MJ's little flock

[ManueB]

She was lucky I'm a light sleeper. In the wild, she'd have been fox dinner.

I was dreaming and thought where's that chicken? Can't see it anywhere. There's a chicken around here somewhere. There it goes again *Awakens* THAT'S ONE OF THE HENS! SOUNDS LIKE MARY! And I was off and running.

That must have been very scary.
I wonder how she managed to fall and get stuck. Do you need to remove the sawhorse ? Even though it was certainly a one shot event I would sleep with one eye open tonight.

My hens fall very often now and don't seem the worse for it. The setting (which we didn't change, it's at least 50 years old) required pretty good agility and as they get older and especially during molting it's difficult for them to roost and access the nests. They could switch to lower roosts and nests, but they won't. They fall and try again.

 

[MaryJanet]

That must have been very scary.
I wonder how she managed to fall and get stuck. Do you need to remove the sawhorse ? Even though it was certainly a one shot event I would sleep with one eye open tonight.

My hens fall very often now and don't seem the worse for it. The setting (which we didn't change, it's at least 50 years old) required pretty good agility and as they get older and especially during molting it's difficult for them to roost and access the nests. They could switch to lower roosts and nests, but they won't. They fall and try again.

I need to reposition both sawhorses so hens can free themselves if there's a next time.

I prefer if the hens don't have too far to fall and the sawhorses are good for that reason.

I also prefer if there's not too much fighting at roosting time, which is why there are two sawhorses.

 

[rjohns39]

Good evening folks

 

[BY Bob]

I need to reposition both sawhorses so hens can free themselves if there's a next time.

I prefer if the hens don't have too far to fall and the sawhorses are good for that reason.

I also prefer if there's not too much fighting at roosting time, which is why there are two sawhorses.

It's a very good system.

 

[RoyalChick]

It's so scary when that happens. You would think it would be such an odd thing to fall off the roost but I have seen some of mine do it. Phyllis has many times.

Several of mine have too. And for no apparent reason either. Just plop down to the floor.

Edited to add: From looking at it happen on camera it didn't look like they tripped - I thought it was more like falling out of bed in the middle of a dream. I have had my fair share of hens being encouraged to jump off but haven't seen anyone lose their footing. I believe Maggie has fallen off twice, Minnie fell off once, and either Diana or Elizabeth once too (I don't remember which one of them it was). Always the same just plop.

 

[MaryJanet]

Several of mine have too. And for no apparent reason either. Just plop down to the floor.

Edited to add: From looking at it happen on camera it didn't look like they tripped - I thought it was more like falling out of bed in the middle of a dream. I have had my fair share of hens being encouraged to jump off but haven't seen anyone lose their footing. I believe Maggie has fallen off twice, Minnie fell off once, and either Diana or Elizabeth once too (I don't remember which one of them it was). Always the same just plop.

Did it look like a loss of balance coincided with a loss of grip?

 

[RoyalChick]

Did it look like a loss of balance coincided with a loss of grip?

I think loss of grip must be to do with it.
To me it looked like they were so deeply asleep they stopped holding on.
But it is hard to say because the camera is triggered by movement so all I can really say is there wasn't much movement before they fell because the camera triggered when they were already falling. So they wouldn't have been walking around or doing a lot of fidgeting beforehand.
Then in the fall it is like a passively dropped ball. No flapping which I would have expected if they had been awake and moving around. One of the times Maggie fell I am not even sure she woke up because she was happily asleep in the leaf litter under the roost when I went to rescue her.
The other times (Maggie, and the others) just got up and walked back up to roost for the rest of the night.

 

[MaryJanet]

I think loss of grip must be to do with it.
To me it looked like they were so deeply asleep they stopped holding on.
But it is hard to say because the camera is triggered by movement so all I can really say is there wasn't much movement before they fell because the camera triggered when they were already falling. So they wouldn't have been walking around or doing a lot of fidgeting beforehand.
Then in the fall it is like a passively dropped ball. No flapping which I would have expected if they had been awake and moving around. One of the times Maggie fell I am not even sure she woke up because she was happily asleep in the leaf litter under the roost when I went to rescue her.
The other times (Maggie, and the others) just got up and walked back up to roost for the rest of the night.

I had no idea nighttime falls were so frequent! I guess feathers provide a lot of cushioning and bird bones are very strong, but still I'm glad the distance between perch and floor will be so short in the new roost.

 

[MaryJanet]

It's a very good system.

It's all down to RC's advice about two roosts at the same height. That was the key to peaceful roosting.

 

[RoyalChick]

I had no idea nighttime falls were so frequent! I guess feathers provide a lot of cushioning and bird bones are very strong, but still I'm glad the distance between perch and floor will be so short in the new roost.

Yes. After the first time I added lots of leaves under the roosts so it is quite bouncy.