Friendlier Chicks?

[Michael OShay]

Michael,

Glad to here that you have also had good experiences with Austrolorps! They may just be the culprit that made me fall in love with chickens. Our feed store also has animals and by far my favorite of their chickens is their Austrolorp. She is super patient, will let you pick her up, and in my previous chicken ignorance she would let me pet her while she was broody! (I don't pet broody hens anymore. Silly me!) Thank you for your advice on crowding! Don't worry, their coop will be huge as I plan to have 8+ chickens in he future if my banty adventure goes well. They will also have regular access to free range in my garden also. Any tips on chicken proofing a fenced in garden? I have a small one that I am a little worried about.
Thank you for the reply!

You're welcome. How high is the fence around your garden? If it is at least six feet, you can clip the primary flight feathers on one wing of each of your chickens and that will keep them from being able to fly over the fence. Otherwise you will have to put poultry netting over the top of the garden.

 

[TheBantyCoop]

Hi Michael,

The fence is at least 6 feet and it already has chicken wire on it around the bottom and a little ways under it - To keep them in and our neighbors hunting dog out. I am familiar with wing clipping and I will be sure to clip my girls, how long should I wait to clip them? Can I do it at 6 weeks when they go outside? Thanks for the advice!

-TheBantyCoop

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[Michael OShay]

Hi Michael,

The fence is at least 6 feet and it already has chicken wire on it around the bottom and a little ways under it - To keep them in and our neighbors hunting dog out. I am familiar with wing clipping and I will be sure to clip my girls, how long should I wait to clip them? Can I do it at 6 weeks when they go outside? Thanks for the advice!

-TheBantyCoop

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Your welcome. You want to make sure that they have all their adult feathers before you clip their wings so I would wait until their 8th week to clip their wings. Remember that you will have to re-clip them after each molt as well.

 

[TheBantyCoop]

Will do! Thanks so much!!

 

[Michael OShay]

Will do! Thanks so much!!

You're welcome.

 

[TheBantyCoop]

We wound keeping little Annie!

She flew up onto my knee today with her new feathers, little sweetie! We gave my friend her chicks today and she loves them. A big goodbye to Chessy, Frances, and Ruby (her new chicks).

 

[TheBantyCoop]

Another quick update, for those who are curious! Thank you so much for all of the tips and thing shave been running smoothly. Annie is coming when called now and when she feels like it she will even fly onto my palm or knee and just hunker down for a minute. She has just started trying to climb to my shoulder, and when she succeeds she happily sits and preens. Bunny is also starting to come around and she will come up the edge of the brooder when I enter the room. She likes to fly onto my head, but I am trying to encourage my shoulder instead. Fro is less skittish than Indi and Flossie, but still to completely trusting. I will continue feeding them by hand and holding them frequently. Thank you all!

-El