Please be hens!! Expert eyes welcome!

[sgvpollo]

I've kind of lost track, but I think my chicks are now about 4 months old. Seems like they stopped peeping overnight and started clucking this weekend... kind of sad

Anyway, I'm hoping for advise:

1) They really don't like being held, at all. They don't even like us too near them. Looking for a way to help entice them to be a little more trusting. The closest I usually get to them is when they come in for the day, and I can usually pet them for a bit in their coop.

2) Praying these two are both females, and hoping a seasoned chicken lover can help here. I feel pretty good about my Welsummer being a girl (she's also a bit on the wee side, so I think she could even be a week younger. they both started very similar in size), but the Australorp is starting to concern me. Oreo is bigger, plumper and thicker, and I don't know how much of this breed and age, and not gender.

They both seem to use the nesting boxes for bunking, and pooping . Neither seems to ever use the roosting bars, other than to trip over them. They both still like to hide behind each other when they get spooked, but Oreo is definitely more dominant.

 

[sourland]

Both of your birds are pullets.

 

[Blackberry18]

Both of your birds are pullets.

Agreed. Beautiful.

 

[sgvpollo]

Thank you folks! My plans for awesome, fresh eggs can carry on!

 

[donrae]

Both your birds are pullets

. They're at the age where they'll start to get larger, plump, red combs any time now as they reach sexual maturity. don't let those combs freak you out, it's a normal part of development at this age and means eggs will be incoming!

Is that the roost bar, on the ground in front of them? If so, that's why they don't use it. Chickens' instincts are to roost as high as possible. They need an elevated roost, and they need to have enough room to fly up onto it. They need enough space away from the walls and ceiling. From the looks of things, that's a pre-fab coop and is likely quite small. You may not have enough space for a proper roost in there.

Sleeping in the nest boxes is a habit you'll want to break. birds poop a lot when they sleep, and poopy nest boxes = poopy eggs

. Start by blocking the nest boxes off so they can't access them. They'll fuss quite a bit at night the first few nights, but they're fine. You'll need to evaluate your coop for a proper roost and see what you can come up with, or evaluate for a different coop altogether.

 

[sgvpollo]

donrae, appreciated observation about the roost bars. I really didn't think about it, but yes, the bars are low lying and it is from a prefab. My intent has always been to use it as a framework to build on when the time came, and it looks like the time is here! Sounds like these two are getting a vaulted ceiling Once I build up the roost area, I'll have to evict them from their boxes to encourage using the roost bars.

 

[donrae]

Sounds like a great plan!

 

[Aurosphoenix]

Yup both pullets, as for your welsummer, you can easily tell by the color of her feathers.

 

[BantyChooks]

yup, pullets!