Ummm, you folks that say your coop was a "weekend project" are mighty fast!
Two weeks later, we are finished (for the most part). We got four hens from a friend and bless their hearts, they had to stay in a rabbit cage all day while we finished securing the fence. One even laid an egg in the cramped cage
I have a few questions and want to make sure I have some things correct.
It was dusk by the time we finished and let them into the pen. They pecked around a while and then all retreated to the roost in the open part of the run. One even dropped an egg after settling in there. None of them even entered the coop
I picked up one and put her in the coop, hoping that if I showed it to her, she'd call the rest up. Well, other than beating me to death with her wings (I now know how NOT to pick them up), that was uneventful. She sat up there a few minutes then simply returned to the roost with the others.
From what I've read here, I need to put a golf ball in each of the nests to get them to lay there, but how do I get them interested in the coop in the first place?
Shouldn't they sleep on the roost in the coop at night?
I put wheat straw in coop and for nest. Is this okay?
These hens are use to eating off the ground (how my friend has fed them for the past year). Do I need to continue feeding them that way until they are use to their new surroundings or can I go straight to a feeder or should I keep feeding them off the ground?
Any suggestions or recommendations are greatly appreciated!
The finished coop and run
First Egg
And my greatest fear is the very intrigued great dane


I have a few questions and want to make sure I have some things correct.
It was dusk by the time we finished and let them into the pen. They pecked around a while and then all retreated to the roost in the open part of the run. One even dropped an egg after settling in there. None of them even entered the coop

From what I've read here, I need to put a golf ball in each of the nests to get them to lay there, but how do I get them interested in the coop in the first place?
Shouldn't they sleep on the roost in the coop at night?
I put wheat straw in coop and for nest. Is this okay?
These hens are use to eating off the ground (how my friend has fed them for the past year). Do I need to continue feeding them that way until they are use to their new surroundings or can I go straight to a feeder or should I keep feeding them off the ground?
Any suggestions or recommendations are greatly appreciated!
The finished coop and run

First Egg

And my greatest fear is the very intrigued great dane
