Today was pretty cool. I finished one of the coops in the barn and put up a large run. Had the opportunity to really show my wife and son how the chickens follow and listen to me when I ask them to go somewhere. When I let them out this morning all I had to say was follow me and almost all of them walked right to their new home. (The only ones that didn't were those pesky white rocks which are by far the brattiest chickens that I have. The tantrums they threw were hysterical). So the flock got into their new almost 700 square foot run and the 90 square foot coop and they loved it. It was really nice to see how much they were in their element with what I built for them.
But, then I moved the roost that I made for them into the coop. It's 30" tall and has two 7 foot long 2x4s for roosts. Now they hate the coop. I picked up my best rooster and placed him on it and he flipped out. He never flips out. He's the only one in the flock I can hold without any protesting. They absolutely hate this roost. They won't even sit on the floor near it.
Any of you ever run into something like this? Could it be that I just introduced too much change or maybe they are picky about the wood I used for it (old pine studs from a shed I just tore down today)?
But, then I moved the roost that I made for them into the coop. It's 30" tall and has two 7 foot long 2x4s for roosts. Now they hate the coop. I picked up my best rooster and placed him on it and he flipped out. He never flips out. He's the only one in the flock I can hold without any protesting. They absolutely hate this roost. They won't even sit on the floor near it.
Any of you ever run into something like this? Could it be that I just introduced too much change or maybe they are picky about the wood I used for it (old pine studs from a shed I just tore down today)?
