First Night in their Coop....I'm SO nervous!!!

[PamB]

So, I guess this is what I get for reading the Preditors/Pests posts for so long on here. My 10 week old Silkies are spending their first night in their coop!

I'm SO nervous for them!!! We finally finished the coop (besides a little touch up paint on the outside and a couple cute signs to be hung) today! Tomorrow we will continue work on their run. I'm happy that they have more room to flap their wings and move around in their coop....but now that it is dark out...I'm SO scared for them!!!

 

[gryeyes]

Shhh, shhhh, shhhh. It will be all right.

That first night out is always rough on us. Every time I put a new batch o' chicks outside, I experience the same concerns. (I too avoid the "emergencies" and the "predator pest" forums!! But sometimes you just don't know where a "recent post" will take you!)

Your babies will be fine. You might not get great sleep, but DO NOT sneak out there in nightclothes and with a flashlight to check on them more than ONCE tonight.

Get that? No more than ONCE! Unless you hear something.... and if you do, make sure it's a REAL "heard something" first. Okay?


*pat, pat, pat*

 

[PamB]

Thank you for the support! We just went out to adjust the sensor lights so that the coop lights up if anything comes near it. That makes me feel a bit better. It is sure dark out there.

Last time I peeked at them (about an hour ago), they were all sleeping....so I think I'm much more stressed than they are...

 

[pat1297]

I also put my 6 assorted hen babies outside in the new coop last night. I found them to be scared and kept squacking for over 20 mins so I took their cardboard box to them and put them in it and they settled right down. I guess they were a bit frightened and I would be too. I hope they will like their new house, because it sure was a chore and costly to build it.
I wonder when they will prefer a roost to a big huddle in the corner????

 

[Jen71]

I remember feeling this way too.

They will be just fine.

I know what you mean about it being dark out there. At first, that worried me, but now I realize that my chickens can't see very well in dim light anyway. So as long as they're settled in by dusk, they don't move until dawn. My girls have been sleeping so soundly in their coop. I'm sure yours will be the same.

It's funny, but I felt like a mother who had a teenager out all night.

Thinking about them, worrying about them, wondering if they're ok.

 

[cindy99]

I felt the same way. My husband went to Radio Shack and bought me a camera that is wired in with phone wire - over 400' - I sleep much better now!

I have a little tv on my night stand that only has one channel - the chicken channel!

They (the chickens) have been fine! They haven't needed me even once... LOL

 

[Jen71]

Hahaha! Cindy - that is great!

I can't imagine my husband hooking up a candid camera setup for me to watch our chickens, but I think it's fantastic!

My kids would love having the camera on the nesting box to see when they're laying eggs. We've been trying to figure out which chicken has been laying ENORMOUS eggs. The camera would solve that problem - assuming we were all sitting around watching it at the time.

 

[PamB]

Ooohh, a camera!! I like that idea! Maybe I'll have to do that. They really seemed fine when I put them out there earlier. I thought they'd freak out a bit. But my daughter went in with them for about a half hour and they were pecking at the walls, climbing all over her, eating, drinking, and doing their normal "chicken" thing in no time! I was surprised!! I just hope we secured their coop well. I THINK we did. I just don't want to find out we didn't the hard way. We'd all be heartbroken.

 

[cindy99]

At night I just zip it up around the screen and I can still leave the sound on.

I usually hit the power button around 4:30 when Henry starts to crow... LOL

This isn't a good picture - the night view is just black and white. I have two big chickens on this side and 8 little girls on the other side of the coop.

 

[PamB]

That is so great!!! I just showed my husband and he smiled and rolled his eyes, so I doubt I'll get a set up like that anytime soon. (Maybe once the run is finally complete, I'll have better luck with additional requests...haha) What a nice hubby you have to do that for you!!!!