- Jun 27, 2011
- 1
- 0
- 7
I'm fairly new to this whole game, just got 6 chickens early March.
They live in my backyard, about 1/4 acre, a garden in part of that. I built a small coop for them, with a run attached. For the first few weeks, we'd let them out during the day, and usually around 8 pm they would put themselves in the coop and I'd seal it up for the night. My property has a fence around it, about 4 feet high. Here lately they've been getting up on the fence rail, and occasionally going over the other side into the field behind me. I was out of town last week, and the wife said a few times she would only find 4 or so in the coop at night, so she started leaving it open so the others could get in if they needed too. Tonight, I was outside and watched 4 of them get up in trees, one tree in the yard, and a few on the other side of the fence, they are probably at least 10-12 feet off the ground. Question is, is it ok to just let them sleep in trees or are they at a huge risk of being eaten? I have no problem with them being there, I'd just prefer not to lose them...
If this isn't ok, how should I get them back in the coop? I'm kind of fast, but I can't catch these guys...
If they are 3 months old, it should be time to clip there wings I assume. How high should they be able to hop or jump after clipped? Maybe that'll be enough to fix this problem.
Another problem I have is they keep getting in my garden. Right now I have a 2 foot chicken wire fence around it, but that doesn't slow them down much? How high do I need to go to keep them out?
As far as feeding, If I have them roaming the yard all day, how much food should I have to add in to whatever they are foraging?
I screwed up when I bought these, they are Tetra Tints from TSC. They are all solid white, so there is no way to tell them apart. Anybody have any ideas for easy ways to distinguish them? I'm thinking about colored zip ties around there feet...
I know this is poorly written and a lot of questions...thanks for any replies...
They live in my backyard, about 1/4 acre, a garden in part of that. I built a small coop for them, with a run attached. For the first few weeks, we'd let them out during the day, and usually around 8 pm they would put themselves in the coop and I'd seal it up for the night. My property has a fence around it, about 4 feet high. Here lately they've been getting up on the fence rail, and occasionally going over the other side into the field behind me. I was out of town last week, and the wife said a few times she would only find 4 or so in the coop at night, so she started leaving it open so the others could get in if they needed too. Tonight, I was outside and watched 4 of them get up in trees, one tree in the yard, and a few on the other side of the fence, they are probably at least 10-12 feet off the ground. Question is, is it ok to just let them sleep in trees or are they at a huge risk of being eaten? I have no problem with them being there, I'd just prefer not to lose them...
If this isn't ok, how should I get them back in the coop? I'm kind of fast, but I can't catch these guys...
If they are 3 months old, it should be time to clip there wings I assume. How high should they be able to hop or jump after clipped? Maybe that'll be enough to fix this problem.
Another problem I have is they keep getting in my garden. Right now I have a 2 foot chicken wire fence around it, but that doesn't slow them down much? How high do I need to go to keep them out?
As far as feeding, If I have them roaming the yard all day, how much food should I have to add in to whatever they are foraging?
I screwed up when I bought these, they are Tetra Tints from TSC. They are all solid white, so there is no way to tell them apart. Anybody have any ideas for easy ways to distinguish them? I'm thinking about colored zip ties around there feet...
I know this is poorly written and a lot of questions...thanks for any replies...