Sue E.
In the Brooder
Here's how it happened. I live in a rural area in central Texas. My neighbor (across the street) got two chickens. He has a "coop" but it's a wreck. It didn't contain his chickens and they kept coming out into his front yard. They spent more time in front than in his back yard. He would occasionally try to corral them back into his back yard but they wouldn't spend much time there. I had some mealworms that I'd bought for the wild birds and decided to walk over and give the chickens a treat. (I didn't know, at the time, that mealworms are sold as a chicken treat.) After that, they would start to come across the street (it's a very inactive street with few cars and little traffic) whenever I would go outside. I'd give them mealworms from time to time and, eventually, they discovered the wild bird seed that fell from the feeder. As time went by, they were spending more time in my yard than in my neighbor's yard. I talked with the neighbor and promised not to feed them anymore, but that didn't keep them at home. Long story short... They now spend most of their time in my back yard. Yes, I'm now feeding them regularly. I don't want them to go hungry. My neighbor knows they're in my back yard and I have invited him to come and get them at his convenience. He hasn't. I've sent him a text message and a Facebook Messenger message asking if he'd like to sell the chickens. Clearly he has little interest in them and little desire to properly house and care for them. So now I, technically, am caring for two chickens who spend 95% of their time in my back yard. In the morning I find them in the front yard, but then they come into the back yard. I feed them proper chicken food (which closely resembles wild bird food) and give them some mealworms every day. I have some special chicken treat food that they really don't seem too interested in. And they have a bowl of water they can easily access. They seem quite happy with the situation.
I am now in the process of learning about chickens, and trying to set up some sort of coop or hutch that I'm hoping they will use at night. So far they are very-free-range chickens! It doesn't get very cold very often here in central Texas, so I don't think we need to worry about the weather. I'm hoping that I can learn from some of you folks.
My first issue is the coop/hutch. I don't have a lot of money, and I don't know if I want to build a coop myself. I could, but I'm 64 years old and just don't have the desire to do that sort of thing much anymore. I'm going to start with a medium/large plastic doghouse I've had forever that nobody ever uses (I have dogs and cats). I'll put some hay or something inside and put it where the chickens like to sun themselves during the day. Is there some way to "encourage" the girls (who I'm now calling Thelma and Louise) to use the dog house as a hutch?
I'm going to shut up now. Thanks for reading, and thanks for any help you provide now and in the future.
Sue
P.S. I still intend to return the chickens to my neighbor if he really wants them, or pay him for them if he agrees. Oh, and I'm not too concerned about eggs since I don't even eat them very often. I think these girls are about six or seven months old.
I am now in the process of learning about chickens, and trying to set up some sort of coop or hutch that I'm hoping they will use at night. So far they are very-free-range chickens! It doesn't get very cold very often here in central Texas, so I don't think we need to worry about the weather. I'm hoping that I can learn from some of you folks.
My first issue is the coop/hutch. I don't have a lot of money, and I don't know if I want to build a coop myself. I could, but I'm 64 years old and just don't have the desire to do that sort of thing much anymore. I'm going to start with a medium/large plastic doghouse I've had forever that nobody ever uses (I have dogs and cats). I'll put some hay or something inside and put it where the chickens like to sun themselves during the day. Is there some way to "encourage" the girls (who I'm now calling Thelma and Louise) to use the dog house as a hutch?
I'm going to shut up now. Thanks for reading, and thanks for any help you provide now and in the future.
Sue
P.S. I still intend to return the chickens to my neighbor if he really wants them, or pay him for them if he agrees. Oh, and I'm not too concerned about eggs since I don't even eat them very often. I think these girls are about six or seven months old.