3
382767
Guest
I have had chickens since 2015. I bought a coop and on top I put dog crates for them to sleep on. They had laying areas on top of the dog crates with cardboard on top for stable sleeping. There are laying boxes underneath and on the end so I can grab the eggs by lifting up the lid under the roof of the coop. I got rats lately so I needed to move them away from the house (they were behind an attached garage). They were also free range chickens. For reason not important for this thread my yard was "under construction," and the severe California drought made all my grass die.
Today I moved the coop about 100 feet away from the garage and put a fence around it. Tonight when I went out to check on them, they were all in the old area wondering what happened to their sleeping quarters. I then got some scratch grains, called out "Chick, chick chick"--the buzzword for getting the scratch grains. Anyway my Barred Rock and one of my Sex Links revolted and did not budge. The chickens inside did not like where they were (I guess) so most of them flew over the (temporary) fence. Now I have two chickens sleeping together in one dog crates and the other 7 were back at the old place, so I got some garbage cans and they flew up with the aid of a stepping stool and are now sleeping on top of garbage cans.
I can only figure that the new area was too far away. So I thought maybe I should move the coop slowly away, like 50 feet at a time for a week, until I get them where I want them. The other reason moving them is that I am having a long, new fence installed on the garage side of the house and I didn't want the chickens to go over to my neighbor's yard to chew on his green grass. Should I just get higher fences? I am at a loss for what I should do. Thus I'm asking for your help. Thank you...I just love my chickens. I'm going to attach a photo of my setup.
Today I moved the coop about 100 feet away from the garage and put a fence around it. Tonight when I went out to check on them, they were all in the old area wondering what happened to their sleeping quarters. I then got some scratch grains, called out "Chick, chick chick"--the buzzword for getting the scratch grains. Anyway my Barred Rock and one of my Sex Links revolted and did not budge. The chickens inside did not like where they were (I guess) so most of them flew over the (temporary) fence. Now I have two chickens sleeping together in one dog crates and the other 7 were back at the old place, so I got some garbage cans and they flew up with the aid of a stepping stool and are now sleeping on top of garbage cans.
I can only figure that the new area was too far away. So I thought maybe I should move the coop slowly away, like 50 feet at a time for a week, until I get them where I want them. The other reason moving them is that I am having a long, new fence installed on the garage side of the house and I didn't want the chickens to go over to my neighbor's yard to chew on his green grass. Should I just get higher fences? I am at a loss for what I should do. Thus I'm asking for your help. Thank you...I just love my chickens. I'm going to attach a photo of my setup.
