TLDR; Our oldest and smallest has suddenly decided to fly over her run fence to go digging.
I moved their fence out further so she had even more and new areas to dig, but she's decided to just leave as soon as I put her back in the run.
Our momma hen was given to use when we got our four chicks. She's probably 3-5 years old. She was the brooder mom and is a bantam, while her girls are huge Orpingtons. Over the past year she's become more distant from them. She used to watch over them and watch over them as they nap, but she doesn't seem to want to have much to do with them anymore.
And since we're in winter here in the southern hemisphere, just passing the darkest part of the year - their area has been quite dark for 2 months. Also our winters have turned to torrential rain on weekends due to climate change, so it's been damp and frozen ground everywhere for the rest of the week.
Earlier in the week she started showing up in the part of the yard that is not their run (we have a coop with a closed run, and then they're in a fenced in area the size of a house for the sunny parts of the day). We thought maybe she was jumping on some of the shaded furniture they have, but no, just jumping out as soon as we're not looking.
Anyone have anything we can try to just make her happy to want to stay with the other girls? I bring them loads of greens, mealworms, digging straw and treats. I've been trying to sit and hand feed her greens or give her special treats without the others bowling her over. I'm wondering if she's sick of them.
Today, I'm trying letting her stay out for an hour or two with me watching, and she just ran up to me to tell me she wanted to go back in. Nice, but not ideal.
I'd hate to clip her wings and was planning on moving their main fence line to give them twice as much room - but that might be 6 months away at least.
I moved their fence out further so she had even more and new areas to dig, but she's decided to just leave as soon as I put her back in the run.
Our momma hen was given to use when we got our four chicks. She's probably 3-5 years old. She was the brooder mom and is a bantam, while her girls are huge Orpingtons. Over the past year she's become more distant from them. She used to watch over them and watch over them as they nap, but she doesn't seem to want to have much to do with them anymore.
And since we're in winter here in the southern hemisphere, just passing the darkest part of the year - their area has been quite dark for 2 months. Also our winters have turned to torrential rain on weekends due to climate change, so it's been damp and frozen ground everywhere for the rest of the week.
Earlier in the week she started showing up in the part of the yard that is not their run (we have a coop with a closed run, and then they're in a fenced in area the size of a house for the sunny parts of the day). We thought maybe she was jumping on some of the shaded furniture they have, but no, just jumping out as soon as we're not looking.
Anyone have anything we can try to just make her happy to want to stay with the other girls? I bring them loads of greens, mealworms, digging straw and treats. I've been trying to sit and hand feed her greens or give her special treats without the others bowling her over. I'm wondering if she's sick of them.
Today, I'm trying letting her stay out for an hour or two with me watching, and she just ran up to me to tell me she wanted to go back in. Nice, but not ideal.
I'd hate to clip her wings and was planning on moving their main fence line to give them twice as much room - but that might be 6 months away at least.
