brand new & plenty of questions

[phaethona]

Hi! I'm new here. This is my first year with my little ladies, 5 production reds, 1 rhode island red, 1 black sex-link, 1 white leghorn, 1 phoenix and 1 other(cant figure out the breed). This being my first experience raising chickens, I have a ton of questions. My production reds are about 6 weeks old and were introduced to the coop this last weekend. we havent built the run yet, but there is chicken wire wrapped around the bottom of the coop which is 2 ft. off the ground, and I let them out of the coop and they stay underneath it during the day. I just read a post a few minutes ago that said something about locking them in the coop for one week so they know thats where home is. Is that something I should be doing? I am wondering how I'm going to get them to go back in the coop at night. I'm going to try to let them free-range but I'm not sure how that will work out since I have neighbors(yard is about 1 acre fenced in) and they all have dogs, not sure if the chickens will try to roost on the fence, etc. I have several more questions, but will keep it short for now. thanks!

kelly

 

[tammyd57]

Yes, if you lock them in the coop for at least a couple days right at first, they will know that's 'home' and go back in there at night all by themselves. You won't need to try to get them in there.

 

[MareeZoCool]

From Ohio. I'm still less than a year new to chicken- handling & loving, but I try to read all the advice given by the experts here daily. The one thing I've learned is to keep feed in the coop. The chickens will go home around sunset. If you see them trying to roost on your neighbor's fence, try calling them back home with a bit of treats. Make sure your coop has a nice roosting place.That was one of my biggest errors!

Good luck with your flock!

 

[rnrterp]

Make sure you close them into the coop every night. That chicken wire won't keep out any predators. Roger & Rosie

 

[phaethona]

yeah we made sure to make a predator-proof door from the run to the coop, and they go in the coop at night. at first my husband didn't think anything could get past the wire, but the first night he accidentally left a small bowl of food out and it was cleaned out by morning. my guess is mice.

I let them out this morning, left the door open all day, and they all stayed under the coop most of the day so far. I came back from an appointment and 2 of them had ventured out looking for food. so what I'm wondering is, how should I keep them fed all day if there should only be food in the coop? should I let them get hungry enough to venture out and eat grass? I certainly dont want to teach them bad habits by feeding them wherever they want.
thanks again,
kelly

 

[newchicksnducks]

Quote:
You would be surprised by what type of critters might be living nearby. Our first ducks were killed by weasels....who knew there were weasels in suburban NE Ohio?!? And they can fit into a place as big as your wrist...not too big! For security, you'll need to have your chicks in a secure at night, because it may not have been mice eating the food.