Michigan

[b737drvr]

The before picture:


Progress on the run at the end of day one.

 

[RaZ]

As I am contemplating my coop building project, there is a lingering question in my mind. I am building a run, but I would like to free range (at least a little, especially when I am out working in the yard). How do you get the girls back into the run when it is time to go in? Or will they come back on their own? Should they be kept in the run/coop for a until a certain age until the figure out where home is?

I'm far from an expert and probably more lucky than good, but I guess I conditioned my flock to respond to me by using treats and physical contact. I can call my birds to me and they always come running. They will cluster for a bit of groping and if I have treats, they eat right from my hand. This might only work for small flocks though.

 

[chicken grandma]

b737drvr -
RaZ is right! Chickens respond to food! If you keep a treat bucket and use it each day, they will come running when they see it or you! Also if you let your chickens out in the afternoon, they will go to the coop in the evening to their roosts. Since you will be starting them in the coop and run, they will know where to go to roost at night. Just make sure your coop has plenty of ventilation because it looks like your coop will get a lot of sun in the Summer and when your chickens go into the coop to lay eggs during the day you don't want them to roast!

 

[b737drvr]

No doubt about it. They will get lots of sun in the summer. Those pictures are looking at the western exposure. I plan on putting the nest boxes on the east side, which will help, but I will have to be careful to get the eggs before they get hard boiled in the summer. I actually contemplated trying to move the little shed, but I just thought that would be too much of a pain and I might open myself up to more problems than solutions! I had also contemplated trying to raise the shed up on some cinder blocks so the girls could go under the coop for some shade. Once again, I just thought that would be too much of a pain. If this doesn't work after a season or so, I can always modify...

 

[taprock]

I won another egg auction.

I'm so amazed. I have never tried to coordinate eggs before. So tomorrow I have three shipments of eggs being sent out with four different breeds. I think I'm done looking at eggs for a while! Hopefully the weather won't interfere with shipping from 3 different locations.

M2M - could your broody have knocked the egg out of the nest and then someone played with it? I ended up penning my broody because she kept getting in fights with everyone who was trying to get in her box. Right now it there seems to be lots of fighting for the "Prime" nest boxes.

 

[M.sue]

The before picture:


Progress on the run at the end of day one.

Looks nice and a good size too.
My chickens go back into the coop all by themselves.The first week I did have to lure them back a couple of times but that was it. I can tell you that what I did do was when I decided they were big enough to free range I decreased the time as for how long I keep them in the pen. Example: first couple of days I didn't let them out till 6 then the next couple days it was 5 then the next it was at 4 and so on. The first week or so they pretty much stuck around the coop and eventually as time went on they got braver and explored more. Now they are everywhere but when dusk falls it's back toward the coop they go.

 

[RaZ]

b737drvr -
RaZ is right!

Just make sure your coop has plenty of ventilation because it looks like your coop will get a lot of sun in the Summer and when your chickens go into the coop to lay eggs during the day you don't want them to roast!

Chicken Grandma,
Can you send that in an e-mail to my ex-wives?

b737drvr,

With that much exposure to sun, would you consider planting a couple of trees for shade? Perhaps something small or medium like a crab-apple or mulberry which would also provide a snack for your chickens.

 

[NovaAman]

b737, go to your local resource store if you have one, and get some cheap windows to put it so you will get a summer cross current of air. They will also provide sun warmth and light if you have them on the east and the south for the winter. If you don't have one of them stores, then go on craigslist and see if you can get cheap windows. And, are you going to roof your run or partial roof it? That would be easier to provide shade that way. I think with the size of your shed, which is awesome, especially with the little porch, if you were to lift it, you'd have a hidey spot for rodents and/or coons/possums... so, don't lift it. I can't wait to see what it looks like when you are done!

 

[teeville5]

Boy, it was windy today! It kept trying to blow the mail out of my hand as I was out delivering. And I about froze to death at the apartments when it whipped through the open hallways. I literally had tears streaming down from the cold and there was nothing I could do about it.

On my way home afterward, my youngest DD called me and said we had a surprise in the mudroom when she got home from school. Our silver sebright bantam laid her first egg! In the mudroom? Yep. Some of the bantams have figured out how to follow the cats through their little door. The egg was white and a bit bigger than I had anticipated a bantam egg would be so maybe it was a XL first bantam egg.

fuzzybutt- congrats on your bantam's first egg, too!
chicken grandma- thanks for the tip.
b737- they are right. My chickens go back mostly on their own, but a treat brings them all in for sure.

 

[NovaAman]

even some arborviteas... they'd provide an attractive wind break too for the winter months...

Could also put a ventilation fan in if you can run power out to it...