Behavioural Question

[BioBob]

Good Morning All:

I'm new here (with regard to posting), but I have been lurking around in the background for a month or so. I have searched for the answer to my question to no avail (either here or on other chicken sites), so I will ask for your considered opinions.

I have 8 pullets (16 - 20 wks) that I have been watching for 10 days now. They came from a free range site (about 1 acre) and I have them housed in a Catawba Tractor/Ark. I have added a 12 x 14 tent style Gazebo to one end of the tractor to give them more room to forage.

The problem (if it indeed IS one) is that they stay in the upper section of the Catawba most of the time. I let them out at 6:30 in the morning, they come down, eat (both mash and grass), have some water, and go back up to the coop section. They will then stay up there until I go down about noon and announce "Hey Girls, it is time for lunch". On the sound of my voice they will come down and do their eating routine, and in about a half- hour they will return back upstairs.

They will ocassionally come down mid-afternoon, but usually I will have to go and announce dinner-time.

Is this normal?

 

[meriruka]

Could be that they are afraid of the gazebo. I once fastened a tarp over the end of the run to give mine more shade and they wouldn't go near that area.

I've also found they are as perverse as my cat - I bought him a cool kitty bed/ tower/scratching post and he loved the cardboard box it came in . If I buy him a cool catnip toy, he'll ignore it and play with a Q-tip stolen from the bathroom trash can.

Build your chickens a nice nest box and they will lay their eggs on the floor on the other side of the building. Put up a new roost and they will sleep in the nest box.

The only thing I can suggest it hang some treats from a string (like lettuce) and put a waterer under the gazebo to encourage them to hang out there.

 

[pkeeler]

Try throwing some scratch into the gazebo near the entrance. If that doesn't work, try and work out which hen is the leader. Grab that bird and put her in the gazebo. She might run right back in, but I bet she will be out again. The others will follow in time.

 

[BioBob]

Oops! Apparently I did not make myself clear (that's why I'm an engineer and not a writer).

They DO come into the Gazebo, as that is where their food and water is located.

The abnormality that I am worried about is the number of hours they spend in the COOP (upper part of the Catawba).

It is in the low 80's and the sun is shining, and the coop has been in the sun for more than 3 hours. They have been out once around noon for about 20 minutes, just enough time to re-fuel, and then right back up into the coop.

It is now 1:30 (the hottest part of the day) and not one is outside.

Should I begin to boot them out and pull up the ladder?

 

[meriruka]

I'd boot 'em out so they don't dehydrate. But they'll probably all huddle up against the building.

 

[pkeeler]

Five of my seven hens all went broody about two weeks ago. They stay in the coop all day, except for one or two quick trips out into the yard. It is possible that your hens are broody. Are they sitting on eggs? Do they hiss when you approach?

 

[BioBob]

Hey PK:

No, they are all pullets, maybe a month away from laying.

When I talk to them they come running, and are not fearful of me (although they won't let me touch them yet).

They did do better today, and I made a roost (outdoor), and a sand box for them today. No bathing yet, but they are using the sand for their crops.

Perhaps as it gets warmer they will change their habits. They did move from a quiet country atmosphere to a suburban location with some air traffic noise, and 3 dogs (only one of which pays them any attention). They are about 30 feet from a pond and the frogs are making noise all day, and a couple of Canadians have a nest nearby.

I thought they had "settled in" after about 5 days, but the last 5 have changed my opinion.

Maybe it is me that is the impatient one!

 

[pkeeler]

Ok, I think in time they will be more bold. I won't say chickens aren't brave; but they are not the quickest to explore new places.

 

[GoldenSilverLaced]

I think if you put treats in the area where you want them to go, and stand there holding said treats, they may be more encouraged to go where you want them to. I would think that when they are hot/thirsty/hungry they will go out to alleviate their discomfort...but I could be wrong.