momto5ladies
Chirping
- Jul 3, 2016
- 36
- 9
- 57
The players:
Ziggy, 21 weeks and top chicken. A wonderful bird that helped Itsy and Bitsy when they arrived much younger than she was. When they arrived Ziggy was about 11 weeks old and Its and Bits were only about 6 wks old.
Bitsy and Itsy are now 16 weeks old.
And then there are the babies, Thelma and Louise which are only 10 weeks old. I am so hoping that Ziggy can teach them the ropes.
Moving forward. Last week I moved the three older girls to their new enclosure. They are now on a second story deck with a ramp they can use during the day to go downstairs. In the evening the ramp is shut off and they are 100% safe from anything! On top of that I get to enjoy them playing around as I can watch them from my Den through the sliding glass doors. They have kiddie pools with dirt and branches to fly into, its really nice.
So yesterday I took the babies out and put a temporary fence up so that the birds can see each other but not hurt each other. Here's the problem. Bitsy who was number 3 chicken up in the old coop has now challenged Itsy and taken over as number 2 chicken. She is now being mean to the babies. I plan on keeping them separate for the week or two I read that you should do this. My thinking is should I take Bitsy out for a little attitude adjustment (rest in another coop) so the babies can maybe join the others faster? These babies so need a chicken to look up to. For those that read my other posts, they still cry like crazy every night when I put them in their hen house,
My thinking is if I remove Bitsy for a couple of days then the babies will bond with Ziggy and Ziggy will keep them safe, right?
I also need to know if I'm keeping the girls up too late at night. Since being in the new enclosure I have lights and spotlights out there. I just love to watch them chasing moths, but it is it good for them to be jumping up and down and flying around if they are going to lay an egg in the morning? Right now I'm keeping them up until about 11pm. Is that too late for them? Were talking about the older girls as I'm returning the babies to their coop at night.
Ziggy, 21 weeks and top chicken. A wonderful bird that helped Itsy and Bitsy when they arrived much younger than she was. When they arrived Ziggy was about 11 weeks old and Its and Bits were only about 6 wks old.
Bitsy and Itsy are now 16 weeks old.
And then there are the babies, Thelma and Louise which are only 10 weeks old. I am so hoping that Ziggy can teach them the ropes.
Moving forward. Last week I moved the three older girls to their new enclosure. They are now on a second story deck with a ramp they can use during the day to go downstairs. In the evening the ramp is shut off and they are 100% safe from anything! On top of that I get to enjoy them playing around as I can watch them from my Den through the sliding glass doors. They have kiddie pools with dirt and branches to fly into, its really nice.
So yesterday I took the babies out and put a temporary fence up so that the birds can see each other but not hurt each other. Here's the problem. Bitsy who was number 3 chicken up in the old coop has now challenged Itsy and taken over as number 2 chicken. She is now being mean to the babies. I plan on keeping them separate for the week or two I read that you should do this. My thinking is should I take Bitsy out for a little attitude adjustment (rest in another coop) so the babies can maybe join the others faster? These babies so need a chicken to look up to. For those that read my other posts, they still cry like crazy every night when I put them in their hen house,
My thinking is if I remove Bitsy for a couple of days then the babies will bond with Ziggy and Ziggy will keep them safe, right?
I also need to know if I'm keeping the girls up too late at night. Since being in the new enclosure I have lights and spotlights out there. I just love to watch them chasing moths, but it is it good for them to be jumping up and down and flying around if they are going to lay an egg in the morning? Right now I'm keeping them up until about 11pm. Is that too late for them? Were talking about the older girls as I'm returning the babies to their coop at night.