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

[pollipazzi]

thinking about all the other sounds around here, maybe the bagawks aren't that big a deal and it's my blow in status that makes me think it's going to bother people?

 

[pollipazzi]

I keep them in a large dog crate in the garage for the first few weeks. Once the weather is warm enough (usually around 3 weeks in the summer), I move the dog crate into our secure run. I put the crate in the coop at night and take it out during the day. They stay in the crate for another week, and I add a small branch as a roost bar. By week 4 I partition off a small section of the run for them to “come out” during the day and go back into the crate at night, which gets moved into the coop every night. I use a roll of flexible garden fencing for the outside safe space, and open the dog crate door into it. Clothespins or binder clips work great to hold it together during the day and unattach easily at night. They have never had a problem going back into the crate,since they live in the crate from day 1.

In another week or two, I cut two small “doors” that are too small for the big hens to get through, and line them with a bright color so they are easy for the small chicks to find. This gives them 2 ways to “escape” back into their own area if they are being bullied. I observe a lot for the first few days. (I am a teacher and home for the summer, so we plan it around that). Once they start getting too big for the door, I try taking down the netting and letting them out completely. I move the dog crate into the human door of the coop before dark, (ours is big enough to fit it), and leave the human door open so the chicks can get in when it gets close to night. Once they get used to going into the actual coop and not just the crate, I take the crate out and leave a very low portable roost in its place. The older girls will usually not let them roost with them until they get to laying age (& even sometimes at laying age), so giving them a low roost allows them to join the flock without nighttime stress if they are super docile.

This has worked every time I’ve tried it. I know it sounds complicated but it actually is very low stress for me & the birds. If you can make your new cooping enough to fit a small dog crate, or a bird cage or something to that sort, the chicks will go right to it when then want to sleep and it trains them exactly where to go and protects them from being bullied in the early morning light before I open the hen door.

I hope that helps and wasn’t too long!

thank you for that! it wasn't too long and it does help!
the more ideas i can modify to work with what's here (or what will be), the better!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

thinking about all the other sounds around here, maybe the bagawks aren't that big a deal and it's my blow in status that makes me think it's going to bother people?

That’s what I’m guessing.

If you sit out with the hens and listen, and exclude their noises, you’ll probably hear commercial trucks (lorries?), motorcycles, cars without mufflers, the occasional car alarm, people arguing on the street, emergency vehicle sirens, and possibly aircraft overhead, if you’re near any airports, and they’re all of equal volume to the hens, and mostly louder.

Oh, and gasoline-powered weed trimmers and leaf blowers. HATE those things!

 

[pollipazzi]

That’s what I’m guessing.

If you sit out with the hens and listen, and exclude their noises, you’ll probably hear commercial trucks (lorries?), motorcycles, cars without mufflers, the occasional car alarm, people arguing on the street, emergency vehicle sirens, and possibly aircraft overhead, if you’re near any airports, and they’re all of equal volume to the hens, and mostly louder.

Oh, and gasoline-powered weed trimmers and leaf blowers. HATE those things!

...and tractors and crows and magpies!
hey! we're pretty quiet! lol!

 

[BDutch]

i panic when the girls bagawk that it's gonna make somebody very cross.

Don’t. Nnoises of children, cars, many animals … etc, are just part of our lives wherever you live. Chickens are not louder than dogs or crying babies.

 

[BDutch]

hope that helps and wasn’t too long!

Very helpful in the US where you can buy sexed chicks. In Europe it’s not allowed to send chicks by mail or sell chicks in shops. Im not sure if all countries in Europe have the same rules but I suppose they are not very different from country to country within the EU

If someone buys chicks here, they have as much chance to buy cockerels than pullets. You have to be an expert to buy 4-6 week old pullets or have wait until its very clear to see it’s a pullet by yourself.
Buying older chicks or pullets from a breeder increases the risk of buying a chick with somekind if an infection or parasite.