Chickens out!! Whoopee!!

[merryreader]

Today, I let the chickens out the front( chicken)door instead of the side( chicken) door that goes to their pen(which is muddy). There is a patch of bare ground in the sun that they stayed in and happily scratched through soggy leaves and other earthy stuff. They seemed to really enjoy it. I hope it helps with their picking problem. It seems good that Spring is REALLY here!! I plan on letting free range every day when I am at home. Merry

 

[CarriBrown]

That's great!! I'm sure it will help with the picking, too. They'll have plenty to pick at besides each other.

 

[bigzio]

Merry, One of the best things you can do to make the chickens happy is to let them out when you can.
You won't believe how much this will help.
Peeps really love to get out and eat grass.

bigzio

 

[pegbo]

I too let my chickens out today and I'm in NY. We got up to 60 degrees! My problem was getting them in tonight as none of them wanted to go!!! And I just cleaned their coop this morning so it was nice and fresh smelling!

 

[merryreader]

I do have 1 problem. Scarlet can't come out. If she does, they tackle her. She stays inside the coop. She has water and food and I give her treats, but why won't they let her out. Inside, they don't seem to bother her. She is the last one to go to roost at night. She always hung with the other rooster before he died. In the run, she always came out doors and things seemed o.k. Do you think eventually they will let her out?

 

[bigzio]

Merry, chickens can be relentless at times. If it was me and had the time on that given day, I would help the peep out and give it a chance to enjoy the green grass, which they love to eat. Just keep a eye on the flock and see how it goes. I'm sure once they realize she isn't a threat to them, things will settle down.

bigzio

 

[justusnak]

I too let my flock out for the first time yesterday.....They were all a little scared at first. The first hen came through the gate..and stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she saw the grass, and started nibbling. Well....when the others saw she was eating...the shoved her right out the gate!! Eventually, they all migrated to the woods behind the house and soon the old leaves were flyin!! They were all so happy, forageing in the leaf clutter. After about 2 hours....I went out with a small pan of scratch...called them...BABIES!!! They came running...and followed me back to thier yard. Tossed in the scratch..and in they went. OHHHhhh this is a GREAT time of the year! I was rewarded with 10 eggs today...from 11 hens! WOOHOO! Good girls..happy hens!

 

[merryreader]

About 1/2 hour before they went in for the night, she came out , ran around with them, like nothing happened. Strange. I love to see them stir up the leaves! They seem to enjoy it so much.I don't know what they could be getting for bugs since the ground is still frozen underneath. Maybe old seeds. I HAD been getting 10- 11 eggs a day, the past month from 12 hens, but yesterday I only got 5, and 1 was puny, but I don't care! They weren't raised for eggs(It's a nice bonus). I just like having them around. merry

 

[speckledhen]

When spring-type weather hit, my eggs went down some, from 8-10 eggs a day to 5-7 eggs a day for a couple of weeks. It was almost like my Girls had spring fever themselves and didn't want to sit in some old sweatbox when they could be out sunbathing, LOL. It did pick up again and yesterday, I got 10 eggs from 10 hens again.