Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

I am pretty sure that isn't the issue.
She has an extreme version of what many of my chickens have had, which is a firm belief that the only route to get from A to B is in a straight line regardless of the presence of obstacles (like the hardware cloth wall of the Chicken Palace) in between.
The coop, and all her chicken frenemies were to the North of where she was. But to get there she had to go 10' to the South, hang a left and go in the door. Only then could she head due North to get to bed.
She paced back and forth looking in through the hardware cloth separating her and the coop to the North.
Hopefully she will learn with practice - though honestly they all hang out in that spot and she has made that exact journey many times before!
Maybe when I snipped her head feathers I accidentally removed some of her brains.

The old hatch has been closed for almost 3 months....they still circle the coop to use that door....but when I kick it open for them refuse and head round to the new one.

 

[featherhead007]

This is a lot of loss in a few days! Poor Dakota, I hope you find out what’s going on and find her too.



I don’t know why the emojis are not in a line. When I choose it, it does a Return…

Something is wrong here at my farm, and it’s making me a bit disenchanted

 

[kattabelly]

Something is wrong here at my farm, and it’s making me a bit disenchanted

I think we all have times like this. It doesn't make it any less sad or frustrating while it's happening, and obviously we shouldn't just sit back and wait for problems to fix themselves, but I think it can be good to remember that things going wrong - and the feelings that come with that - is something that happens to almost everyone, and almost never lasts.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I am pretty sure that isn't the issue.
She has an extreme version of what many of my chickens have had, which is a firm belief that the only route to get from A to B is in a straight line regardless of the presence of obstacles (like the hardware cloth wall of the Chicken Palace) in between.
The coop, and all her chicken frenemies were to the North of where she was. But to get there she had to go 10' to the South, hang a left and go in the door. Only then could she head due North to get to bed.
She paced back and forth looking in through the hardware cloth separating her and the coop to the North.
Hopefully she will learn with practice - though honestly they all hang out in that spot and she has made that exact journey many times before!
Maybe when I snipped her head feathers I accidentally removed some of her brains.

The straight-line brain is characteristic here too. Opening the wire mesh door for two hens yesterday: each time she wanted to ultimately go to the right. She can see what she wants. That's the hinge side of the door however. Also, she is standing beak-to-wire. So she must take a few steps back, and then a few to the left, to go around the door as it opens. Can she do that? Apparently not!

 

[kattabelly]

Something I've found often helps when chickens are trying to walk through wire mesh instead of the open door (that they've usually used a hundred times before ) just to one side, is to stick my hand/leg/whatever through from the other side and then pull it back once they've noticed. Posting another chicken through and then calling them back works even better but there isn't always an amenable chicken in grabbing distance. Either way, it gives them something to follow when they're too focused on *getting over there* to stop and think for themselves.

I also make sure chicks are introduced to increasingly complicated obstacles in the first two weeks of their lives and that does seem to make a difference compared to ones that just started out in a fairly empty space. Someone posted a study about this on another thread recently iirc.

 

[Ponypoor]

I am pretty sure that isn't the issue.
She has an extreme version of what many of my chickens have had, which is a firm belief that the only route to get from A to B is in a straight line regardless of the presence of obstacles (like the hardware cloth wall of the Chicken Palace) in between.
The coop, and all her chicken frenemies were to the North of where she was. But to get there she had to go 10' to the South, hang a left and go in the door. Only then could she head due North to get to bed.
She paced back and forth looking in through the hardware cloth separating her and the coop to the North.
Hopefully she will learn with practice - though honestly they all hang out in that spot and she has made that exact journey many times before!
Maybe when I snipped her head feathers I accidentally removed some of her brains.

Yep - I have few like that. When doling out the morning porridge I have a few that will look through the chicken wire and pace expecting me to bring them their food.

Then there are the Noirans - they know to run 10’ up through the door and 10’ back down to me and the gold mine of hot morning grub.

Every morning I go and herd the dingalings up and through the door. The same door just 15 min earlier they exited when I let them all out!

 

[Ponypoor]

Something I've found often helps when chickens are trying to walk through wire mesh instead of the open door (that they've usually used a hundred times before ) just to one side, is to stick my hand/leg/whatever through from the other side and then pull it back once they've noticed. Posting another chicken through and then calling them back works even better but there isn't always an amenable chicken in grabbing distance. Either way, it gives them something to follow when they're too focused on *getting over there* to stop and think for themselves.

I also make sure chicks are introduced to increasingly complicated obstacles in the first two weeks of their lives and that does seem to make a difference compared to ones that just started out in a fairly empty space. Someone posted a study about this on another thread recently iirc.

The youngsters seem to do fine, it’s once they get into egg laying that their brains go to mush! A chicken version of baby brain???

 

[Ponypoor]

Something is wrong here at my farm, and it’s making me a bit disenchanted

I sure hope the missing flock members show up. Was Dakota a broody hen?

 

[kattabelly]

The youngsters seem to do fine, it’s once they get into egg laying that their brains go to mush! A chicken version of baby brain???

Haha, my older ones do fine as a rule. It seems to be the younger ones that sometimes get turned around here - I think being less senior means they're likely to be more frantic about trying to get back to their own group / away from the older chickens, or to get to a valuable treat since they don't have the status or size to just barge in and take what they want. And those two Shetlands that I think are just really not too bright even when they can see where they're going.

 

[Marie2020]

I think we all have times like this. It doesn't make it any less sad or frustrating while it's happening, and obviously we shouldn't just sit back and wait for problems to fix themselves, but I think it can be good to remember that things going wrong - and the feelings that come with that - is something that happens to almost everyone, and almost never lasts.

Perfect