I have just acquired 3 Ameraucana chickens (1 year old) to add to my flock of 8. They have been pretty scared since they got home on Saturday. They don't want to come out of the coop into the fully enclosed run and I am not quite ready to let them out to "free range" in my fenced in area around the coop/run. I am okay with that for right now. I want them to feel that they are safe in the coop for a few more days at least. They have been picked on just a little bit, but I have 1 SLW that has been bauking a lot at them and chasing them around a bit. That is the worst of it, though.
I got these girls from a breeder. He had them in a barn (in a loft area) with no roosts that I can remember. He had their nest boxes up about 3 feet off the floor, but I did see an egg laying on the floor in the nest box area. As far as I could see, they have never been outside of the barn before, so that was very different for them. They also seem somewhat clumsy at jumping over or into things. I don't think they ever had to navigate over things like thresholds or sticks/branches/steps. I have been putting them on the roost the last 2 nights. I have 2 girls that go onto the lower roost last night, but the third one goes into the nesting box because I think she feels safe there. When it is almost dark, I take her out of the nest box and put her on the lower roost with her sisters and she stays there. I am hoping with repeating this, they will just learn to go right up onto the roost. I am really surprised at how scared they are of me. I am only 5 foot tall and always keep a soft voice around them.
I have found 2 different eggs laid on the floor outside of my nest boxes (see picture below of my setup). Is there a way to teach three 1 year old birds to lay eggs in a nest box that is different than what they have been used for the past 6 months? They seem to run into the nest boxes when they are scared, so I am not sure they get it. I have all my original girls laying eggs in the boxes, so the eggs sit there all day. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to encourage them to lay in the boxes or is it hard to teach an old bird new tricks?
As I said, I have already gotten 2 different eggs from them. I am a bit disappointed by their color (or lack thereof). The breeder is on the national Ameraucana breeders list, so I assumed all of their eggs were supposed to be blue. The egg I saw laying in their barn/loft was as blue as could be. Please look at the below eggs and let me know what you think. The left 2 eggs are from my Easter Eggers (I consider both eggs to be green) and the right 2 are from my new girls. Number 3 egg seems to be almost as green as the EE's and the far right one is almost white. I am so confused. Any thoughts? I haven't seen what the third girl has produced as of yet.
I would appreciate any help or tips you can give me to make this an easier transition and to help them start laying in their nest boxes or am I just needing to put a separate kitty litter type box in their for them to lay in? Any tips, suggestions, recommendations would be most helpful. Thanks!
Wendy
I got these girls from a breeder. He had them in a barn (in a loft area) with no roosts that I can remember. He had their nest boxes up about 3 feet off the floor, but I did see an egg laying on the floor in the nest box area. As far as I could see, they have never been outside of the barn before, so that was very different for them. They also seem somewhat clumsy at jumping over or into things. I don't think they ever had to navigate over things like thresholds or sticks/branches/steps. I have been putting them on the roost the last 2 nights. I have 2 girls that go onto the lower roost last night, but the third one goes into the nesting box because I think she feels safe there. When it is almost dark, I take her out of the nest box and put her on the lower roost with her sisters and she stays there. I am hoping with repeating this, they will just learn to go right up onto the roost. I am really surprised at how scared they are of me. I am only 5 foot tall and always keep a soft voice around them.
I have found 2 different eggs laid on the floor outside of my nest boxes (see picture below of my setup). Is there a way to teach three 1 year old birds to lay eggs in a nest box that is different than what they have been used for the past 6 months? They seem to run into the nest boxes when they are scared, so I am not sure they get it. I have all my original girls laying eggs in the boxes, so the eggs sit there all day. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to encourage them to lay in the boxes or is it hard to teach an old bird new tricks?
As I said, I have already gotten 2 different eggs from them. I am a bit disappointed by their color (or lack thereof). The breeder is on the national Ameraucana breeders list, so I assumed all of their eggs were supposed to be blue. The egg I saw laying in their barn/loft was as blue as could be. Please look at the below eggs and let me know what you think. The left 2 eggs are from my Easter Eggers (I consider both eggs to be green) and the right 2 are from my new girls. Number 3 egg seems to be almost as green as the EE's and the far right one is almost white. I am so confused. Any thoughts? I haven't seen what the third girl has produced as of yet.
I would appreciate any help or tips you can give me to make this an easier transition and to help them start laying in their nest boxes or am I just needing to put a separate kitty litter type box in their for them to lay in? Any tips, suggestions, recommendations would be most helpful. Thanks!
Wendy
