Teaching an old bird new tricks?

[BackFatBarbie]

My daughter is moving, I'm taking over her two remaining two-year-old chickens.

They've always had a stationary coop and run of the yard. I'd like to have a tractor coop w/run and give them occasional access to the whole yard. Is a coop that moves every few days going to freak them out? "Wh..what the heck? I would swear our house was over in that corner yesterday!"

The coop is not as tall as they are used to. With only two chickens, I want to keep it small to help keep them warmer in winter. The roost can be only a few inches above the floor. Will this be a big change or small potatoes?

They've always drank from a hanging waterer. I'd like to eventually convert them to gravity-piped nipples. What might be the best way to do this?

Any hints on how to generally reduce the stress of a new environment would be very appreciated.

 

[GitaBooks]

Congrats on the new chickens!

They will be confused at first, this is normal. Let them get use to their coop and run over a few weeks before letting them free-range. Chickens are adaptable, they should get the hang of it soon. I've never used nipple type waterers, so I'm not sure how to do that, but I've heard chickens take to it pretty well.

Best of luck!