Getting to know chickens -media diary

[Martaals]

I'm really loving your 3d and your chickens
it takes me back to when i got my first chickens. It is touching..
thank you your little friends are cuuuuuute!!!

It's something very exciting and rewarding to be completely new and meet up with the world of chickens! I'm happy you enjoy it!

 

[Martaals]

I am loving the stories of your beautiful flock. I look forward to watching the grow up!

Yeah, me too! And they are growing, it's like.... I was gone for a few days only, and mmy first thought when I saw them was how much bigger especially Greta is! Time is going to fly I'm sure.

 

[Jac Jac]

I loved reading this! Thank you for sharing. Wishing you all the best in your new adventures with your beautiful girls!

Same here. Striving to be able to physically handle my flock mates like that. There's too many of them right now and I'm physically too weak, but getting stronger every day. Life of late has truly been an adventure but so glad to be here. Thank for the pics of your special ladies.

 

[Martaals]

Okay, some days I went away and the chickens were all very well cared for by their other mother. But I will skip straight to yesterday which was a great reunion day


DAY 15
So after all this time I was very curious to have a look at the little ladies again. I think they got bigger! Or if not, then at least.... fuller or something.
Anyway, it was rather windy today so chickens enjoyed human huddling. Kali decided to take a nap with her head as deep as possible into the sleeve of my jacket.

So I just kind of kept her there while doing other stuff, until I wanted to go inside and tried to put her down. She much preferred my windshell jacket to the dutch breeze and ended up flying around a little, and decided to land inside my hoodie So I stayed with the chickens for a little longer

Hey Kali don't you wanna come out? Go to the other girls?

Ehm I'm good here, thanks... Why would you take the hoodie off?


Eventually she got reunited with the rest and I could go up to get my own breakfast



Another nice little thing that happened, a bit later on, was that we taught them a new handy little thing. By making a ladder of hands where they need to step onto the hand to get treats, we can get them to step onto the hand. Maybe this will make them better at roosting as well, because while Greta is really good at grabbing with her feet the two other are a little clumsy sometimes
I will post pictures but I have to go.

 

[Shadrach]

Hello @Martaals
May I suggest, if you are not already doing this, that you make sure you back up all your observations and posts. All documented observations of chicken behavior in a variety of environments is helpful for future understanding and of course, great to review as the years go by.
One very important point is chickens can see in the dark, they just don't see very well. It's the not seeing very well that tends to make them reluctant to move around after a particular light level is reached. They can certainly see well enough in the dark to fly if absolutely necessary and here when an outside nest has been disturbed during the night they see well enough to seek cover elsewhere.
Another point that is also worth making is chickens do not choose dark places to lay their eggs given a choice. This comes from their ancestors who laid their eggs on the jungle floor.
There are studies that suggest that a certain amount of daylight reaching the eggs is important for correct development.
I've provided a few links below that may be of interest.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-016-1064-4https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/pecking-order/410238.article?storycode=410238https://brill.com/view/journals/beh/137/6/article-p705_3.xml

 

[aart]

I think they are now making use of them, since I closed off the nests, so for now I will leave them as they are. I just thoght chickens automatically would use them, didn't realise I had to help them to understand
But it's basically this one: https://www.dekippenspecialist.nl/kippenhok-country-club

Typical Tiny PreFab.
Roost are low, making the nests a much more attractive place to sleep.
Here's an excellent modification to that kind of coop:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-in-nest-boxes.1134399/page-2#post-17749535

 

[BY Bob]

Okay, some days I went away and the chickens were all very well cared for by their other mother. But I will skip straight to yesterday which was a great reunion day


DAY 15
So after all this time I was very curious to have a look at the little ladies again. I think they got bigger! Or if not, then at least.... fuller or something.
Anyway, it was rather windy today so chickens enjoyed human huddling. Kali decided to take a nap with her head as deep as possible into the sleeve of my jacket.
View attachment 2016680
So I just kind of kept her there while doing other stuff, until I wanted to go inside and tried to put her down. She much preferred my windshell jacket to the dutch breeze and ended up flying around a little, and decided to land inside my hoodie So I stayed with the chickens for a little longer
View attachment 2016681
Hey Kali don't you wanna come out? Go to the other girls?
View attachment 2016682View attachment 2016683
View attachment 2016684

Ehm I'm good here, thanks... Why would you take the hoodie off?
View attachment 2016685

Eventually she got reunited with the rest and I could go up to get my own breakfast
View attachment 2016686


Another nice little thing that happened, a bit later on, was that we taught them a new handy little thing. By making a ladder of hands where they need to step onto the hand to get treats, we can get them to step onto the hand. Maybe this will make them better at roosting as well, because while Greta is really good at grabbing with her feet the two other are a little clumsy sometimes
I will post pictures but I have to go.

This is the best. There is nothing like when they want to be with you and cuddle. I have only had 2 over years that wanted to do that. If you like it, don't discourage the behavior.

 

[Martaals]

Same here. Striving to be able to physically handle my flock mates like that. There's too many of them right now and I'm physically too weak, but getting stronger every day. Life of late has truly been an adventure but so glad to be here. Thank for the pics of your special ladies.

I imagine with more birds it's hard to have enough time. We are 3 people for 3 chickens, which is pretty easily doable but I also have to make sure I give the cats enough attention so 3 chickens already feels like a lot of dedication. I also keep them more as pets then as livestock. I can not imagine to have more pets at the moment, but I think for the chickens it's more ideal to be with more birds and more space and on the countryside somewhere.
I don't know what happened to you lately, but I wish you all the best and take your time!

 

[Martaals]

Hello @Martaals
May I suggest, if you are not already doing this, that you make sure you back up all your observations and posts. All documented observations of chicken behavior in a variety of environments is helpful for future understanding and of course, great to review as the years go by.
One very important point is chickens can see in the dark, they just don't see very well. It's the not seeing very well that tends to make them reluctant to move around after a particular light level is reached. They can certainly see well enough in the dark to fly if absolutely necessary and here when an outside nest has been disturbed during the night they see well enough to seek cover elsewhere.
Another point that is also worth making is chickens do not choose dark places to lay their eggs given a choice. This comes from their ancestors who laid their eggs on the jungle floor.
There are studies that suggest that a certain amount of daylight reaching the eggs is important for correct development.
I've provided a few links below that may be of interest.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-016-1064-4https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/pecking-order/410238.article?storycode=410238https://brill.com/view/journals/beh/137/6/article-p705_3.xml

Hey Shadrach,
I had not considered backing it up somewhere for purposes like that, already just sharing with you guys here feels like more of a documentation than I was imagining with the chickens (I love to take pictures of them, so that's how it all started with this little diary). But I suppose it is fairly straight forward to download it all and save it.

And I'm definitely going to check out those links! All the information you have given so far is super interesting.

About when they all were a bit freaking out in the dark on the first night, they seemed to be very confused and it's the only time I've ever seen them sort of panic (flying/flapping wings "aimlessly" and running around while making loud noises). So more than not being able to see, I suppose they were just not understanding what they had to do. The moment we put them in the roosting space they calmed down instantly and their problem was solved, and nothing like that has happened later. Quite intriguing. Also very fascinating how "regulated" they seem to be by the light.

 

[Martaals]

Typical Tiny PreFab.
Roost are low, making the nests a much more attractive place to sleep.
Here's an excellent modification to that kind of coop:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-in-nest-boxes.1134399/page-2#post-17749535

Thanks for the link! I'm really unhandy, so I will pass this on to my housemates I'm already happy they started using it, but it seems not too complicated to make it more attractive for them. Might come in handy especially before we are going to open up the nests again.