Arizona Chickens

[Demosthine]

Currently enjoying a Hendricks Gin and tonic with lime. Very tasty! Had a good day today.

You know, you're making me feel like a drunk the way you're always talking about all this alcohol... ;-) Just kidding. On the serious side, I've never had a gin and tonic, plus I'm very particular on my alcohols. This American p*ss-water we call beer just doesn't do it for me. I guess it goes back to the German and Irish in me...

Hey again guys. So I had a question about transitioning my ladies to the coop. They are now about 5 weeks old. And they've been spending their days in the coop (all day) for about the past 2 weeks. I noticed that they don't need their heat lamp in their brooder box at night anymore. When I brought them in last night and turned it on, Rosco started panting after a few minutes (and I had already moved the heat lamp as far away as possible). So I turned it off. That's when I discovered that they are afraid of the dark. They got so upset and were cheeping and cheeping. And then when I put a night light out there, they calmed down and went to bed.

So I read on another page here about chickens being afraid of the dark. And some people said they weaned them and just let them cry it out for a couple nights until they got used to it. A lot of other people said they just put a light in the coop. So this morning my husband and went and got and LED landscape light with a solar panel and photovoltaic cell so it would just come on at night. Then I mounted the light towards the top of the roosting area (pointing down). It got dark, and they weren't as clever as I hoped, they just huddled in the corner in the outside part of their coop crying. So I moved them up into the top. I even put some of their food and water up there so they wouldn't have to venture out into the scary dark. So this is kind of the setup....

Problem is, they still never really settled down. I thought maybe they were chilly, but they've been out in the coop in the mornings when it's colder than it is now and were totally fine. After a couple hours of them cheeping away and noticing that they never really settled down for the night, I brought them back into their brooder box with the night light.

Is this typical for when you are transitioning your chicks to the coop overnight? Have you guys had issues with this? Am I doing something wrong? I don't want them to be stressed and upset. But I don't want to coddle them too much either (which is my tendency with all animals). But my only thought is maybe they are just upset because they had never been left in their coop overnight and it was messing with their routine. Or maybe they were chilly. But I even put a little box out there with pine shavings and a couple of buried hand warmers to give them some heat. They weren't really interested. Boss Hogg stays on the roosting sticks, but Rosco always just sits on the floor, I don't know why she's not roosting because she likes roosting on stuff during the day. Ugh, I don't know. Anyway, what do you guys think?

I can't say that any of mine appeared to be afraid of the dark. I don't recall them ever crying at night. I can tell you they were awake and very active the first few nights in the coop, but settled down after a few hours. I've always been a firm believer in letting nature take it's course. Night lights and such don't belong in the coop. If you think about where they would live naturally, prior to their mass domestication of course, they didn't have any of that. When I first started reading, I was concerned about the cold and the heat, too, so I had looked into adding a fan for summer and a heater for winter. As it turns out, chickens are far more hearty than I ever imagined. They seem to thrive in the cold weather. During that short freeze we had in February, I think it was, I had the three new Black Coppers and they went out almost immediately during the day and after about a week they were in the coop with a heat lamp. Less than a week after that, I've kept the heat lamp off. They seem to be the best developing and happiest of the clan.

Now, I will admit that my coop situation is slightly different than most. Ok, it's different than every other one I've read about. It's situated on my back porch nestled into a corner. The back wall of the coop is directly in front of a large window, so they get any ambient light that is coming from the house. We're all usually in bed by 1900 Hours, though, so I can't imagine there would be that much light left over. When I realized how attached my wife had become, I figured she'd want to be able to see them whenever they were in there, so I designed it around that particular spot. With the exception of my full-grown hens, everyone else loves roosting on a piece of vertical 3/4" plywood that I placed "temporarily" to keep the bedding inside until I finished the outer panels. With that back wall being so wide and open, that's their favorite spot. I counted 8 of the 11 roosting across there this morning.

 

[ChicksOfHazzard]

Thanks you everyone for your advice and help!! So I think maybe the strategy I'll take then is to leave them out in the coop with the light for a couple hours each night, then move them back into the brooder box and keep moving the night light farther away.

Is there any harm though do you think in leaving the light in the coop for them? I mean, if they like it, and it doesn't hurt them to do that... it's not like they ever have to get married and explain to their husband that they can't sleep without a night light, you know?

Or do you think there's a down side?

Someone else on here might have better advice, but I can tell you what I did...

We started leaving them out while it started turning dark - each night, we would leave them out a little longer, to both experience the dark and the cold so they could acclimate. When it was time for them to stay out all night, we made sure they were all in the house in a bed of straw/pine shavings. As long as they could all huddle together in a big soft "nest", they were ok with the dark. Maybe you could go the next couple nights in the brooder with just a small amount of light shining in - not a full night light? Also, mine were closer to 8 weeks old, so that might make a difference too. I have a new batch in the brooder right now that are 2-5 weeks old, so it will be interesting to see how these guys do when we start turning out the lights...

Country girl, where did you make the nest for them? In the roosting area or the nesting boxes? And right now, they have most of their feathers and they seem to do fine in the mornings when it's 58 degrees. I would assume it's warm enough for them if they were to stay out all night, but what do you think?

Also, what do you guys think I do with regards to food and water? The book I have says they should always have access to food and water. I mean, duh, I know. But I put some food and water in the roosting area for them last night since I knew they wouldn't want to go into the outside part of the coop. But are they at an age now where they would be ok without food and water overnight (if they didn't want to go down to the bottom to get it)? Or should I leave some up there with them at night until they are older. Again, I don't want to get them used to something they won't have in the future, but I also don't want them to be without.

I should change my name to CoddlerOfHazzard... Thanks again everyone, I appreciate the help!

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

RIP my beautiful sweet Tansy! Three days ago I found Tansy wondering around like she was lost. I thought maybe her top crest got so fluffy she couldn't see we noticed she was kind of thin. I checked her over but found nothing. She had stopped laying also. Well I did trim her face but the next day she was laying around more. I checked her again and saw one lice on the back of her neck this time. I went to work and and clean the coop and dusted all the birds even tho none of the others had any trouble. I cleaned and dusted the other 2 coops also. Tansy acted better yesterday and thought, yea I caught it in time but no this morning she was dead.

I still think lice gets on sick birds but doesn't bother healthy ones. I might be wrong.

So sorry to hear about Tansy. She was a beauty.

One of my hens has lice eggs on her. No one else luckily has them. I have dusted her, sprayed her with lice/mite spray and gave her a bath. Today is a good day for a good thorough spring cleaning of the coop and nest boxes!

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

Happy Easter from my peeps to yours.

 

[Fuzzybird]

Happy Easter everyone! Thanks to those that gave me your condolences. Tansy was very special huggy chicken to me.

 

[MaddBaggins]

You know, you're making me feel like a drunk the way you're always talking about all this alcohol...   ;-)  Just kidding.  On the serious side, I've never had a gin and tonic, plus I'm very particular on my alcohols.  This American p*ss-water we call beer just doesn't do it for me.  I guess it goes back to the German and Irish in me...

I typically have a drink every night and a few on the weekends. Must be the German/Irish in me.
There's a ton of really good beer out there, just stay away from the big brewers.
The Hendricks gin is good, but I still like the Bombay Sapphire better. A gin and tonic is a rathe crisp and refreshing drink. Just make sure it's not bottom shelf gin.

 

[MaddBaggins]

Speaking of coop cleaning, I've been doing a 75% clean out every two weeks right now. Does that sound sufficient?

 

[Demosthine]

Happy Easter from my peeps to yours.

Now that was absolutely hysterical! Not only is it on my FaceBook now, but I want to find one... Thanks for the link!

*** Edit ***
That's the 2013 Hallmark Squakin' Egg Droppin' Hen and is only available in stores or miscellaneous third-party sellers like eBay. As soon as my two Hallmark locations are open, I'm calling and setting one aside!

 

[City farm]

Hey again guys. So I had a question about transitioning my ladies to the coop. They are now about 5 weeks old. And they've been spending their days in the coop (all day) for about the past 2 weeks. I noticed that they don't need their heat lamp in their brooder box at night anymore. When I brought them in last night and turned it on, Rosco started panting after a few minutes (and I had already moved the heat lamp as far away as possible). So I turned it off. That's when I discovered that they are afraid of the dark. They got so upset and were cheeping and cheeping. And then when I put a night light out there, they calmed down and went to bed. So I read on another page here about chickens being afraid of the dark. And some people said they weaned them and just let them cry it out for a couple nights until they got used to it. A lot of other people said they just put a light in the coop. So this morning my husband and went and got and LED landscape light with a solar panel and photovoltaic cell so it would just come on at night. Then I mounted the light towards the top of the roosting area (pointing down). It got dark, and they weren't as clever as I hoped, they just huddled in the corner in the outside part of their coop crying. So I moved them up into the top. I even put some of their food and water up there so they wouldn't have to venture out into the scary dark. So this is kind of the setup.... Problem is, they still never really settled down. I thought maybe they were chilly, but they've been out in the coop in the mornings when it's colder than it is now and were totally fine. After a couple hours of them cheeping away and noticing that they never really settled down for the night, I brought them back into their brooder box with the night light. Is this typical for when you are transitioning your chicks to the coop overnight? Have you guys had issues with this? Am I doing something wrong? I don't want them to be stressed and upset. But I don't want to coddle them too much either (which is my tendency with all animals). But my only thought is maybe they are just upset because they had never been left in their coop overnight and it was messing with their routine. Or maybe they were chilly. But I even put a little box out there with pine shavings and a couple of buried hand warmers to give them some heat. They weren't really interested. Boss Hogg stays on the roosting sticks, but Rosco always just sits on the floor, I don't know why she's not roosting because she likes roosting on stuff during the day. Ugh, I don't know. Anyway, what do you guys think?

First off HAPPY EASTER... I think that it is not good to sleep with a light on... We all need darkness.. I put the light on in our bathroom before they started laying, only to make them think it was a longer day.. That is suppose to help them think it is daytime.. & thus start laying those precious eggs... Birds in the wild don't need a night light neither does a flock... & for heat... If you check other post where others live they don't need heat... The only time a chicken needs heat is when they are young... That is why if you dont have have a brooder you have the mother hen... Your coop looks great... We are newbies so I would check the Old Timers Fourm,, they have great wisdom

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

This my first time with a link, I hope it works. Thought some of you would be interested. The star of the video refers to American chicken (production) as rubbish. I have to agree. One of the reasons I hope some day to move to ware I can have meat chickens, ofcourse my pet egg layers will be safe. Other then the joy just seeing happy animals, in my cases, there is a bonus, eggs. Our eggs are the way they are suppose to be like. The chicken livers and hearts in the store are inlarged and often have exsisive fat, there is a yellow color to the liver. If you found this in a necropsy, you would say it was sick and contributed to its death. Our chicken meat has no flavor, on the other side, because it has no flavor it lenders itself to many dishes, kind of like Tofu.