Southern NY, Dutchess county and below

[queenchick16]

Washington County Ny is a great place for vegetables, chickens, pigs, horses..we have one acre and we have fruit, lots of vegs and 15 chickens.

Welcome

 

[queenchick16]

Hey there just ran across this we are from cold spring (the forgotten westeren side of putnam)

Welcome

 

[Cheeky Chick]

I have a dumb question. (I ain't all that smart as far as them chickens go) I lock the girls up inside the hen house at night. If I don't, I can't sleep, I've had nightmares of raccoons getting into the coop (which is how my first flock died) so, every night of my life, I put them in the hen house. Yes. Most nights, they do not go willingly, they flap and cackle and cluck and run. When do they stop trying to be ferocious guard beasts, ready to roost out in the coop, ready to take on any raccoon, Rocky or otherwise, and just go into the hen house by themselves?
It's not all THAT hard to catch 5 of them-they love me, and willingly allow me to pick them up and do what I want with them. As a matter of fact, if May the BR could sleep in my bed with me, she'd be very happy to roost under my chin all night, I'll bet. BUT-Luke (AKA Lucy) the EE roo, and Henny Penny, the RIR, act like I'm chasing them with a spit and BBQ sauce. All of them roost at dusk on this TINY branch, probably fit for 3 chickens, not 7.
Once I get them into the hen house, (fully stocked with food, water, hay, and roosts) they call like baby chicks. It makes me sad, I know they love to be outside, even at night, but I know the hen house is iron clad, and they cannot get hurt in there. Will they eventually go inside by themselves? Everyone elses chickens seem to love their houses and feel secure in them. Do I need to lock them in for a few days, until they promise to do as I ask? They spend all day inside when the temps go up, since it's shady and cooler in there.
HELP! I just want my girls to make my life (and sleep) easier! Chasing the two nutbars around is BAD. Especially with the two little girls crate in the way. (who are inside a smaller crate, inside the hen house-they didn't complain at all!)

 

[smkchick]

Rosie, I had a problem with my first chicken, Gladys, which everyone here helped me with. I was advised to put her on lockdown in the coop for three days. I did. At the end of the three days, when the sun went down, she went right back to the tree she was roosting in. I asked again, and was told to lock her up for another 3 days. I did. At the end of the second three days, again when the sun went down, she headed toward the tree, then turned and looked at the henhouse. She walked around it, looking it over, cocked her head and said "Oh right, that's where I'm supposed to be." She then marched her fluffy butt into the henhouse, up to the roost, and has continued to do so every night since. All the other girls have followed her example. It sucked having her locked in for 6 days, 24 hours a day, but it was worth it to set her "automatic chicken" timer. And I didn't have to worry or chase her anymore. The end.

 

[Carolyn252]

Update: "Necklace," the egg-eating chicken walked up to the black-curtain-fronted nestbox, clearly ready to lay, but too scared to walk into the curtain and push past it. So, I firmly just plain pushed her in. Once in, in the dark, she settled and sure enough in about twenty minutes there she was, on the doorstep of the ChickArena singing her egg sound LOUD and triumphant.

I raced to the nestbox, and there was her perfect, unbroken egg. HOORAY. Apparently, too dark to find her egg, she skedaddled outta there as soon as she layed.

Bravo. Two hours later, I found HennyPenny's egg there as well. Intact and perfect.

And as for the little hurdle of teaching the two juveniles to sleep up on the new roosting board, I solved that little problem as well.

Here's what I did: I let them roam free with the big girls in the big back yard today. I sat on my rubbermaid garden stool with a big terry towel on my lap right in the middle of the yard so I could watch and see if the big girls tried to hurt them.

They stalked them every now and then, but the little ones are way faster and always dodged them easily. After a while, I left them and went into the house. I looked out at them an hour later, and the two little ones were nestled on the towel that I had folded and left on the stool.

So, I figured that since Laverne and Shirley are so used to the feel of the towel, they would probably accept the roosting board if it was covered in terry cloth. So i found an old towel and cut it up and covered the roosting board with it and put rubberbands around the whole thing to hold the toweling in place.

Sure enough, an hour after I placed the two of them up on the toweled board, they were still there, roosting like big girls. After a few nights of this, I'll remove the towel and leave it off, so I can scrape down any poo as needed.

A good day was had by all.

-Carolyn

 

[smkchick]

Brava, Carolyn!!

 

[Cheeky Chick]

Rosie, I had a problem with my first chicken, Gladys, which everyone here helped me with. I was advised to put her on lockdown in the coop for three days. I did. At the end of the three days, when the sun went down, she went right back to the tree she was roosting in. I asked again, and was told to lock her up for another 3 days. I did. At the end of the second three days, again when the sun went down, she headed toward the tree, then turned and looked at the henhouse. She walked around it, looking it over, cocked her head and said "Oh right, that's where I'm supposed to be." She then marched her fluffy butt into the henhouse, up to the roost, and has continued to do so every night since. All the other girls have followed her example. It sucked having her locked in for 6 days, 24 hours a day, but it was worth it to set her "automatic chicken" timer. And I didn't have to worry or chase her anymore. The end.

I'm gonna try it. I will HATE this, because I spend loads of happy time sitting and playing with them, but I want them to be safe. Poor girls. They're gonna think I abandoned them in there. I'll do it tomorrow, I'll clean out the hen house really good today, so it can go 3 days without being nasty.

Thanks!!

 

[Cheeky Chick]

Update: "Necklace," the egg-eating chicken walked up to the black-curtain-fronted nestbox, clearly ready to lay, but too scared to walk into the curtain and push past it. So, I firmly just plain pushed her in. Once in, in the dark, she settled and sure enough in about twenty minutes there she was, on the doorstep of the ChickArena singing her egg sound LOUD and triumphant.

I raced to the nestbox, and there was her perfect, unbroken egg. HOORAY. Apparently, too dark to find her egg, she skedaddled outta there as soon as she layed.

Bravo. Two hours later, I found HennyPenny's egg there as well. Intact and perfect.

And as for the little hurdle of teaching the two juveniles to sleep up on the new roosting board, I solved that little problem as well.

Here's what I did: I let them roam free with the big girls in the big back yard today. I sat on my rubbermaid garden stool with a big terry towel on my lap right in the middle of the yard so I could watch and see if the big girls tried to hurt them.

They stalked them every now and then, but the little ones are way faster and always dodged them easily. After a while, I left them and went into the house. I looked out at them an hour later, and the two little ones were nestled on the towel that I had folded and left on the stool.

So, I figured that since Laverne and Shirley are so used to the feel of the towel, they would probably accept the roosting board if it was covered in terry cloth. So i found an old towel and cut it up and covered the roosting board with it and put rubberbands around the whole thing to hold the toweling in place.

Sure enough, an hour after I placed the two of them up on the toweled board, they were still there, roosting like big girls. After a few nights of this, I'll remove the towel and leave it off, so I can scrape down any poo as needed.

A good day was had by all.

-Carolyn

SUCCESS all around! YAY!!!

 

[smkchick]

I'm gonna try it. I will HATE this, because I spend loads of happy time sitting and playing with them, but I want them to be safe. Poor girls. They're gonna think I abandoned them in there. I'll do it tomorrow, I'll clean out the hen house really good today, so it can go 3 days without being nasty.

Thanks!!

I know it's gonna be hard leaving them in there (think giant incubator) but it's so worth it to have them put themselves to bed every night.
I'll be thinking of you.

 

[Cheeky Chick]

I know it's gonna be hard leaving them in there (think giant incubator) but it's so worth it to have them put themselves to bed every night.
I'll be thinking of you.

I'll do it. I'm not gonna like it, but you're right-it will be worth it.