Introduction - Nana to two human babies and five chicken babies

[nanasnuggets]

I'm Terry from southeast Wisconsin and very new to raising chickens, or as my 3 year old grandson calls them - the chicken nuggets

! In early May, I purchased what was supposed to be five pullet Easter-eggers; but now looks to be one bantam and four pullets....... My husband and I (along with the kids) are perusing all the beautiful coops on the site for ideas. At present, we have them in a kit-built one that he bought at our local farm supply store, but, they have quickly outgrown it!

We live on five beautiful acres so the girls (?) have access to a lot of insects and greens. Do you know where they spend most of their time?? In the garage. Roosting behind my car. Sitting on the shelves or push lawn mower. And, of course, pooping everywhere! Fortunately, they are hilarious to watch and have wonderful personalities. It makes all the poop worthwhile.

Everyone in the family has handled them since they were a day or two old; but now, they HATE being handled. Getting them into their coop at dusk has become a comedic enterprise; any suggestions from the experts would be appreciated.

 

[N F C]

Hi Terry, welcome to BYC!

Glad you and the family are enjoying the chickens, they are a lot of fun.

They do need to learn to use their coop, it's the safest place for them at night. You might have to shut them inside it for a few days so they get used to it.

Thanks for joining us!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

It is very important that they are closed up in their coop at nights for reasons already given. If you lock them in their coop for a few days - with food, water, etc. they will "fix" on the coop as their home. When released they should come back at dusk and put themselves to bed. After a visual body check close the door for the night.

 

[nanasnuggets]

Thank you to all for the welcome

!
We did leave them "cooped" up for their first week in the coop; I leave their food and water in there at all times. I'm wondering if the problem is that we're trying to get them in for the night too early (1830-1900) since the sun doesn't set until later?? Frequently during the day when I 'check on them' I find them in the coop just chilling so I know that they like their home.
The next dilemma we face is getting them use to their new digs; I assume that we follow the same advice - leave them in for a few days so they know that THIS is now their home!

The whole family enjoys the new additions to our family and are looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship!

 

[Frindizzle]

Welcome to BYC, Terry!