower the boom on Me,I'm a big boy I can take it,rest assured these chickens are well cared for.

 

[welovechickens]

No, I don't think you're a bad person! I don't have a problem with confining chickens in a pen on the ground, I just kinda have a problem with confining them inside a building that is off the ground, and has minimal light inside. I think it's really important for chickens to be able to eat grass and dirt bathe whenever they want.

 

[m2wandc]

Quote:
I'm a newbie to chickens and that is what I read everywhere (on here too I read that)...to leave them in the coop (like their brooder) for two days straight...and then let them out...

...also I have some friends who are homing pigion(sp?) and chicken folks who say the same thing...

tell me what your advice is so I can see what fits best to my girls and my situation...I'll listen

Sorry, but I have to agree with what they are doing. The only way I was able to teach my chickens that the coop was home was to keep them locked up in it. Because my chickens were older when we first moved them to the coop I had to keep them locked up in the coop for almost two weeks (or else they returned to the screened porch at night, which was their first home).
Mine don't hate their coop. It's their home and they return to it every night like clockwork, as well as the hens visiting it during the day to lay their eggs.
The three chickens I gave away live in a very different enviroment than how I kept them, as well as not being spoiled the way I spoiled them. That's okay; they're being cared for and that's all that matters to me.

Thanks Gritsar I do value your opinion as you have come thru with some logical advice in the past.

I'm always open to hear other opinions on issues, because one way isn't always the right way...so for me I find get ideas and then do what feels right for me...and for me, the locking up for a short bit seems logical and most likely what I'll be doing, but really curious to hear what others say on this matter...

 

[wyo-helpmeet]

Quote:
I was part of a thread here that asked the question of getting chick(en)s into their coops at night & keeping them cooped for 1 week was the EXACT answer I got out of that thread.

 

[m2wandc]

Quote:
They will be OK...I can relate. because I have two silkies that I'm not thrilled about having, but will spoil them regardless...and another friend said she'd take them off my hands, but I know she culls after egg laying days are over and I'm a believer in letting them live out their lives...soooo I couldn't hand them over to her...now if she didn't tell me that tid bit I could of handed them over freely...LOL...sometimes less knowledge is better...ignorance is bliss at times

 

[redhen]

i'm going to be moving my birds into a new coop soon..and when i do i'll lock them in it for a few days also, so they understand that its their new home.... i'm not mean or cruel.... or i never thought i was anyways..

 

[wyo-helpmeet]

Another thought- they did research, sounds like a good bit of it, too. They don't sound like they're going into this blindly. Be thankful you didn't get a first-timer who just "figured" it'd be as easy as raising a goldfish.

 

[gypsy2621]

Once you sell or give away your chickens , your part of their lives are over. you no longer have any say as to how they are raised, cooped or free ranged.
People are allowed to change their minds, maybe they have something else in mind for them, say a larger run in a different part of the yard? we as sellers or rehomers have no control over how anyone raises them once they own them, unless there is a written contract and personally should it ever come to that I am afraid a lot of people would still be owning their chickens.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

I heard it from BYC to leave them in the coop for a week or two so they will go in at night.

It took me two weeks to get the run done and sure enough, my chicks weren't affraid to go out and they all go back in when it gets dark.

The part about handing over chicks that I raised to newbies would be the fact that they WERE going to build that big run but decided not to. If it was me, I would have kept the chicks or placed them in a safer environment.

 

[countrybum]

As we know, we all do things differently. Here is where mine start. They are never locked in the coop not for a day. They have a pen for when they are unable to free range. Eventually the pen will also have a roof.

Left are peafowl and pheasant, right is the chickens. The left side has a roof, the right is being finished.