MrKnittle
Chirping
I have had a heck of a time with my flock. In previous posts, I explained duckling deaths, etc, and the result is a buff flock of five with two of them 10 weeks old and the other three 7 weeks old. I kept them separate for a month and merged them together seamlessly at that time. One of the 10 week old hens has become the leader of the flock. She was larger than the other four at that time, almost like she was hatched a day or two earlier, and was always terrified of me for some reason. The others, when they were little, would let me hold them, and would come to me when I called, etc. After I put them all together, she became the leader, and now, all of the rest of them act terrified of me. They will sometimes start to come to me when I call them, but she will quack at them or head the opposite way, and they will follow.
As I was building the coop, I would let them in a penned in area during the day with a swimming pool and treats, then had them trained to go inside at night in a larger kid's pool in the garage. All was ok. Four days ago, I moved them to the new coop and run. In my rush to get them moved, I didn't notice that the outside pen had a small space that they could squeeze through. They all escaped and went directly into my 1/3 acre pond. The first night, I was able to corner them in the garage in their old pen and carry them two by two to the new coop. The second night, I got them into the outside pen, cornered them, and carried them into the secure run. Last night, I was out until after 11pm trying to get them back in, but they refused to come in off of the pond. I was angry, frustrated, and exhausted, and knew I couldn't chase them all night in the dark. I know now that I should have not let them out that second night and kept them in for awhile, but since I was able to get them in, I didn't think there would be an issue last night.
We have a plague of raccoons in the neighborhood that tear up everything. They split open everyone's trash that was set out for pickup night before last. I didn't sleep well at all last night and had multiple nightmares of bloody wings, half-alive ducks strewn around the yard.
I woke up at 4am this morning, grabbed a flashlight, and headed out, expecting the worst. They were all still alive and unharmed, swimming on the pond. They looked exhausted, yet skittish, and kept swim-sliding at every little thing in the water. At first I thought a raccoon was swimming after them, but I didn't see it if it was.
My question is, what do I do? Do I try to round them up and lock them in the pen for a few weeks to 'reset' them to know that's their safe space? Do I let them do what they are doing? My worry with that is if they do decide to retire to the pen after I'm in for the night, that they will literally be sitting ducks for the raccoons. Any suggestions on how to round them up again at this point? Up until last night, they always came running when I shook the mealworm bag, but they kept looking to her the entire time, and she wasn't interested. Do I separate or even cull her (gasp) for continuously putting the entire flock in danger?
Any advice would be welcome.
As I was building the coop, I would let them in a penned in area during the day with a swimming pool and treats, then had them trained to go inside at night in a larger kid's pool in the garage. All was ok. Four days ago, I moved them to the new coop and run. In my rush to get them moved, I didn't notice that the outside pen had a small space that they could squeeze through. They all escaped and went directly into my 1/3 acre pond. The first night, I was able to corner them in the garage in their old pen and carry them two by two to the new coop. The second night, I got them into the outside pen, cornered them, and carried them into the secure run. Last night, I was out until after 11pm trying to get them back in, but they refused to come in off of the pond. I was angry, frustrated, and exhausted, and knew I couldn't chase them all night in the dark. I know now that I should have not let them out that second night and kept them in for awhile, but since I was able to get them in, I didn't think there would be an issue last night.
We have a plague of raccoons in the neighborhood that tear up everything. They split open everyone's trash that was set out for pickup night before last. I didn't sleep well at all last night and had multiple nightmares of bloody wings, half-alive ducks strewn around the yard.
I woke up at 4am this morning, grabbed a flashlight, and headed out, expecting the worst. They were all still alive and unharmed, swimming on the pond. They looked exhausted, yet skittish, and kept swim-sliding at every little thing in the water. At first I thought a raccoon was swimming after them, but I didn't see it if it was.
My question is, what do I do? Do I try to round them up and lock them in the pen for a few weeks to 'reset' them to know that's their safe space? Do I let them do what they are doing? My worry with that is if they do decide to retire to the pen after I'm in for the night, that they will literally be sitting ducks for the raccoons. Any suggestions on how to round them up again at this point? Up until last night, they always came running when I shook the mealworm bag, but they kept looking to her the entire time, and she wasn't interested. Do I separate or even cull her (gasp) for continuously putting the entire flock in danger?
Any advice would be welcome.
