Babies first night in the big hen coop!

[Julia62]

I'm so excited. My three 8.5 week old EE'ers spent their first day fully free ranging with our 2 older hens. They got a little "hen pecked" but not too bad. And tonight they were in the big run just before dark so I put their food in there and closed the gate. The older girls were already on the roost. I just checked again and the little ones were in the coop but not fully settled down yet. I was happy they went in all by themselves though. At dark I'll go check one more time to close the coop door halfway so they and the big girls can get out in the morning (run is secure). I usually don't close it all the way unless its cold or windy and it's not either of those today. I'll be up at 6:00am anyway to let them all out of the run.

My guess is they will sleep in a nest since that's where they've been sleeping in their Jr coop. Tomorrow we'll set them on the roost at dark. It's been a big day for them (and me) .

I just love them all.

 

[N F C]

Kids today, they grow up so fast don't they? It sounds like things went well for the younger girls.

Nice to hear you are enjoying your EE's, I love the one we have in our mixed flock.

 

[Julia62]

They are so much fun. Last night I set them on the roost and they acted as though I had set the on top of the Empire State building! It's about 12" off the coop floor. When I checked on them later, they went into one of the nests and that's where they stayed for the night.

Ginger (Golden Comet) is still chasing them around a bit more than I would like. Mrs Howell (Leghorn) is perfectly fine which surprises me, I thought she would be the aggressor.

The three of them are quite attached to each other. They walk around the yard, eat, and sleep together.

 

[Julia62]

Happy to report it only took two nights of putting them on the roost before they "got it"! On night 3, they all were up on the roost without any help from me! Proud Chicken Momma moment

I also only had to block the nests for two nights. Such smart little girls. Shouldn't call them that, they are so big now.

it so funny, Ginger and Mrs Howell sleep on the left side of the roost, then there is some free space, then Marcia, Jan, and Cindy are on the other side. Curious to see if it stays that way or if they will bridge the gap some day.

 

[N F C]

Love your chicken's names! No Mary Ann?

I can hear Jan whining now, "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia".

 

[Julia62]

MaryAnn died two weeks ago. It was within a 24 hour period she seemed off, kind of still in the afternoon. Later that night just after dark I went to tuck them in (close the coop door and run gate) and she was outside so I put her in the coop on the floor. Next morning we moved her to our triage box, gave her water and electrolytes, food. I checked for being egg bound (with never having done that before), didn't think it felt that way. She just kind of melted away and by late afternoon, she died.

My only thought is internal laying since she was always a sporadic layer from the beginning. She was a Silver Laced Wyandotte. I decided to take fecal samples from all of the chickens including the new ones and get them tested for worms. The big girls had mild tape worms, little ones, nothing. So, big girls got wormer and we are now waiting our 14 days from last treatment to eat eggs again. 7 days to go!

 

[N F C]

Oh, I'm so sorry you lost Mary Ann. That's something that is always hard. Sometimes it just seems to happen.