Chicken Virgin

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DRotblatt said:
It IS fun to watch them try to figure out where to roost....better then TV, I pull up my chair for 1/2 hour or so...many laughs! The Orpington comes to the screen closest to me and chirps at me pitifully asking (I don't laugh at her, she's too cute).
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I am out st my coop for hours...lol! Chickens are way better than tv, totally agreeing with you!!
 
Gray Farms said:
Hello and welcome!! You might try only feeding them in the evening and feeding them in the coop. This will encourage them to go in in the evening and go to bed after eating. Also a light will encourage them to go in when it starts getting dark. Then you can just shut it off after they're all in.

Bella is actually a Silver Leghorn. A Dorking would have red earlobes, white legs, the fifth toe and a heavier, more square build.
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Looking at pics they both look pretty identical to my inexperienced eye. Silver Leghorn it is! I wondered about the missing fifth toe... Still a beautiful bird! Very flighty, won't let me get within 2 feet or her. Not laying eggs yet, but I don't know her age and a lot of change and stress going on around her.
 
Welcome aboard! :frow
We are glad you joined our flock.
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Gray Farms said:
Ya that verifies it even more. Leghorn = Flighty the vast majority of the time. She looks young, 4-5 months tops.
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I thought she was young...even though I'd never owned a chicken before. She is eating calcium though, I put some cuttlefish bones in with here and she's eaten them up. I bought starter feed for the pullets, so she's getting that. I figure she'll eat the calcium she needs on her own. Also she seems to be exhibiting some nesting behavior. We'll see....she'll lay when she's ready!
 
Yep, she'll lay when she is ready. I'd say she is thinking about it. You might put a golf ball in the nest box to encourage her to lay there and not hide her eggs out somewhere.
 
Gray Farms said:
Yep, she'll lay when she is ready. I'd say she is thinking about it. You might put a golf ball in the nest box to encourage her to lay there and not hide her eggs out somewhere.
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I thought about a golf ball....I'll try that if I can find one, but there's nowhere to hide her eggs. I fenced off a 4x6 portion of the run to separate her from the pullets till they get bigger. I put a 2x4 up for her to roost on, and a box with a hole cut in it to nest in. No free ranging until the birds can flock together and I train them to come to me.
 

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