Hens won't leave hen house

lkwillia

Hatching
Apr 18, 2015
5
0
7
I have three hens and they won't leave the hen house. Is that normal? I want to put their food and water outside the hen house but I am afraid they won't eat or drink if they don't leave the henhouse. Also two of the hands we just purchased have already been eating laying pellets that third is still on the starter feet can Istart feeding all a mixture of starter and laying pellets or do I need to have two separate feeders
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
frow.gif


How old are these birds and how long have you had them? If you recently acquired these birds, they will be nervous to come outside for a while. This is natural. Don't force them out. Just let them adjust to their new surroundings for a while and when they feel safe, they will come out. For now, leave the food and water in the coop.

If you have a mixed flock of layers and young birds not yet laying, keep everybody on chick starter or some sort of Flock Raiser feed. You don't want young birds eating layer feed as it can harm their kidney right now. You can keep oyster shell on the side for those that are laying.

Enjoy your new flock and we do welcome you to our roost!
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
frow.gif


How old are these birds and how long have you had them? If you recently acquired these birds, they will be nervous to come outside for a while. This is natural. Don't force them out. Just let them adjust to their new surroundings for a while and when they feel safe, they will come out. For now, leave the food and water in the coop.

If you have a mixed flock of layers and young birds not yet laying, keep everybody on chick starter or some sort of Flock Raiser feed. You don't want young birds eating layer feed as it can harm their kidney right now. You can keep oyster shell on the side for those that are laying.

Enjoy your new flock and we do welcome you to our roost!

X 2 on all counts

We recently moved our brooder babies to a grow out coop. For the first 2 days they were hesitant to venture out into the run so I left the food and water in the coop. This is day 4 and they are now quite comfortable moving in and out so the food and water has been relocated to it's permanent location in the run and they are comfortable going out to eat or drink as desired. It's important to allow them time to adjust. This sort of reaction can also result when adding new birds to an existing group, etc.
I actually feed grower feed at all times for my flock - it is the easiest way to provide for a mixed flock (any flock in which not all the birds are actively laying whether due to age, gender, broodiness, etc - as only actively laying birds have a need or use for the excess calcium offered by layer ration) and one can easily provide the calcium needed by those who are actively laying with the provision of oyster shell.
 
My chicks just moved into the coop this weekend. Last night when I came home from work I opened the door to the run but they wouldn't go out, I helped them. This morning again when I opened the door to the run they wouldn't go out. I left the door open but closed it before I left for work it's supposed to rain. Their so funny I'm sure they'll get the idea of going out soon.
I am leaving the food and water in the coop for now.
 
My chicks just moved into the coop this weekend. Last night when I came home from work I opened the door to the run but they wouldn't go out, I helped them. This morning again when I opened the door to the run they wouldn't go out. I left the door open but closed it before I left for work it's supposed to rain. Their so funny I'm sure they'll get the idea of going out soon.
I am leaving the food and water in the coop for now.

May I ask your reasoning for closing due to expected rain?
 
May I ask your reasoning for closing due to expected rain?

I'm not 100% comfortable leaving them in my run yet and they are only 5 weeks old. When I see them going in & out of the coop I'll feel better. I also have to attach chicken wire to the inside of the run. My run is part of an old chain link dog kennel.
 
The two newest ones (RIRs) are 15 weeks and were already eating laying pellets. The other one is about the same age. I was going to start that one on a mix of starter and laying pellets. I have been leaving the coop door open to the pen and will continue doing that. I will keep a watch on them to see if they are leaving the coop.
 
5 weeks olds can be very timid. They will become more brave as they age. For now keep feeding and watering them in the coop until they feel safe enough to hang around outside.

Enjoy your babies!! :)
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom