New Chicken Update

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Estelita

Estelita

In the Brooder
Jun 2, 2016
14
1
14
Ok I'm on day 4 of the new chickens. Still no eggs but I assume they will come as the stress decreases. I opened the run last night to let them out and about in the pen. All four came out and pecked at some scratch, cucumbers, and squash. Tossed them some worms and they seemed to enjoy it. No one flew away thank god for that. I still have one hen that wants to roost in the run rather than going inside the coop. I'm just leaving her alone to do what she feels is comfortable for her. Im sure she will go inside the coop when shes ready. I wish she would go in and lay and egg lol I'm so excited to find an egg I can't stand it.
 
Love the photo of the little Basset Hound.
I used to breed and show basset hounds when I was in 4H years ago.

Try putting some old golf balls where you want the girls to lay eggs - They will think the golf balls are eggs and want to lay eggs with the other eggs. I found I could have 5 beautiful next boxes and they would all fight over one. I have had broodies attempt to hatch golf balls too. Put two or three golf balls in the nest and they will notice them. For Chicken that won't go in coop. Move her at night and lock her in for a day or so and she might forget she ever roosted anywhere else. They will roost where they feel safe. I had a fox get into one of my coops and all my chickens decided to roost in the trees even though I reinforced the coop security.

Caroline

Welcome to BYC
Glad you could join us
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I've had bassets all my life. I've tried to go with a different breed when we have one pass but I just can't do it. I came close in Jan to buying a heeler when we had to put our oldest down, even went to look at some but I ended up with a basset puppy instead. lol I just love everything about them and they have always been so perfect for our family. Its just me and my husband now but we still love them. Our oldest had to be put down and we had her son left who is 6. He mourned her so bad. It was the most heart breaking thing I've ever witnessed. It has actually aged him. So we had to get him a buddy. Its taken him some time but he has finally come around and is not running and playing again. I thought for sure he would die of a broken heart. He would actually lay on the floor where we had her pillow and whine for hours. I finally had a cleaning company come in to do a deep deep clean to get her scent out of there. That stopped some of it but he still mopped around. So I've realized we will always have two basset hounds lol Seem I have two of every animal I own with the exception of the now 4 chickens. lol

I will try the golf balls. I thought of plastic easter eggs last night but my husband has tons of golfballs. The one that sits on the roost in the run is the alpha hen. She is safe and secure even in the run so I'm not all that concerned with it but thought it is odd that she won't roost in the coop. She will go in there but not stay long.
 
I think you should put her in the coop every night and lock the door. She can learn to go in herself , if you insist. Otherwise she is very likely to persuade others to do the same as her. Chickens are generally safer in their coop. Night time brings out a lot of predators and they have hours to do their damage before you would notice in the A.M.
 
It may be the others are picking on her. I had a reluctant one that I finally realized she stayed out because she didn't want to face the war of the roost....I put up a cardboard divider and now the shy one comes in first because she knows Ms Meany is going to roost on the other side and she'll be safe. I only had to show them one night, and they all get it, and each goes to her own spot.
 
Estelita said:
Ok I'm on day 4 of the new chickens. Still no eggs but I assume they will come as the stress decreases. I opened the run last night to let them out and about in the pen. All four came out and pecked at some scratch, cucumbers, and squash. Tossed them some worms and they seemed to enjoy it. No one flew away thank god for that. I still have one hen that wants to roost in the run rather than going inside the coop. I'm just leaving her alone to do what she feels is comfortable for her. Im sure she will go inside the coop when shes ready. I wish she would go in and lay and egg lol I'm so excited to find an egg I can't stand it.
Click to expand...
Yes I agree with @write2caroline very much putting golf balls or maybe a wooden egg can make chickens lay. When I got my new flock a week ago they didnt lay the first day so I put a wooden egg in and sure enough the next day I had a egg. Ever since then my two laying hens have laid a egg a day each. They have gotten familiar and are no longer scared of us or of their surroundings. I know what you mean when I got my first egg I found myself running to the house screaming "EGG, EGG"! I was so excited! I have a few questions about your flock if you have any time to answer them...
1. What breeds do you have?
2. How old are they?

Also here are some links based on your intro I think would benefit you...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/18/chicken-behaviors-and-egglaying
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/2/managing-your-flock

This last link is if you have any time to post any pictures of your chickens and tell us how you are doing and if you got any eggs...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/40/family-life-stories-pictures-updates

I hope your chickens get better as time goes on and I hope that eventually you will have your egg moment!
Justin
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Ok ladies I got home, got my golf balls to put in the coop, went out there and **** if I didn't have an egg! It wasn't in the coop though lol it was in the run in a feed pan I put dirt in for dirt baths so I'm sure it was the one that's roosting in the run at night. I have one Easter eggers that is a year old, one leg horn that is like 22 weeks old, another that is 22 weeks old( not sure what she is) and the red one that is a year old. I'm gonna have to ask the lady I got them from what they are again. I didn't even care when I got them really. Just excited to pick them up. I like the Easter eggers best because I like all the colors and the colored eggs remind me of my mom and her love for Easter. Weird I know but I miss her terribly and look for anything that reminds me of her and gives me some sort of joy with those memories. Let me check on the breeds of the ones I'm not sure of and I'll let u know!
Yay I have an egg
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