Anybody have any ideas for chicken entertainment?

[Pretty Chickens]

Our property is not yet fully fenced, so for safety reasons, our ladies are largely confined to their run and free range for a couple of hours a day in the chicken yard outside their run. I doubt there's a single grub, spider or pill bug still living in their yard and what little landscaping was has been torn to shreds. A month back I purchased a bag of Peaceful Valley Omega-3 Chicken Forage Blend from groworganic.com. I have three rotating flats growing. It takes them several hours to polish off a flat, but as you can see, they really dig it.

I Do the same thing. My hens are in there coop and come out for 2 hours every day. I stay with them for the 2 hours and then put back.

 

[kubotafoot]

OK....So just how do you "put them back" after their 2 hours? It's like a circus here trying to get mine back into the barn unless it is before duck and they WANT to go back! I would love to let them out for a bit and then have them come when I call, but treats, soaked bread and garlic, sunflower seeds (not a lot unless Winter....I remember, thanks!) or threats work. Is there a suggestion to get them all in at once someone has? I have iver 30 birds and 2 roosters and everyone but 3 seems to have a mind of their own

.............

 

[kubotafoot]

Sorry for the typo....before DUCK not ****.....got a brain on poultry and switched breeds and words.....

 

[kubotafoot]

OK....now this is getting really bad....what am I doing wrong? I want to say dusk....not duck!
A mind is a terrible thing to waste...

 

[tridentk9]

OK....So just how do you "put them back" after their 2 hours?  It's like a circus here trying to get mine back into the barn unless it is before duck and they WANT to go back!  I would love to let them out for a bit and then have them come when I call, but treats, soaked bread and garlic, sunflower seeds (not a lot unless Winter....I remember, thanks!) or threats work.  Is there a suggestion to get them all in at once someone has?  I have iver 30 birds and 2 roosters and everyone but 3 seems to have a mind of their own .............

Oh that is so familiar. Until I started using one of the dogs. She follows me for treats and the chickens move away from her much better than they do me. The dog doesn't know or care that she's "herding" and the chickens don't know that she isn't.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hi Jeannie 48 I posted a question a while back asking dose each hen need to have there own nesting box of there own, when laying there eggs

We had a nesting box for each chicken once but they all used just one favourite box to lay their eggs so now 1 box for 3 to 5 chickens is enough. This morning I found our 3 hens all layed their eggs in the middle box when there were 2 others empty. Sometimes I find 2 hens sharing one box waiting to lay their egg in the morning. If you have too many nestboxes the hens will single out one or two favourite boxes and the other boxes get ignored and never used.

 

[Sylvester017]

OK....So just how do you "put them back" after their 2 hours? It's like a circus here trying to get mine back into the barn unless it is before duck and they WANT to go back! I would love to let them out for a bit and then have them come when I call, but treats, soaked bread and garlic, sunflower seeds (not a lot unless Winter....I remember, thanks!) or threats work. Is there a suggestion to get them all in at once someone has? I have iver 30 birds and 2 roosters and everyone but 3 seems to have a mind of their own

.............

The important thing about herding chickens is not to make sudden movements or chase them. It's embarrassing for them to get chased and they won't go where you want.

I've never had more than 5 chickens at one time and treats always worked for us to get them to follow us.

This other method worked for us and we started two of us to do this at the same time but just one person is able do it now. Sometimes we get behind them to slowly wave our hands and SOFTLY say "shoo, shoo" and walk slowly behind them. They will instinctively move to get out of the way so they walk forwards. It takes some practice but now we don't even have to say shoo - we just get behind them and slowly wave our hands and that signals them that they are to go into the coop. We do this when the gardener comes into the yard. Now they just hear his mower and they automatically meander into the coop. The thing is to be patient and consistent with your chosen method of herding - chickens are creatures of habit and learn quickly.

We have a 2-foot tall roll of rabbit fence that we separate the garden from the chicken yard. At first a couple hens would hop or fly over the fence into the garden. We either gently lifted them out or opened the gate to slowly usher them out. After jumping the fence a couple times and being ushered out they now know that the 2-foot fence is not to be jumped. In fact they panic if they accidentally get into the garden and know they aren't supposed to be there and are happy when we open the gate so they can run out on their own. They all respect the 2-foot rabbit fence now and no one has jumped it in the past 6 months. It takes time and patience and gentle motions to train chickens but they respond well to gentleness, treats, and not chasing them.

Sometimes wild temperament birds like Campine, Jaerhon, Hamburg, Braekel, Icelandics, Gull-type breeds, etc are less responsive. But the more well-known commoner breeds and layers are less skittish and respond well to our method.

 

[Sylvester017]

Our property is not yet fully fenced, so for safety reasons, our ladies are largely confined to their run and free range for a couple of hours a day in the chicken yard outside their run. I doubt there's a single grub, spider or pill bug still living in their yard and what little landscaping was has been torn to shreds. A month back I purchased a bag of Peaceful Valley Omega-3 Chicken Forage Blend from groworganic.com. I have three rotating flats growing. It takes them several hours to polish off a flat, but as you can see, they really dig it.

I saw an Aussie on youtube build a couple raised boxes with meshed wire over the top. He planted grains and they sprouted through the mesh. The chickens got the greens without digging up the soil at the plant roots. I have a 4x4 raised cedar bed I am going to try using the same way in the yard. Chickens love to scratch and will ruin a patch of planted grain but the mesh or hardwire over the top of the box keeps them from ruining the roots.

 

[Pretty Chickens]

OK....So just how do you "put them back" after their 2 hours? It's like a circus here trying to get mine back into the barn unless it is before duck and they WANT to go back! I would love to let them out for a bit and then have them come when I call, but treats, soaked bread and garlic, sunflower seeds (not a lot unless Winter....I remember, thanks!) or threats work. Is there a suggestion to get them all in at once someone has? I have iver 30 birds and 2 roosters and everyone but 3 seems to have a mind of their own

.............

You can try letting them out on there own and leave the door open. You need to stay with them and when it gets late they will try to go back. Until they learn you will have to watch them.

 

[So Cal Chic]

OK....So just how do you "put them back" after their 2 hours? It's like a circus here trying to get mine back into the barn unless it is before duck and they WANT to go back! I would love to let them out for a bit and then have them come when I call, but treats, soaked bread and garlic, sunflower seeds (not a lot unless Winter....I remember, thanks!) or threats work. Is there a suggestion to get them all in at once someone has? I have iver 30 birds and 2 roosters and everyone but 3 seems to have a mind of their own

.............

Mine are usually out at the end of the day/early evening so maybe they're ready to go in by that time because usually at least two of them are back in when I start rounding them up. Sometimes, they just follow me because, after all, I am snack lady, and even if I'm carrying an empty pie tie, they'll follow me. Other times, snack lady mixes some dried mealworms with a small handful of scratch to toss in. They do go nuts over meal worms and if there are any to be had, the word spreads pretty quickly.

On another subject-- I'd been thinking about what to plant on the exterior perimeter of their run, and the rye with hard cloth over it is an excellent idea and method of preservation.