- Jul 5, 2008
- 6
- 0
- 7
Hello everyone!
I'm new here and hoping to gain some chicken wisdom from you all.
Background:
We live in a suburban neighborhood, but our home was built in the seventies, so we have a pretty large yard.
We brought home some chicks in March, two of which turned out to be roosters. Those have gone to live at a farm where they can crow all they like
That left us with 2 Ameraucanas and one that we think is a Leghorn. This week, we added two more that are a year old, a Barred Rock and a Buff Orpington. Apart from a few squabbles, things have gone well with the new additions.
The Barred Rock is not laying though. I assume this is a natural side effect of her being moved and that she will resume when she's begun to feel at home?
My main question though is this:
We keep our birds in a covered dog run at night, but during the day my kids let them out and they have full run of the backyard.
My boys always wash their hands after handling a chicken, but they often forget to wear shoes in the yard. So they run around barefoot outside (not in the coop though) and then run in the house.
Should I be concerned?
I suppose we could just keep the girls in their run and not let them roam the yard, but they do have such fun hiding in the bushes and chasing bugs.
What are your thoughts?
I'm new here and hoping to gain some chicken wisdom from you all.
Background:
We live in a suburban neighborhood, but our home was built in the seventies, so we have a pretty large yard.
We brought home some chicks in March, two of which turned out to be roosters. Those have gone to live at a farm where they can crow all they like
That left us with 2 Ameraucanas and one that we think is a Leghorn. This week, we added two more that are a year old, a Barred Rock and a Buff Orpington. Apart from a few squabbles, things have gone well with the new additions.
The Barred Rock is not laying though. I assume this is a natural side effect of her being moved and that she will resume when she's begun to feel at home?
My main question though is this:
We keep our birds in a covered dog run at night, but during the day my kids let them out and they have full run of the backyard.
My boys always wash their hands after handling a chicken, but they often forget to wear shoes in the yard. So they run around barefoot outside (not in the coop though) and then run in the house.
Should I be concerned?
I suppose we could just keep the girls in their run and not let them roam the yard, but they do have such fun hiding in the bushes and chasing bugs.
What are your thoughts?