MoreCowdog
In the Brooder
Hi everyone,
It's taken a long while from deciding to get chickens to finally get to this point. Over the summer my girlfriend's dad and I built a Garden Ark coop, and in mid-October I purchased 4 silkie chicks that were a few weeks old. They were raised by a friend of mine who has a good setup to keep them warm and inside. Now that they are feathered (or fluffed) as the case may be, I brought them home over the weekend. One turned out to be a rooster so he stayed with their flock, no roosters are allowed in my town by ordinance.
So far they are great, they are very adorable, docile birds, easy to handle, bordering on friendly!
My question concerns some of their behavior so far. They will huddle outside in the covered/enclosed run at night instead of using the ramp to go into the roost box. I physically picked them up and put them inside, to show them where it is. Similarly, in the morning, I went outside after it's been light for an hour and moved them back into the run where their food and water are located.
Is this pretty typical? I realize they don't have an older bird to show them around and was just curious if I'm doing this right. Also, should there be food and water inside as well?
My final concern is about the slope of the ramp, which is pretty much exactly 45 degrees. In doing some reading, it seemed this would be fine, but I am also wondering if that's part of the issue for them to go inside on their own. This is the second night at home and I realize we're all pretty new to this!
Thanks in advance for any help. I attached a couple photos below of the girls
!
It's taken a long while from deciding to get chickens to finally get to this point. Over the summer my girlfriend's dad and I built a Garden Ark coop, and in mid-October I purchased 4 silkie chicks that were a few weeks old. They were raised by a friend of mine who has a good setup to keep them warm and inside. Now that they are feathered (or fluffed) as the case may be, I brought them home over the weekend. One turned out to be a rooster so he stayed with their flock, no roosters are allowed in my town by ordinance.
So far they are great, they are very adorable, docile birds, easy to handle, bordering on friendly!
My question concerns some of their behavior so far. They will huddle outside in the covered/enclosed run at night instead of using the ramp to go into the roost box. I physically picked them up and put them inside, to show them where it is. Similarly, in the morning, I went outside after it's been light for an hour and moved them back into the run where their food and water are located.
Is this pretty typical? I realize they don't have an older bird to show them around and was just curious if I'm doing this right. Also, should there be food and water inside as well?
My final concern is about the slope of the ramp, which is pretty much exactly 45 degrees. In doing some reading, it seemed this would be fine, but I am also wondering if that's part of the issue for them to go inside on their own. This is the second night at home and I realize we're all pretty new to this!
Thanks in advance for any help. I attached a couple photos below of the girls
!