Coop Done!!!! Picked up Chickens!!! Now... ?

[UrbanChick101]

Well, What a good day we are having!!! The girls are loving thier new coop, they venture in and out many times today. And!!! Tonight, I went out to get them on the roost and all 6 of them were snuggled there all together ~ on thier own!!!!

Love them chickens!!! My husband put roosts in the pen for them today and is going to install a privacy fence for them tomorrow, so they will be able to free range some!!! And hopefully we will get eggs before too long!! What a good chicken day!!

 

[saxet]

 

[3chimama]

Yay!!! Having chickens brings so much joy to my life as well!
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[UrbanChick101]

We had an awesome first week with chickens!! It can only get better!! Especially when we get our first eggs!!!! My husband built a privacy fence that blocks the kids playset as well as the chicken coop from the street. It also provides a square of our yard that is now completely fenced in with to allow our girls to have some free ranging space.

We tried this out for the first time yesterday. It went well ~ honestly I was a nervous wreck.

Being in the city, which just passed the ordinance to allow chickens, I don't want mine to be the first to break the rules and get outside of a fenced in area. I also do not want one of my girls to jump into neighbors yard and become a nice chicken snack for thier dogs. The birds are a tad bit flighty. Two of the girls pecked at eachother which sent them both flying through the air. They travelled quite a few feet and were more than 5 foot in the air. I made the kids make sure the doors were open to their pen/coop and they all went in right away after that. *On thier own!*

We have been talking about clipping thier wings. I am sure some are for it and some oppose. With living in a fairly large city, I don't want to take any chances on them flying out of our yard. What are some different experiences you have had with clipping wings? Pros/Cons?

 

[BWKatz]

I haven't clipped my chickens because they are in an enclosed pen but I clippped my cockateils. It did keep him from fling up ontop my pictures and exposed beams. I was afraid if he got up there I'd never get him down. LOL He also was much friendlier and would perch on my arm more with wings clipped. He didn't mind getting them clipped.Just like cutting ur fingernails.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I do not clip my chickens wings, they have a 7 ft fence around their run (not covered) and only a couple of them got out when they were young. Yours are large breeds, so they won't be able to fly as high when they gain some more size.

Keep in mind that if you clip their wings, they are less able to escape predators. The outer 10 feathers on each wing are the flight feathers. Pick 1 and clip just 1 of those feathers on one side only. This puts them off balance, so flight is less likely. If you clip both sides, they can learn to just flap harder to get where they want to go.

 

[Naughty]

But how are you going to get any eggs if you don't have any roosters??

(being a smart aleck here)

 

[UrbanChick101]

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Honestly, Do you know how many people have asked me about not getting eggs, since we can't have roosters in the city? In the past two weeks, I am sure 5 or more people have asked. I give them a perplexed look, and they ask, well?

Why do you want chickens if you won't get any eggs??

I guess I was stunned that they were totally serious!!!

 

[saxet]

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Oh...cut them some slack.

If you think about it: your b i t c h -edited for decency filter- will not have pups without a dog, your cat will not have kittens without a tom, your cow will not have a calf if you don't have a bull involved, and most birds will not lay eggs unless they have a partner. I don't know how long I have known that chickens are different, (a loooooong time) but at some point in my past, I am sure that was quite a revalation for me, as for all of us.

 

[CarolAnn]

Ha ha......I found out about the whole rooster thing back in 1972 when I got chickens the first time. It's really tickles me to hear how many people, who've never been involved with chickens, think you can't get eggs without a roo. Same thing with people who think roosters only crow once a day, when the sun comes up. lol

We're not planning to clip wings unless my girls start flying off. They're out 1-1.5 hrs every evening and seem content with the yard they get to roam/play,scratch in.