Newbie With a Zillion Questions

[peakfreak]

Hi All

Just got my 3 new girlies and they are brilliant

1 x Blackrock, 1 x Bluebell & 1 x Sussex. Big up to Sarah and co at Happychicks, they have been great over the past few days whilst I was setting up my coop and run.
I am a complete novice to this hen keeping malarky so please be gentle with me and my following questions;

Q1. I got the girlies on Saturday (2 days ago) and put thier feed in a chicken feeder, one of the red plastic ones supplied by HC, Saturday they were fine and semed to be feeding from it no problem. Also Sunday they seemed to be doing fine but I wasn't around for most of the day.
Today though (Monday) they hardly seem to have touched the feeder but my wife went and put a handfull of feed on the ground and the girlies have been scratching around in the bark chippings quite happily, picking up the food in this way. The girlies have been quite happily scratching around the rest of the run eating bugs and grass so they are probably getting enough to eat but I am just a little concerned that they aren't eating from the feeder directly. Is there an issue here or am I just being a complete over sensitive muppet?

Q2. When I first brought the girlies home thier poo was very sloppy for the first few hours (which I put down to nervousness of the journey home) and seemed to settle down fine soon after to normal firm ones but the Blackrocks poo, whilst still containing firm lumps does have quite a lot of orangey slop with it. Is this normal or should I be concerned?

Q3. Whilst happily pecking around (the hens, not me) if the girlies come across a discarded feather (small downy ones) they tend to eat it, is this OK?

Q4. The run I have for the girlies is quite large, approx 30ft by 15ft at it's widest, with lots of nooks and crannies to explore but they only seem to be staying in the one part by the coop. I have even moved them to other areas but they just seem to make thier way back to the coop area. Will they explore further as they get used to the run?

Q5. I open the coop at approx 7:45am just before I go to work, this morning my wife went out to the girlies at approx 9:00am and they will still huddled together in the nest box. My wife shood them out and they were fine. Should they come out on thier own or are they just being lazy?

Enough questions for now and thanks in advance for any help.

Bren

 

[gallusdomesticus]

Are your 'girlies' chicks or pullets or adults?

Chickens are flock animals and its normal behavior for them to bunch up with their flock mates if exposed to a new environment or are frightened. They are naturally curious also so I wouldn't worry about shooing them out of the hen house, they'll explore their new pen on their own.

It sounds like they're supplementing their diet by free ranging. I wouldn't worry about them not getting enough to eat unless you notice them losing weight or exhibiting some other symptoms.

I wouldn't worry too much about their droppings. Chickens have runny droppings from time to time that could be due to stress, worms, or a change in diet. It sounds like your birds are completely normal...just make sure they have some shade and plenty of water in hot weather.

Congratulations on becoming a Back Yard Chicken fan!

 

[Imp]

from Washington.

Imp

Quote:

 

[peakfreak]

Wow! Superfast response, thanks very much for your help, you have put my mind at rest now. They are pullets and are fantastic. I can't belive I haven't got myself some 'girlies' sooner
As for the link to the poop information, I am staggered at the number of normal poos, very informative.

Thanks again
Brendan