Morning! well I had a bit of fun yesterday. I did put a practice roost in the yard and put each hen on their and held them till they felt secure on the thick branch...then let them go. Most of them stayed on their for a minute then hopped down. I'll keep trying this. and last night, I blocked off the nesting boxes with cardboard, but the roosting area isn't big enough for the roosts and the 6 hens if they don't want to get up on the roost so had to take them out. Oh well. I'll keep trying but nice to know there isn't any real issue if they choose to stay nestled together on the base (which is up off the ground next to the nesting boxes and safely locked away so no intruder can get to them). and funnily, I was not early enough for them this morning, as they wait for me down on the ground at the door to get out at first light (5am here!) so I let them out, took the cardboard out of the way of the nesting boxes, but when I went out an hour later, there was an egg on the ground, so the poor girl, just assumed she couldn't get into the nesting box! I'll try it a few more times, but don't want to discourage them from using the nesting box to lay their eggs either! Small problems...as I'm enjoying the journey! thank you everyone. much appreciated. Cheers. Jules
