Our introduction to keeping chickens, the high's, the lows and pics of our journey.

[joannefiddler]

I've observed something twice this week and wonder if any of you have seen it. I have a flighty Cream Legbar hen who is second from the bottom of the pecking order. She seems very indecisive about where she will lay and I find her eggs everywhere. Too often they are in the poop tray or some other strange place. What I have twice seen now is my rooster, Morty apparently trying to show her where to lay. He jumps up in the nest and makes all his best rooster salesman noises. This goes on for quite some time. She will be intrigued, but so far he hasn't made the sale. Today he was tempting her to a new nest he was hollowing out on top of some hay. I finally found her egg today on the floor between two sheets of plywood that were leaning up against a stall. I'm just so amused by the efforts he's making and would love to hear if anyone else has witnessed similar behavior.

 

[Wrightsx4]

Yes - roosters are so comical to watch. My two oldest roosters are the nest warmers and welcomers. They'll get in the nests, get them just right, and wait for a hen to entice into the nest he has prepared. Here's one of them -

This guy will even guard the nest by standing in the box next to her, making sure other hens don't disturb her. Funny guys. I love watching them interact.

 

[vehve]

A true gentleman!

 

[vehve]

If I ever build another coop, I'm building it with a funnel shaped entrance. I have now chased the chickens around the yard for 20 minutes twice today trying to coax them into the coop. I have to leave the door open, and herd the chickens around the coop and hope they jump into the run. Usually, every time one goes in, one comes out as well. The first time I tried with corn, 8 went in nicely, but I had to chase the last one a million times. She kept trying to get into the run next to the opening and smacked into the net all the time. And trying to trick her with corn meant that the ones that were inside the run tried to come out after corn all the time. Then I asked the neighbors kids to help, the boy held the door open and kept chickens in. Of course, again this chicken tried to go in through the net. She started flapping her wings, and slowly walked up a vertical wall of netting, when she reached about two meters, she decided to fly off and almost landed on the neighbors kids head. After eight or nine more rounds around the run we finally got them all in.

The girls seemed offended when I interrupted their dustbathing session. How many chickens do you see in this picture?

 

[joannefiddler]

If I ever build another coop, I'm building it with a funnel shaped entrance. I have now chased the chickens around the yard for 20 minutes twice today trying to coax them into the coop. I have to leave the door open, and herd the chickens around the coop and hope they jump into the run. Usually, every time one goes in, one comes out as well. The first time I tried with corn, 8 went in nicely, but I had to chase the last one a million times. She kept trying to get into the run next to the opening and smacked into the net all the time. And trying to trick her with corn meant that the ones that were inside the run tried to come out after corn all the time. Then I asked the neighbors kids to help, the boy held the door open and kept chickens in. Of course, again this chicken tried to go in through the net. She started flapping her wings, and slowly walked up a vertical wall of netting, when she reached about two meters, she decided to fly off and almost landed on the neighbors kids head. After eight or nine more rounds around the run we finally got them all in. The girls seemed offended when I interrupted their dustbathing session. How many chickens do you see in this picture?

hahaha that is the stuff of YouTube videos! I see one dust bathing and one doing the dead chicken imitation!

 

[vehve]

hahaha that is the stuff of YouTube videos! I see one dust bathing and one doing the dead chicken immigration!

Yeah, I might have to have someone film it next time. Although, it's a lot easier to coax them in there with some help. The climb would of been cool to catch though, reminded me of the "Spider pig, spider pig..." bit from the Simpsons movie trailers.

Any more guesses on how many chickens are hiding in the blueberries? By the way, if you ever find Finnish blueberries, do try them. Packed with healthy stuff, and once you've tried them you'll never want to eat bush grown blueberries again.

 

[Wrightsx4]

Yeah, I might have to have someone film it next time. Although, it's a lot easier to coax them in there with some help. The climb would of been cool to catch though, reminded me of the "Spider pig, spider pig..." bit from the Simpsons movie trailers.

Any more guesses on how many chickens are hiding in the blueberries? By the way, if you ever find Finnish blueberries, do try them. Packed with healthy stuff, and once you've tried them you'll never want to eat bush grown blueberries again.

I can only see one for sure but there are some extra "possible" parts that are too distant to be a second so I'll guess three.
Had to laugh while picturing your chicken round up. If I don't wait until dusk to lock them up, then I have the same problem. Although, here's another thing roosters can help with. If the hens are out free ranging and I want them back within the fence I just grab the treat can and shake it - most will come running. Then I find Mr. Sprinkles my RIR roo and say "let's go!" and he rounds up the rest for me. If one of the girls won't listen then he'll stand next to her chattering until she does. He's always the last one through the gate.

 

[vehve]

I can only see one for sure but there are some extra "possible" parts that are too distant to be a second so I'll guess three.
Had to laugh while picturing your chicken round up. If I don't wait until dusk to lock them up, then I have the same problem. Although, here's another thing roosters can help with. If the hens are out free ranging and I want them back within the fence I just grab the treat can and shake it - most will come running. Then I find Mr. Sprinkles my RIR roo and say "let's go!" and he rounds up the rest for me. If one of the girls won't listen then he'll stand next to her chattering until she does. He's always the last one through the gate.

I'm mostly having problems with the new girls, this was the second day they have been allowed out of the run. Rounding them up at dusk wouldn't be a problem, they would probably all retreat to the coop for the night, but before we've had a chance for the dogs to familiarize themselves completely, I need to just let the chickens out for a few hours at a time, because I feel that it's a bit cruel to keep the dogs inside all day. Especially when we've got such lovely sunshine for a change again. In the past few weeks we've gone from almost +30C to +2C and rain, and now we again have over +20C, with thunderstorms predicted for next week. Interesting weather, but the garden seems to be thriving. My potato towers are pushing out leaves all around, the beans and peas have gone crazy and raspberry bushes keep popping up everywhere.

I do think it will be some time before we have a rooster who rounds up his chicks, the older ones are closing to 11 weeks, and the young one is 8 weeks now.

 

[Wrightsx4]

Last night was the first night my 6wk olds stayed in their coop. At dusk I had to go out and crawl under the coop to get them all back inside. We have a pop door that lifts up though so it was not too bad sticking them inside and letting the door close between crawlings. Still a good workout. No roosters to help me with that group, just the old girls.
Oh, by the way, Ben - I failed at moving Fancy last night She didn't go for that at all. I'm pretty sure I've translated the broody "cluck cluck" and the evil stare too...

 

[vehve]

Shame that the move was unsuccessful =/

Oh, but yes, there are 3 girls in the picture. They decided that we need a hole in exactly that spot. Three little chickens can do quite a lot of digging in just a few minutes. But it sure is entertaining to watch them clean themselves. If only they would do it in the run too, we have a container of peat moss with a dash of DE mixed in it. Some sleep in it during the day sometimes, but I still haven't seen anyone bathe in it.