About a month ago I posted for the first time that I was going to buy a little farm that included 11 chickens, with a very cool old coop. We closed yesterday and went out there. I was rewarded with 4 eggs yesterday and 5 today. I have to do some work on the setup - new roosts, nesting boxes and outside run rebuild, but the chickens seem to be doing fine. I cleaned the bedding, gave them some veggies, scattered grit and generally just watched and listened to them. The hens are laying their eggs on the floor, all using the same hollowed out nest. I'm hoping once I get some decent nesting boxes (the current ones are too small for plump RIR's) they will lay them there.
Other than that, the alpha roo hasn't been aggressive with me yet, but he could be checking me out. I'm hoping he'll be a good guy. The poor other roo lives in the rafters of the coop. He looks healthy despite this. I moved a small H2O container up there for him. He must come down at some point to eat, but so far I havn't seen him on the coop floor. As soon as we move out there full time I intend to start free ranging and hopefully life will be more pleasant for him. I have had the door open to see what the flock thinks about coming outside, but so far no one has ventured to the door.
Other than that, the alpha roo hasn't been aggressive with me yet, but he could be checking me out. I'm hoping he'll be a good guy. The poor other roo lives in the rafters of the coop. He looks healthy despite this. I moved a small H2O container up there for him. He must come down at some point to eat, but so far I havn't seen him on the coop floor. As soon as we move out there full time I intend to start free ranging and hopefully life will be more pleasant for him. I have had the door open to see what the flock thinks about coming outside, but so far no one has ventured to the door.
