Purring chickens????

[tweetzone86]

Today I was in the coop/shed (10x20 foot finished shed, back half is "chicken zone") and suddenly the chickens froze, some even mid-walk, and made distinctly purring sounds! I can't figure it out- it lasted for a good five minutes where they just stayed frozen in place and purring like a dozen little cats.

Any idea why they would do that? I had no idea chickens could purr...lol.

 

[sekeyslaks]

Chickens purr when they are super duper happy,it's a wonderful sound!my hens and roosters do it all the time when they are snuggling together or there is delicious food to be had.
But there is also a copycat sound they make when they see something they don't like,like a squirrel or a bird. It's a louder purr than the much softer happy sound.

 

[jonezjollyfarm]

Probably sensed a predator or some sort. Mine do that when they see birds that are dove sized or larger.... and planes too cuz they dont know they arent going to eat them.

 

[tweetzone86]

Chickens purr when they are super duper happy,it's a wonderful sound!my hens and roosters do it all the time when they are snuggling together or there is delicious food to be had.
But there is also a copycat sound they make when they see something they don't like,like a squirrel or a bird. It's a louder purr than the much softer happy sound.

I'm wondering if it was the second one. They were in the main area of the shed while I dumped kitchen scraps in their coop area, and there's a screened small window open for ventilation. Maybe they froze because they heard a hawk or eagle outside, even though I didn't hear it.

Either that or the stinkers just didn't want to go back in the coop area after being let out (a neighborhood cat found a weakness in our run, so we're having to keep them in the coop while we repair it and replace all the t-posts with wood ones. We also had a tarp up but are now doing post and beam style to create a wood roof with scrap wood we have left since the tarp wouldn't handle the snow this winter).

They weren't too happy with me when I put them back in there...

 

[jonezjollyfarm]

You're going to want to hardwire mesh that window for sure. Anything will tear or pop the screen out for a free chicken dinner. Poor girls will get past it but will probably always be leery especially if the cat got one. We had a opossum climb on the hardwire mesh over the windows in our coop this summer. Gave the girls a good scare. No one wanted to sleep by the window for like 2 weeks. I just started covering it at night so even if it did come back they wouldn't know what it was.

 

[tweetzone86]

You're going to want to hardwire mesh that window for sure. Anything will tear or pop the screen out for a free chicken dinner. Poor girls will get past it but will probably always be leery especially if the cat got one. We had a opossum climb on the hardwire mesh over the windows in our coop this summer. Gave the girls a good scare. No one wanted to sleep by the window for like 2 weeks. I just started covering it at night so even if it did come back they wouldn't know what it was.

The window is on the shed itself and is about 8 feet off the ground; the run is next to the shed (it's in a corner of our backyard so 2 of the four sides are fence and the third is shed with a small opening in back we put a pallet on and the front where the human sized door is going to be). That's the part that had the tarp- the run roof, not the coop itself. The cat got between the tarp and the 6' perimeter fence from behind our yard.

Thankfully we were outside at the time and chased it away so no girls got caught, but it did point out that we needed to secure the run better (the tarp was a temp measure til we got the post-holes dug and actual wire and wood for a roof). And yes, we will be stapling hardware cloth over that window as soon as I can pick some up, but so far nothing has gotten in there. And said window is away from the wired and framed wall in the shed that separates the coop from the rest of the shed.

But yeah- other than us needing to wire mesh that window, coop is secure. It's the run itself that the cat got into and it's the run itself we are currently redoing with timber frames (4x6x10' posts we cut down and got free off heavy equipment pallets. The 2x6's that were the cross beams are going to be used for the roof part, and wire for the front half for roofing so they still get lots of light).

Once we're done, with hardware cloth along the bottom and 2x3" wire across the rest, the thick roof, and all being supported by 4x6 heat treated oak beams, that run will be very, very secure against neighborhood cats, dogs, and hawks, which are the only predators I've observed this far into town here. A couple bobcats were spotted on the other side of town and a cougar in the town over, but we haven't seen any signs of them on our street or the surrounding ones or in our yard (thank goodness!).

 

[jonezjollyfarm]

I use dog hair to keep things out of my run. I also use a product call repellall. Its non toxic as far as I can tell and nothing likes the smell of it. I also have several motion sensor lights so I can see if theres things bumping around in the night.

 

[tweetzone86]

The only dog I have access too is a shorthaired one

I like the Repellall idea, but I live in town on a 1/4 acre city lot til we can afford acreage I don't think my neighbors will appreciate it. I'm dependent on staying on their good side regarding the chickens because it's a gray area here (city law says all single family dwelling lots in the city can have hens (you need a min 2 acres for a roo), but technically though its lazy my HOA says no. City law trumps HOA but I'd rather not end up in a kerfuffle with the neighbors).

I will just strive to make the run as sturdy as I can afford (can only afford 1 roll of hardware cloth but I have the 2x3 welded wire fence I can use on the rest already). I have a hysterectomy and endometrial lesion removal in about 6 weeks (follow up from pelvic muscle physical therapy for the pre-surgery appt is on Nov 13) and until the doc gets in there they don't know how much has to be removed in the pelvic region (endometriosis lesions blend in with regular tissue) so I've got to get it all finished before then or it won't get done til spring at the earliest, or whenever I recover fully from surgery whichever comes first. I'd rather not keep them confined in the coop/shed all winter (it's not big enough for them to be in there for weeks on end).

So the plan is to use recycled pallets on the open ends, make a door with hardware cloth on it and some pavers around the bottom, and use hardware cloth around the bottom half and the wire fencing I already have (bought for garden originally) along with the reclaimed beams and wood for the top half. I throw the used bedding in there, which helps keep it dry and full of bugs (it's going to be lovely garden soil next spring!) and I'll staple the tarp to the wood part of the roof so it's supported yet dry, and we should be good to go

 

[jonezjollyfarm]

The repellall wont hurt anything. You just sprinkle it on the ground where you dont want critters to go. I understand wanting to stay on your neighbors good side though. I am forever chasing my girls back into the yard and we live in the country. Fortunately my closest neighbor is very nice about it. I've never understood the rooster issue in town. Yeah they crow and can be aggressive but my hens are 20x noisier then my roos. And mine could care less about people they get get chesty with each other and the dogs chase any threats to the birds.

 

[tweetzone86]

The repellall wont hurt anything. You just sprinkle it on the ground where you dont want critters to go. I understand wanting to stay on your neighbors good side though. I am forever chasing my girls back into the yard and we live in the country. Fortunately my closest neighbor is very nice about it. I've never understood the rooster issue in town. Yeah they crow and can be aggressive but my hens are 20x noisier then my roos. And mine could care less about people they get get chesty with each other and the dogs chase any threats to the birds.

Gotcha.

People don't want to be awakened at 4 am during the short days of the year Honestly it's a "city folk vs country folk" thing when it comes to roosters. Over 2 acres and you fall under "right to farm" laws, but under that you have no such protection and roosters are considered a noise nuisance. And there's never a guarantee that you'll have a quiet roo, and it's harder to confiscate people's noisy animals than to prevent it from even taking place. I suppose in a way it's because of the stereotype that roosters only crow in the wee hours of the morning, as there's an overall sound ordinance from 10 pm to 6 am and unlike dogs (that can be taken indoors) roosters are difficult to shut up before 6 am.

But mostly, the city folks don't want a buttcrack of dawn alarm clock Whereas it's music to my ears

On a side note- does anyone know where I can buy an alarm clock that sounds like a rooster (but isn't one)? I found one on Amazon but it's out of stock and they don't know when it will be back in stock