i somehow acquired 2 runaways and i have questions. please help

[Perris]

now that she has freedom, she won’t lay in the nest box, but chose the tiniest flowerpot in my greenhouse (that’s a whole nother story) to lay her eggs

for reasons i do not know, they picked me to live with.
they have been in my backyard for 2 months. they are here all day and have been sleeping in a different neighbor’s trees at night.
the neighbor who they belonged to originally, has tried to catch them for ages and could not. but they befriended me and follow me around so he said i could keep them.

Because they have survived on their own for at least 2 months, they are perfectly capable of evading predators, as well as their original owner and you. You will not be improving their safety by locking them in a little coop.

we got a coop with a little run (we will make a bigger run very soon) and i kept them in there for about 6 days. louise seemed to be taking to it the best. she lays an egg almost every day in the nest box and goes right up at 6:30pm.

she had no choice if she was locked in.

thelma had a harder time getting adjusted and was a bit panicked at first.

how would you like being thrown in jail out of the blue?

what is the best thing to do? i am sure she will be back tomorrow. neither of them will let me handle them, but they will eat out of my hand. and i can get her into the run with bribes. i just want them to be safe.

they are safer when free, they can run and hide then. See all the posts on BYC about massacres in coops when predators get in. Or parasite infestations that make their lives a misery.

should i lock them in again? for longer?

No. If you leave the door to the run open, and they trust you not to imprison them again, they may choose to come and roost in there, and you could shut the door to the coop for protection overnight. Then let them out again to range freely in the morning light.

should i just get them in the run earlier since they will go up once they are in?

Just leave the run door open

they seem to prefer grass and bugs

they have good taste.

Mine choose to sleep in coops (with occasional exceptions) and roam free dawn till dusk. Most lay in the coop nest boxes but some prefer flower pots/planters as one of yours does. One even incubated a chick in there, and raised it outwith a coop for 6 weeks. The predators here are the same as you face plus adders. They are safer outside and much happier and healthier than they would be if locked up, standing in their own waste, breathing ammonia-filled air, nothing to do, no forage, no exercise, no freedom. They came to you because they wanted to. They will stay if you are nice to them. Love is an open hand not a closed fist.

 

[pollipazzi]

It isn't just owls that can scare them. Hawks can take a chicken, too. If they're out and about, make sure they have some kind of cover, like shrubs or even an outdoor table.

I think as long as the coop and run can't be pushed over, you'll be ok for the time being. Eventually, though, you may get things burrowing under, such as mice.

The more you hang out with them, the friendlier they'll be. I have one who'll sit on my lap, and another who likes to sit next to me.

they have all of those things. i have a small greenhouse that they love to go in too. that’s where the nesting flower pot is. i’m getting a bigger greenhouse next week, so i’m using that one as a potting shed. there’s not much in there. i don’t think i’ll let them in the big greenhouse though
i am always out in the garden so i am around them a lot! they don’t make it easy to get any work done. as soon as i start working somewhere, they’re all up under my feet
i’m taking the food in at night to help to not attract mice or rats, and i will work on getting the bigger run sorted and predator proof!
how long did it take yours to sit on your lap?

 

[pollipazzi]

Because they have survived on their own for at least 2 months, they are perfectly capable of evading predators, as well as their original owner and you. You will not be improving their safety by locking them in a little coop.

she had no choice if she was locked in.

how would you like being thrown in jail out of the blue?

they are safer when free, they can run and hide then. See all the posts on BYC about massacres in coops when predators get in. Or parasite infestations that make their lives a misery.

No. If you leave the door to the run open, and they trust you not to imprison them again, they may choose to come and roost in there, and you could shut the door to the coop for protection overnight. Then let them out again to range freely in the morning light.

Just leave the run door open

they have good taste.

Mine choose to sleep in coops (with occasional exceptions) and roam free dawn till dusk. Most lay in the coop nest boxes but some prefer flower pots/planters as one of yours does. One even incubated a chick in there, and raised it outwith a coop for 6 weeks. The predators here are the same as you face plus adders. They are safer outside and much happier and healthier than they would be if locked up, standing in their own waste, breathing ammonia-filled air, nothing to do, no forage, no exercise, no freedom. They came to you because they wanted to. They will stay if you are nice to them. Love is an open hand not a closed fist.

see, i was thinking these things, but i get torn reading everything, and how to know what the right thing to do is. there’s so many different views. i never met a chicken before now! when they started to come around, i would be very respectful of their space and let them get used to me on their terms. it felt so wrong to lock them up in there. i guess there’s a million different opinions and suggestions on what to do. i do worry about them a lot. thank you for your comments.

 

[Perris]

snap!

 

[RUNuts]

As far as the ammonia filled coops go, that is the for caretaker to correct. If your coop reeks, besides a cleaning, consider more ventilation. Sleeping in a tree, alone, is just waiting for an owl to come by. Chickens are blind at night and won't move when the one beside them is getting attacked. That is how raccoons can clean out a whole coop. The chickens can't see at night.

So, how you take care of your birds is dependent on your location. Just because they survived 2 months, just means the owls or other predators weren't hungry or didn't find them. The best way to protect them, is to lock the predators out, not lock the hens in. If you are content to let nature happen, the predators need to eat also.

There is no one way to care for chickens. We each find that way that works best for us in our environment. I wish you peace and joy. Chicken zen is real.

 

[pollipazzi]

View attachment 4076429
snap!

pot layers unite!
i hope you’re having the same weather as we are today! it’s like summer! amazing.

i had a good think this morning and i think i am going to take your advice. maybe it would be different if i was starting off with chicks or something, but i don’t feel right about locking them up in there. they are so happy wandering around and doing their thing. they were not happy locked up.
i mean…they survived storm eowyn! they are warriors! lol!
i’m going to leave the run open and give them options.
i appreciate all the other advice i was given here, but because they have been free for so long, i want to work with them. not against them. they should be having their best little chicken lives. i will still build a better run and make some adjustments in case they want to stay in the coop at night. and who knows, maybe i’ll have future chickens and i’ll be more prepared and knowledgeable.
i appreciate your different point of view, perris. and i feel a huge sense of relief that there was some advice offered that wasn’t having to lock them up. i did not want to do that again. i mean. i get that’s what people do, but in this case i’m not so sure it would be the best thing for them.
louise came back first thing this morning and they are both out there sunbathing

 

[alinas2010]

Hey stopped by to say welcome to the site and great story! Sounds like you have a wonderful plan for these little girls. I really enjoyed reading about your newly acquired ladies. Would love it if you’d keep us updated on them, only if you’d like of course

I know you said you weren’t going to use the smaller coop so much for them, but if you decide to, be sure to check that the roosting bar is large enough for big girl grown chicken feet. Those coops are notorious for having very very small roosting bars, one of the reasons some chickens won’t roost in them. But they are super handy coops to have on hand for medical wards or grow out coops and work well in a pinch as someone else said!

 

[pollipazzi]

Hey stopped by to say welcome to the site and great story! Sounds like you have a wonderful plan for these little girls. I really enjoyed reading about your newly acquired ladies. Would love it if you’d keep us updated on them, only if you’d like of course

I know you said you weren’t going to use the smaller coop so much for them, but if you decide to, be sure to check that the roosting bar is large enough for big girl grown chicken feet. Those coops are notorious for having very very small roosting bars, one of the reasons some chickens won’t roost in them. But they are super handy coops to have on hand for medical wards or grow out coops and work well in a pinch as someone else said!

thank you! i was thinking it would be handy for emergencies. i don’t want to think about emergencies until i have to though. i really don’t have a clue.
it does have very small roosting bars. i have been thinking it should be easy enough to change them out. i believe they sleep in the nesting box. it’s very awkward to manage. the door to the run is so small i can barely get the feeder under the coop. it rains a lot here and the crows will eat the feed if it isn’t hidden under. i’ll work on it for sure.

 

[alinas2010]

thank you! i was thinking it would be handy for emergencies. i don’t want to think about emergencies until i have to though. i really don’t have a clue.
it does have very small roosting bars. i have been thinking it should be easy enough to change them out. i believe they sleep in the nesting box. it’s very awkward to manage. the door to the run is so small i can barely get the feeder under the coop. it rains a lot here and the crows will eat the feed if it isn’t hidden under. i’ll work on it for sure.

Well I assure you we will all be here for you when/if an emergency does arise. Oh they for sure can be awkward! But the good thing about those coops is it is possible to make small modifications to them. Good luck with all your plans! Also, I don’t blame those girls for choosing you, your garden looks lovely

 

[pollipazzi]

Well I assure you we will all be here for you when/if an emergency does arise. Oh they for sure can be awkward! But the good thing about those coops is it is possible to make small modifications to them. Good luck with all your plans! Also, I don’t blame those girls for choosing you, your garden looks lovely

aw thanks! i have a lot of garden work to do for the new greenhouse. i can’t wait to put it up. i really hope for no emergencies. i do have a good friend who is a vet and has chickens herself. i just wish she lived a little closer! i did mcguiver a bigger roost today with some stuff i had around. it was a bit of a fiasco. right after i put it in there, louise decided she needed to lay an egg. i think she thought the new thing was weird or something (she did hop up on it though!) because she wasn’t happy to lay an egg in there today. she has been going in just for egg laying but she was having none of it today. the two of them act all crazy when they need to lay an egg. is that what all chickens are like? running all around and trying to climb on and squeeze into spaces that they shouldn’t squeeze into.
anyway, she did eventually lay an egg in there but not until after trying a thousand other spots.
they both left me for the trees after that.
she even tried this pot which is even tinier than thelma’s pot. and there’s a pic of my overkill roost. it’s all i had