beginnergirl
Songster
Am new to having chickens, but several fantastic steps for us. Have been supervising my 18 week old hens free ranging for a few weeks. Took a while because I needed to reinforce parts of the fence and am still tweaking the coop. Plus I was afraid they would fly into my neighbor's yard who has a dog, so I was nervous as my neighbor's chicken is always getting loose.
We spend a few hours together outside before sunset. And happily, none of the hens have attempted to fly out of the yard. So I will leave their wings unclipped until there is a problem. My yard has a woodland garden, area under "construction", grassy area, flower bed, large area with dirt which to my surprise is their favorite. Whatever is in the dirt must be fascinating. They haven't even ventured into the side yard or area by the back fence. It is truly delightful to hang out with them and see them so happy. And while they have sampled my favorite plants, none are being demolished or damaged. They have not discovered the vegetable garden yet and I put a short fence around it which they haven't tried to fly over.
But not all the girls would return to the coop. The SLW, Trillium, would walk around the coop looking at the other hens inside. Not sure if she knew how to get in. She always lets me pick her up and seems to enjoy a little snuggling and treats before I put her back inside.
There is a door to the run and last week I built a new ladder, going up to the coop, but the hens wouldn't use it. Finally, yesterday when it was loaded with meal worms and corn they all used the ladder with some encouragement. Probably the fact that the barred rock is so bold and food obsessed, the others followed her. Today, I left the hens alone for 30 minutes for the first time and happily they were all in the coop by 8 pm by themselves.
So very happy!!!!! I will probably supervise them being outside as there are raccoons nearby. So far, I haven't seen them in the yard. My dog has chased off the cats and opossum and I've put dog hair around the entrances.
We spend a few hours together outside before sunset. And happily, none of the hens have attempted to fly out of the yard. So I will leave their wings unclipped until there is a problem. My yard has a woodland garden, area under "construction", grassy area, flower bed, large area with dirt which to my surprise is their favorite. Whatever is in the dirt must be fascinating. They haven't even ventured into the side yard or area by the back fence. It is truly delightful to hang out with them and see them so happy. And while they have sampled my favorite plants, none are being demolished or damaged. They have not discovered the vegetable garden yet and I put a short fence around it which they haven't tried to fly over.
But not all the girls would return to the coop. The SLW, Trillium, would walk around the coop looking at the other hens inside. Not sure if she knew how to get in. She always lets me pick her up and seems to enjoy a little snuggling and treats before I put her back inside.
There is a door to the run and last week I built a new ladder, going up to the coop, but the hens wouldn't use it. Finally, yesterday when it was loaded with meal worms and corn they all used the ladder with some encouragement. Probably the fact that the barred rock is so bold and food obsessed, the others followed her. Today, I left the hens alone for 30 minutes for the first time and happily they were all in the coop by 8 pm by themselves.
