new worried chicken owner

[charlies]

Hi. Ive just got my first two chickens. They are Plymouth Rock and are 5 months old. We put a new feeder and watrer in their coop but they seem scared of them. They are hanging ones... Should we just leave them to get used to them or go back to the old tray and water bowl?

Also there is an old canary nesting box in the top corner of the coop, and despite the variety of perches we put in, both chooks insist on sleeping on the top of the box. Is that ok or should we remove it?

thanks for the help

 

[jacyjones]

I would say could you possibly put the new feeders on the ground until they get used to them and then raise them a little if they need to hang. Or.......spread a little food underneath them and maybe the chickens will connect and start using them when that food is finished.
If you can clean the nesting box then you can leave it in but if you want them to use the other roost you will need to take it out. Once they start doing one thing it is quite difficult to get them to stop without taking the first thing away!

 

[bdp7150]

i would keep the hanging feeder but i would stop the hanging water it never works for me . i buildt a 2x4 box and ply wood top put this on the floor and then your water on that which will get it off floor less dirty.plus chickens shouldn't have to bend over to drink it needs to be at 3/4 neck level. as the feeder might put some scratch in it to get them use to eating out of it and then go to you regular feed. and chickens seem to go to the highest perch where ever that at in the coop you can put a board on angle so they can not stay up on it .

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

I'm a new Chickeneer too, but whenever they're afraid of anything new I put in I sprinkle stuff they love right under/next to it: grapes cut up small (mine are 5 weeks old), bit of lettuce, nine grain cereal, bits of whole grain bread or yogurt.

It's ALL about the treats.

 

[dancingbear]

WildBurroShirts.com :

I'm a new Chickeneer too, but whenever they're afraid of anything new I put in I sprinkle stuff they love right under/next to it: grapes cut up small (mine are 5 weeks old), bit of lettuce, nine grain cereal, bits of whole grain bread or yogurt.

It's ALL about the treats.

Good idea! Bribery always works with chickens!

I put my waterer on a cinder block, to keep it off the floor.​

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I scratch around in the food with my finger, while they watch me. I also tap my fingernail on things they're uncertain about. It's my way of showing them things are safe and imitates the way they'd use their beak to explore things. I'm used to introducing new things to my parrot this way, so I do it with the chickens, too.

 

[mjdtexan]

Quote:
Welcome to the forum. The above advise sounds good.

Quote:
Huh, never heard of that. Thats my lesson for today I eggspect.

 

[charlies]

Thanks everyone for your help. We have put both on blocks and the chooks seem much happier. Also saw them drink out of the waterer so we feel much happier. Good idea to imitate their behaviour by tapping a finger on stuff and of course giving them treats.

 

[PortageGirl]

Happy to meet you! Glad you're here!! Hope you enjoy our company!!

WELCOME!

Sounds like they're settling... treats always work!! Did you see the list here? Treat page https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

One thing not mentioned there are Black Oil Sunflowers, they do love them, and they're good for them in small quantities. Since they're new and timid, I'd stick with sort of 'normal' stuff though, but you never know what's normal for them.

Once they settle down though, it's really fun to offer them a bit of something new and see how they react. Once they figure it out, they watch to see what new goodies are coming their way this week!!

Enjoy your new Chook friends and glad to have you!

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I would keep the hanging feeder in there, they will get used to it. Mine were cared at first too but the next day they were all enjoying the food. I let them see me sprinkle a little cracked corn in the feeder and they rushed right over. Hanging the water didn't work well for me either so what I did was make a table from four peices of 2x2 and a peice of plywood. I just simply screwed the 2x2 legs into the corners of the plywood. WALAAA A table! I now have tables for all my coops it is working out wonderfully