Encouraging exercise & sanitation (Getting 'em off the ground) = cotes

[Resolution]

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Hmm- if they sleep really high up like peafowl or argus yes- they seem to sleep on the same roosts for a very long time but their quadruped enemies cannot reach them.

I think not for most landfowl. You can find their sign under a tree in the forest but they seem to move about quite a lot from week to week.

 

[patandchickens]

Personally, I think that it is more useful to observe (and design accordingly for) the actual chickens one has, rather than going off into debates about what green junglefowl do or don't do and how much or how little.

Some domestic chicken breeds are fairly close to their original wild ancestors in behavior. Others, not so much.

I truly, truly believe that the best thing is to have lots of space and then experiment to see what works best for your own chickens. This isn't even totally a breed thing -- different lines within a breed can be pretty different in terms of things like how mcuh they like to fly, etc.

Build big; populate small; experiment with habitat complexity to see what your particular chickens do well with; and use a droppings board or the equivalent if at all possible.

Not sure there is anything else that is unambigously and without tradeoff a "higher level of stewardship".

Pat

 

[WoodlandWoman]

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x2

I have heavy breeds. I normally never see my free range chickens anywhere but on the ground, unless it's time to roost. There are plenty of things they could get up on, they just choose not to. The only thing I've seen them get up on in the yard in years are our laps or the patio chairs, to get attention. Usually, they are happy just to come over and visit on the ground, though.

Chickens confined to an empty run have a really boring life. I think any environmental enrichment you can give them is a good idea. When confined for whatever reason, they may jump up on things in the run, especially if it gives them a better view of something they can't see from the ground. Allowed to free range, my chickens could care less about anything in their run. They were born to forage and nap under shrubs.

It's hard to convince people that what's been working successfully for them for decades, without any disease problems, is all wrong and will kill their chickens. Maybe people that disagree with you aren't just stupid. Maybe they aren't just too stubborn and blind to see that you are right. Maybe they've just had different experiences, that have taught them different things than your experiences have taught you.

We all make different choices when caring for our chickens. I would never leave a less athletic chicken to be killed as "vermin bait." That's why my coop is constructed with plywood and 1/2" hardware cloth, to keep them safe at night. If other people want to practice survival of the fittest, that's their choice.

 

[elmo]

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Yes! Absolutely.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
x2

I have heavy breeds. I normally never see my free range chickens anywhere but on the ground, unless it's time to roost. There are plenty of things they could get up on, they just choose not to. The only thing I've seen them get up on in the yard in years are our laps or the patio chairs, to get attention. Usually, they are happy just to come over and visit on the ground, though.

Chickens confined to an empty run have a really boring life. I think any environmental enrichment you can give them is a good idea. When confined for whatever reason, they may jump up on things in the run, especially if it gives them a better view of something they can't see from the ground. Allowed to free range, my chickens could care less about anything in their run. They were born to forage and nap under shrubs.

It's hard to convince people that what's been working successfully for them for decades, without any disease problems, is all wrong and will kill their chickens. Maybe people that disagree with you aren't just stupid. Maybe they aren't just too stubborn and blind to see that you are right. Maybe they've just had different experiences, that have taught them different things than your experiences have taught you.

We all make different choices when caring for our chickens. I would never leave a less athletic chicken to be killed as "vermin bait." That's why my coop is constructed with plywood and 1/2" hardware cloth, to keep them safe at night. If other people want to practice survival of the fittest, that's their choice.

Agree with both of you. I would add that my free range birds have access to woods, and could easily jump up on fallen logs or fly up onto branches or vines. They prefer to scratch in the leaf litter on the ground; I've never seen them get up on anything in there.

 

[knjinnm]

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I had to stop free ranging when the soft fruit trees were bearing because my normally content to scratch about on the ground flock became tree climbers.
Joe

 

[elmo]

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I have one hen that keeps trying to lay her eggs on top of the six foot tall run. And inside the coop, all the hens prefer the raised nest box to lay in. If they hatched chicks in a raised nest box, I do wonder how the chicks would manage to get down. They certainly would not ever be able to get back in, but maybe in a more natural situation the hen leaves the hatching nest (and the egg shells) behind and nests with her chicks elsewhere.

In the wild, a ground nesting bird is terribly exposed. It does not surprise me at all that, if given the ability to nest higher, chickens would prefer it.

 

[geebs]

I must argue in favor of the off the ground thing.... My bird would frequently sneak out an nest off the ground... There is ample opportunity to nest on the ground, however the very smart ones are off the ground and VERY hard to find... I would seet them maybe once a day... They never created any litter near their nest...they got off it to deficate. This has happened lots... I have also had some that snuck off and nested on the ground... so I think both sides of the argument have merit... None of them were junglefowl... just barnyard chickens.... One was a leghorn.

 

[NBarnes]

From some of the posts, I get the idea that I'm walking into the middle of a conversation with this thread....

I'm currently in the wish-casting stage of planning a replacement coop for our eight hens here in the western Cascade Foothills of Washington State. Our current coop nearly entirely fails to be appropriately sheltering given that we practically live in a rain forest. What kind of things does this 'cope' approach to chicken housing involve? Some of the pics are pretty, but way, way too open and sheltered for a ranch with a climate like Seattle's, only more rain.

 

[Lotsapaints]

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Geebs can help ya she lives where her chickens can paddle a canoe find the winterizing thread for some more pictures but raising things up where it's wet is a good thing...