peterhill
Chirping
So after losing four chickens to coyotes this past summer (during the daytime when they would range widely into the pasture), I'm down to one hen. She is the "spookiest" one, i.e. always has been the first to run away / least inclined to be picked up, which is probably what kept her alive in the first place. Anyway, I built a coop (well, hired a friend to do it because I am not good at building things) for her and any chickens I may get in the future. I've attached photos of the outside and the inside. It is less for protection against predators - although it does serve that function - and more for protection during the winter. Here in northwestern Nebraska, we are prone to blizzards, and the temperature can get down to 30 below zero fahrenheit, and can stay below 0F for several days in a row.
A friend of mine who raises many chickens nearby told me that to get the chicken accustomed to the coop so that she will see it as "home" and a roosting place, I should put her in there for like a week with enough feed and water to keep her going. That did not go well. I checked on her after a couple days in there and she was clearly unhappy and stressed out, and had plucked out a ton of her feathers. She went back to roosting up in a tire about 5 feet up on the side of my house that we used to use as a flower planter (her favorite roost) and has not been back to the coop since. I have tried leaving her feed and water inside just inside the little door, but she won't even go in for that. And if I take her in there, she tries to escape immediately.
It is clear at this point that she hates it. She has always been a free range chicken, so maybe she just hates being confined? The coop has a couple of raised roosting bars, so it's not a lack of that. And it is a brand-new coop with no other chickens, so I can't imagine it's a mite problem. It's been over a week now since I tried to introduce her to the coop and she is still awfully raggedy looking from the missing feathers. Anyone have any ideas for what I should do? She loves the tire roost (and apparently her flight feathers are fine) but I hate the thought of her out there in a blizzard or -30 temperatures...
A friend of mine who raises many chickens nearby told me that to get the chicken accustomed to the coop so that she will see it as "home" and a roosting place, I should put her in there for like a week with enough feed and water to keep her going. That did not go well. I checked on her after a couple days in there and she was clearly unhappy and stressed out, and had plucked out a ton of her feathers. She went back to roosting up in a tire about 5 feet up on the side of my house that we used to use as a flower planter (her favorite roost) and has not been back to the coop since. I have tried leaving her feed and water inside just inside the little door, but she won't even go in for that. And if I take her in there, she tries to escape immediately.
It is clear at this point that she hates it. She has always been a free range chicken, so maybe she just hates being confined? The coop has a couple of raised roosting bars, so it's not a lack of that. And it is a brand-new coop with no other chickens, so I can't imagine it's a mite problem. It's been over a week now since I tried to introduce her to the coop and she is still awfully raggedy looking from the missing feathers. Anyone have any ideas for what I should do? She loves the tire roost (and apparently her flight feathers are fine) but I hate the thought of her out there in a blizzard or -30 temperatures...
