Ribh's D'Coopage

[BY Bob]

All Ready for Bed & No place to Roost.
In the @BY Bob tradition...
We have a routine for roosting round here. Once I consider it dark enough for my girls to have put themselves to bed I go out to the coop to count heads & say goodnight. Sometimes I'm a bit early ~ or the girls are a bit late~or they aren't quite ready & are dithering...So I sit on the stoop & wait. It is always a special time between a keeper & her chickens.

Tonight everyone except Soda, who is still broody, was already in bed. I went round to the nesting boxes to grab Soda, who is never happy but knows what is expected of her & hops up onto a roost. Happy chirps & trills & purrs as I said goodnight & went to see what the new girls were doing.

Everyone had investigated the coop earlier. They knew it was there but only one Wyandotte was actually in there & she wasn't on the roost. Everyone else was pacing the small run squawking. It was getting darker & darker. Three Campines attempted to roost on the ladder. Neither Agitated Araucana could get past them. One Wyandotte went round round. A Campine attempted to roost on the thin frame. I started grabbing birds & shoving them bodily into the coop. Most promptly re~emerged. I turned on my phone torch & propped it under the nesting box lid. Everybody filed up the ladder into the coop. I took the torch. Two Campines promptly reemerged.

Not sure what these girls are used to but it's definitely not an enclosed coop. The Campines were eyeing off the trees. Everyone did eventually enter the coop but only 2 were roosting ~ my dominant 2; the oldest Campine & the oldest Araucana. I do hope this isn't going to be a nightly event!

It is amazing how much fun getting them to roost is. I wish you the best. again a for a temporary roosting environment. Last night was tough for me. I really wanted to leave them roosted where they wer since they had figured it out for themselves. The wind chill was simply too low.

Tonight the ambient air temperature will be down to 18°F (-7.7°C). I am going to bring them in. I don't feel they are mature enough for that level of cold. Fortunately, it looks like it will be only 1 night of that level of cold.

 

[BY Bob]

I'm sorry, Bob. No video. we were desperately trying to keep everyone cool.

I understand.

 

[BY Bob]

Thanks, Shad. This is the best I could do without confining my older girls completely ~ & it still wouldn't have been 20 clear feet. I've done what I can. All birds are immunized & wormed. No~one has lice or mites. I've disinfected the coop, At least this time I have been able to separate the old & new girls. There is only so much I can do @ present. One day in the future, I hope to have a much better set up.

It's not that I don't understand what the quarantine should be like. You are of course absolutely correct. Unfortunately my space is limited. I have 1/3 of an acre lot with a house and a pool in the middle of it. With my fears about security as well. I figured this is the best I can do. I have some knowledge about the flock these came from and their health. It is a calculated risk but the best I could do with what I have to work with.

We have many times talked about moving back to the country to get a couple of acres. It may yet happen.

Mine are true suburban backyard chickens.

 

[BY Bob]

So far I have a Hermione [definitely] & a Roxy [maybe] Now tell me which breed got those monikers.

Roxy is a campine. I'm sure of it.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

I frankly have my hands full right now. Coloured eggs will have to wait a while.

Well Phyllis will give you a white egg, so technically it's not brown.

 

[BY Bob]

Well Phyllis will give you a white egg, so technically it's not brown.

Technically they are supposed to be white. What odds do you give me?

 

[Kris5902]

All Ready for Bed & No place to Roost.
In the @BY Bob tradition...
We have a routine for roosting round here. Once I consider it dark enough for my girls to have put themselves to bed I go out to the coop to count heads & say goodnight. Sometimes I'm a bit early ~ or the girls are a bit late~or they aren't quite ready & are dithering...So I sit on the stoop & wait. It is always a special time between a keeper & her chickens.

Tonight everyone except Soda, who is still broody, was already in bed. I went round to the nesting boxes to grab Soda, who is never happy but knows what is expected of her & hops up onto a roost. Happy chirps & trills & purrs as I said goodnight & went to see what the new girls were doing.

Everyone had investigated the coop earlier. They knew it was there but only one Wyandotte was actually in there & she wasn't on the roost. Everyone else was pacing the small run squawking. It was getting darker & darker. Three Campines attempted to roost on the ladder. Neither Agitated Araucana could get past them. One Wyandotte went round round. A Campine attempted to roost on the thin frame. I started grabbing birds & shoving them bodily into the coop. Most promptly re~emerged. I turned on my phone torch & propped it under the nesting box lid. Everybody filed up the ladder into the coop. I took the torch. Two Campines promptly reemerged.

Not sure what these girls are used to but it's definitely not an enclosed coop. The Campines were eyeing off the trees. Everyone did eventually enter the coop but only 2 were roosting ~ my dominant 2; the oldest Campine & the oldest Araucana. I do hope this isn't going to be a nightly event!

The checking the trees out sounds familiar.

Going to need to brush up on the removal of tree hugging chickens?

 

[Shadrach]

It is amazing how much fun getting them to roost is. I wish you the best. again a for a temporary roosting environment. Last night was tough for me. I really wanted to leave them roosted where they wer since they had figured it out for themselves. The wind chill was simply too low.

Tonight the ambient air temperature will be down to 18°F (-7.7°C). I am going to bring them in. I don't feel they are mature enough for that level of cold. Fortunately, it looks like it will be only 1 night of that level of cold.

I think that's wise. I don't let any roost outside below -6C. I'm sure they'll cope but it seems awfully cold to me to be sitting on a tree branch.

 

[Shadrach]

It's not that I don't understand what the quarantine should be like. You are of course absolutely correct. Unfortunately my space is limited. I have 1/3 of an acre lot with a house and a pool in the middle of it. With my fears about security as well. I figured this is the best I can do. I have some knowledge about the flock these came from and their health. It is a calculated risk but the best I could do with what I have to work with.

We have many times talked about moving back to the country to get a couple of acres. It may yet happen.

Mine are true suburban backyard chickens.

My elder sister has the same problem, lack of space.
She quarantined hers at a friends two house down.

 

[Shadrach]

Going to need to brush up on the removal of tree hugging chickens?

Thankfully I'm an old hand at it. I've got seven trying it out currently.