- Sep 4, 2013
- 15
- 0
- 22
Hey!
I've wanted chickens for a while now as my grandma used to own some silkie bantams and I used to love them... and I finally got 2 girls of my own. They're both a New Hampshire x. I think only one of them has started laying. She's slightly larger than the other. I haven't decided on names for them yet, but they're coming!
I'm still sorting out how to manage their coop; parasite prevention and control is of uttermost importance to me as I have an Eclectus Parrot and he is like a child of my own, from my own blood. I don't want him catching anything from his new sisters
I'm trying to decide on putting sand or woodchips down in the coop... at the moment they're on a little patch of dirt we had that wasn't growing anything (my mum kills anything she plants ) and it's Spring so it's not muddy or anything... but I think sand will be easier to scrape the surface out and clean.
They haven't been let out of their coop yet as I've only had them since Monday and I heard they need a week to get "home" into their heads.
A few questions:
- Has anyone had much trouble with their chickens flying over fences? I worry a little because on my left lives a typically grumpy old man and my back fence faces a pedestrian path then a main road about 8 metres from the fence.
- Has anyone got any tips for attempting to tame them? I've had experiences with taming birds in the past but chickens seem like an entirely different ballpark, haha. I'll open the door to their coop and they'll come up to me and peck around where I sit, take things from my hands, etc., but don't take well to being touched and hate being held. The bigger one doesn't mind as much, but the smaller one will have nothing to do with human contact. They seem friendly, though. They're very inquisitive! They have to know what I pick up, where I place it, what it does when I put it down... and then figure out it's a twig and go back to looking at me in a strange way haha
- I'm currently feeding them layer pellets. They're also getting odd scraps, my parrot's leftovers (he's fussy as), bugs I find around the yard in my garden (loooove slugs, yay!), and some of the curly lettuce I'm growing for my parrot. I figure if I end up putting sand in their coop then I won't need to give them grit. Is this all a-okay? I'm still reading through treat options, which seem similar to what my parrot is allowed/not allowed. They can share, haha.
These are my girls, and my Ekkie:
I look forward to exploring this forum a little more!
I've wanted chickens for a while now as my grandma used to own some silkie bantams and I used to love them... and I finally got 2 girls of my own. They're both a New Hampshire x. I think only one of them has started laying. She's slightly larger than the other. I haven't decided on names for them yet, but they're coming!
I'm still sorting out how to manage their coop; parasite prevention and control is of uttermost importance to me as I have an Eclectus Parrot and he is like a child of my own, from my own blood. I don't want him catching anything from his new sisters
I'm trying to decide on putting sand or woodchips down in the coop... at the moment they're on a little patch of dirt we had that wasn't growing anything (my mum kills anything she plants
) and it's Spring so it's not muddy or anything... but I think sand will be easier to scrape the surface out and clean.They haven't been let out of their coop yet as I've only had them since Monday and I heard they need a week to get "home" into their heads.
A few questions:
- Has anyone had much trouble with their chickens flying over fences? I worry a little because on my left lives a typically grumpy old man and my back fence faces a pedestrian path then a main road about 8 metres from the fence.
- Has anyone got any tips for attempting to tame them? I've had experiences with taming birds in the past but chickens seem like an entirely different ballpark, haha. I'll open the door to their coop and they'll come up to me and peck around where I sit, take things from my hands, etc., but don't take well to being touched and hate being held. The bigger one doesn't mind as much, but the smaller one will have nothing to do with human contact. They seem friendly, though. They're very inquisitive! They have to know what I pick up, where I place it, what it does when I put it down... and then figure out it's a twig and go back to looking at me in a strange way haha
- I'm currently feeding them layer pellets. They're also getting odd scraps, my parrot's leftovers (he's fussy as), bugs I find around the yard in my garden (loooove slugs, yay!), and some of the curly lettuce I'm growing for my parrot. I figure if I end up putting sand in their coop then I won't need to give them grit. Is this all a-okay? I'm still reading through treat options, which seem similar to what my parrot is allowed/not allowed. They can share, haha.
These are my girls, and my Ekkie:
I look forward to exploring this forum a little more!
I was looking around here before I purchased my girls 
and good luck with your poultry adventure 
Agreed, just clip one wing. My polish hen had a habit of flying out, then getting lost due to her poor visibility, poor dear.
