Moving free ranged to sudden " prison " including a broody , anyone experience in this ?

[strangeanimal]

Hello BYC ,

As some of you already knew I have to move my free ranged birds away from their large proporty and take them in the BY but the first ones that are now moved to a run , even a wideley run with many bushes ( other owner , not my place ) did so far NOT turn out as expected ... They were screaming ( as in really anxious and disoriented screaming and loud enough to keep three blocks up ) , they have tried numerous escapes and we are already a week and half passed but nothing changed besides the bad things then , some roo's won't eat anymore and now it is time to move even a few others but that includes the broody hen who has been unsuccesfull in her 4 hatches so far in raising the little ones .. So , I never wanted that one to go broody but hey as we all know we are not the ones deciding so .
She had 4 nests now , wherefrom nest 1 was left due changes made by the people living there , they were unawere of the fact of bothering a hen that is hatching results in leaving the nest sometimes ( despite their good efforts because they just tried to make it ' cosy ' for her by adding in straw and so on ) , the other three batches she hatched out extremely well , never leaving the nest , only for food and water on occasion and looking like she was far away and an odd glare on her face ... Now she hatched because she was really sure about her case , I notice as even after all her babychicks have died she now AGAIN has this secret nest and collects for this moment but goes sit already every once and a while at night especially .
Now , I know that moving your broody is a very risky case for the hatch and this will certainly be her last as she is doing this now ever since the first sunshines and it is just no longer healthy for her BUT I do like to switch the eggs as I already contacted someone for some hatching eggs .
Now my bigger fear here is simply the question " how certain will it be she will no longer try to hatch and is broken in her broodiness if she gets moved to a private part of the garage for her , given the bad weather and the fact she is better of being alone plus the stress that will come due going from a large area and freedom to the owner she doesn't even remember that well anymore + the move " I do like to mention in the same topic we do talk about a hen that indeed is used to being free etc but has also gone trough MANY attempts in a broodycage and each time she got out went straight back to her nest while her sisters gave it up tough .
She is an Old English Games Bantam and extremely flighty ( they all are , even the ones kept in a run from day 1 actually ) , she is very anxies if you just are around too , no matter what face she sees ... BUT she does always go back to ANY nest to find a pile of eggs to sit , even when you start to harras her so much that if I were a chicken I'd really have given it up ...
But now things are very much different so I am now doubting she will hatch , or is there a way to give her as much as privacy as she likes and to just get her to do the hatch ?
I know some had the experience by moving the hen , even " wild ones like these " to a secured place was even better than the hen being still free ranged ?? have some doubts about that story but that is why I would like to ask you here , if you have any thoughts on this or even the experience please let me know how I can give her the best situation if I d like her to hatch on ?
p.s. also some good news I wanna mention about this large group , some people that are now living there are willing to just let the birds be and take them as theirs so they are not supposed to move but there are too many hens there that have gotten too old to lay so I take the ones that are either the youngest or the most noisy ones to make sure everyone is fine with the situation )
I really hope that there are people with somewhat " successtories " if it comes to free ranged ones being moved to the run ..
NOTE : the ones that are going to move here are those that are the youngest so that means that the one hatching is only about 1.5 y old tops , the other birds are about 1.5 y to 2 years ...oldest rooster : 6 y who is the only one doing in fact very well ... ty

 

[black_dove2]

Hi I'm no where near experienced as you are.

Just had a couple of questions.

Did the chickens have a coop at night before the move? I only have the 2 but they still want to come inside after moving outside since may. It sounds like they want to go home. Is there anything familiar you can place in their new quarters until they grow accustomed to new surroundings? With a dog you would give them their bed or blankets to h

Probably screaming to call out to the missing birds from the flock. I don't know about chickens but cats will cry for their babies until they eventually give up and then go in heat.

I know about dogs and babies. If you're nervous or anxious they will be too. Think about a colicky or a baby with an earache. The more they cry it gets more difficult to stay calm especially there isn't much you can do. More nervous mommy more upset baby.

 

[black_dove2]

Sorry I suddenly started having tablet issues.

I know I didn't help at all in your situation.

You'll probably get more sage advice as day goes on.

 

[lazy gardener]

What is the stocking density in your coop and run? How many birds/s.f. in coop? In run? They should settle down and accept their confinement if they are not too crowded. Recommendation is for minimum of 4 s.f. in coop, 10 s.f. in run per bird.

 

[Mrs. K]

Might depend on the breed of chicken too. Mine have frequently gone from wide open spaces to being in lock down, without too much problems. But some bird breeds do not do well in confinement.

Do make sure that there are roosts in the run, platforms and small walls, not just bushes. It will let birds do a bit of flying, and let them get away from each other.

Mrs K

 

[Mrs. K]

As to moving a broody hen, I have never had any luck in that. If you have to, I would either give her live day old chicks, if she has been broody a while, she will probably take them, or break her broodiness. It is hard on their health if they are broody too long.

 

[strangeanimal]

Hi ,
thanks all 4 the very great input here ( great minds think alike ? ) I got a very small Backyard so same applies for the run then but if there is no choice , you have to either cull the birds or take them in right , I cant cull them , there is not a good reason for according to me .
their space is about 12 ft and in fact it should be bigger because there are 3 roosters and 8 hens but I do like to mention tough they are always free ranged YET decide to stick together ( as in being sticky in fact too ) as a solid group that looks out 4 eachother and don't take up more space then a few squares in the trees with every now and then going down inside a lil bush I planted there like ages ago or so lol , they did not have a coop , those chickens are really wild ones , BUT I did make sure they could if they wanted to have a coop go into the barn I broke out the door for . So there is a huge barn , always opened up but they never ever slept there , these are more the type of birds you have to let live just free so it does ache my heart to get them in a run too but I just hope they can accept that situation as they never had to before . Also in food ? they are not even used to getting their feed by the humanhand , however I made sure I check the bag of grains each time I visit and the people there like to give them scraps but they cant even approach the birds as they're very flighty , you can throw as many food as you like , not one bird is gonna show up , I did that test sitting there like an idiot hidden in a bush for hours and hours , no they only go get some scraps once dark has fallen and get straight to their trees or they eat the day after , so as you notice my birds are totally strangers to me and I am to them ( the human in common in fact ) , I find that the Old English game is not a breed to be put in a run , really , they are exellent in what they do now but I am so worried that will now change ....
About the broody here , tried to break her before the second batch on several times , she even stayed in the broodycage for over a week after the third batch , looked as if she was broken but had to set her free again anyhow because the poor thing ( she is the youngest btw ) was going letterly NUTS , she had anxiety if you d approach the crate (it was lifted of the ground !! ) to clean and feed etc but once released she just went straight back to a pile of eggs and even pushed away another one laying her egg that morning ! so she was not to be broken thats for sure but now after all I decided ow poor thing , her babies did not survive , I will let her do it again because she is certain of her case and desperate to get a small family so I tought about putting eggs under her from other breeds that I d like , now I think I just better buy a machine to hatch those out however my first concern now should go out to how they feel now , yesterday we moved already two hens here , they are soooo confused and are constantly crying for the rest of the flock , it is also because of the time I think , these birds are 1 the perfect breed to NOT keep in any run at all but free ranged and secondly they know nothing else , stomach was really turning about 6 this day , never tought a chicken would be soooo desperate looking , they are not eating at all , I made sure they have a large tree in it too and added some birdwire , guess what happened ? uhu one of them got stuck , one moment later the second one , these are so used to freedom and I have never felt like this towards a chicken but I feel as if i just have taken them straight into prison and for them it seems to be that way , now one of them did drink but the other one keeps calling the flock and the flock even calls back from upon a distance ! they look as if they're mourning , really , totally do not know how and what anymore with these birds ( some of them are rehomed with succes but again : free range there , the only ones being rehomed doing not well ? a run ) thnks for the thinking along !