Roosting in the cedar tree! (and lots of questions)

[txchickie]

Our chickens free range all the time and have gone to the cedar trees at night since they were about 3 months old. They do wander in and out of the coop during the day, as they still use the nestboxes to lay (well...most of them

) and that's where the feeder and waterer is.

However, mine don't wander far....but there's really no where for them to "go" as we are really rural. Why go no where, kwim? LOL

We have the tall cedar trees that the branches start about 5ft off the ground, and we also have the type where the branches start about 3-4 inches off the ground like a bush. They go to the same tall cedar tree right outside my bedroom window every night, along with the guineas. We have been really, really lucky and haven't lost any to predators this way, but we also don't have raccoons, owls, possums, etc....

ETA: In the coldest part of winter and when it snows they go into the barn to roost for the night. Still won't use the coop unless I catch them and put them in there for the night.

 

[BroomFarm]

Do you have the means to confine them to a smaller run that is attached to the coop? If you do this for a couple of weeks, giving them no other suitable place to roost except inside the coop, maybe they'll get it in their tiny brains that the coop is home?

We do this out of necessity, only allowing the birds to free range when we're around to keep an eye on them.

 

[Sillystunt]

that's really rude your chickens poop in other neighbors yards. i undrestand the free range thing but that's on your property.

when chicken owners lets chickens run amuck like yours , laws change, people judge chicken owners and you will make wars with your neighbors. i have chickens and if you were my neighbor i'd be ticked. i am not trying to be mean just giving you the truth.

Put a run on your coop and get control of your chickens~

 

[peony07]

OK, loud and clear.
The girls come running when we go outside and yesterday and they let us pick them up and such, so I am hoping they haven't gone too feral.
I don't want to loose them, I will make the run priority one when DH gets back home.
Thanks for the honest advice.

 

[Sillystunt]

i wasn't trying to be mean you just see soooooo many neighbor wars on here. Some for the chicken owner and some for the neighbor.

I am glad they came back! Mine free ranged when i first got them and ate all my plants. we gave them a run!! It wound up being sooo much easier and they soon learned to sleep in their darn coop! It was easier to get their eggs instead of my fat butt trying to reach in a bush , praying to god there were no snakes or spiders. You'll be glad you did.
Just a word of advise. if your 5 ft 10 make your run taller then 5 ft..............LOL
Hence we now are building a new coop and run 6ft tall!

best of luck

 

[peony07]

I am soooo sure they are laying elsewhere. They are 22 weeks! So today in the pouring rain I came home early from work and searched under every bush. The girls followed me around everywhere, with a "whatca doin?" looks but they weren't giving up their hiding spots and I didn't find the eggs.

However, new development, today one nesting box has been nested in! And today for the first time in a while, I saw the girls going in and out of their coop, so I hung some broccoli to entice them to stay. They did and a couple were checking out their nesting boxes. I put a golf ball in the one.
We'll see what happens. I checked a couple of their vents, but to tell the truth, that's a foreign thing to me and I couldn't tell what I was looking at!
I just can't wait for those eggs!