Chicken behavior He. help

[Andrew Ryan]

Hi! New member here. I had 1 backyard chicken named Pidgey who was totally free range and would even come hang out with my cat and dog on the porch and share food occasionally, and even come inside. Shes basically a pet. Well, she IS a pet. We live in a small, tight knit community and nobody has fences. We've had her for about 2 years with no complaints about her wandering into other yards. Then, last week someone bought a house to rent out across the street and low and behold - the cops show up saying I need to build an enclosure. So I did. But then we noticed that after being a bit manic trying to escape, she calmed down. The next few days were ok, but she would occasionally try an escape again. Now, she's been in her coop all day and night and barely eats. We got her two younger (maybe 7-8month old chicks about ready to lay eggs) to see if she'd cheer up. Does anyone have any advice? I hate to see her that way and i went off on the guy across the street; I wanted to hit him. I thought maybe when it's rented out I can let her free range again, and when my daughters are outside playing they let her out and put her back when they come in. But I need advice on how to proceed or what to do with Pidgey. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi Andrew and welcome to BYC. I'd imagine building a coop / run is an option, as is re-homing her.

On this link you'll find lots of information on almost every aspect of keeping chickens - from coop building ideas, to incubating eggs - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/


There’s a link on the page above to the Learning Centre - it’s a great resource. If you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.


Each week, various topics are discussed, which can also be a great resource - https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive


You can use this link to contact members in your area - Find Your State Thread

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[SavKel&RynKel]

Welcome!

Can you build a fence?
If you can enclose her in your own yard, she should still be able to be a part of the family...
if not, then sadly she'll have to be a coop chicken like you've done. having lived the free life I can't say she'll enjoy it, but maybe as you've done with these other birds and hopefully built a nice run and all, she'll get used to the new style of living.

best of luck!
Ryn.

 

[Cayuga momma]

I'm a little confused about her setup. Could you upload some pictures for us?

 

[sourland]

Hello, Andrew, welcome to BYC - don't hit the guy across the street even if he deserves it. Is she sitting in her nest in the coop ? She may be broody.

 

[Kiki]

Welcome! We are glad you joined our flock!
Jump right in and make yourself at home.

This video will help you learn how to navigate this site:

Coop Ideas:
Chicken Coops

BYC has an APP!

 

[Andrew Ryan]

Hi Andrew and welcome to BYC. I'd imagine building a coop / run is an option, as is re-homing her.

On this link you'll find lots of information on almost every aspect of keeping chickens - from coop building ideas, to incubating eggs - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/


There’s a link on the page above to the Learning Centre - it’s a great resource. If you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.


Each week, various topics are discussed, which can also be a great resource - https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive


You can use this link to contact members in your area - Find Your State Thread

Best wishes

Pork Pie

She's always had a co-op and run. Just not enclosed. I built it to have up to 4 nesting/egg collection box

 

[Andrew Ryan]

Welcome!

Can you build a fence?
If you can enclose her in your own yard, she should still be able to be a part of the family...
if not, then sadly she'll have to be a coop chicken like you've done. having lived the free life I can't say she'll enjoy it, but maybe as you've done with these other birds and hopefully built a nice run and all, she'll get used to the new style of living.

best of luck!
Ryn.

 

[Andrew Ryan]

Thank you

 

[Andrew Ryan]

Hello, Andrew, welcome to BYC - don't hit the guy across the street even if he deserves it. Is she sitting in her nest in the coop ? She may be broody.

I'm going to sound so stupid, but I had just thought of that after I posted this. She did have a few eggs this morning after all