The tiny serama; a Hatching adventure

[2ndTink]

Yeah, chickens don't like change, especially when it comes to roost time

 

[fluffycrow]

Yeah, chickens don't like change, especially when it comes to roost time

Yup. I have one that's adamant about roosting on a tree every night

 

[BDutch]

I try to get the hens in the run way before dark. Mainly to avoid 2 of my hens to roost in the pear tree.

Some scratch and a few mealworms does wonders to get them inside a bit earlier.

 

[tlcmurphy]

I try to get the hens in the run way before dark. Mainly to avoid 2 of my hens to roost in the pear tree.

Some scratch and a few mealworms does wonders to get them inside a bit earlier.

I use the “Grab and Fling” method, but I’ve only got 2 birds….

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Big birds have been moved to the coops, and the bitties are loving all that space! Miss Mayhem and the rest of the oldies did not appreciate the new chicks. By nightfall, the disappointment was universal, since the young'uns had started roosting in the chick pen. I bet they were quire mad when they found out they couldn't roost where they used to

Good, I bet the chicks are excited! And I bet the hens are mad. Every chicken wants the highest roosting place, since that is the safest area from ground predators.

 

[BDutch]

I use the “Grab and Fling” method, but I’ve only got 2 birds….

Chickens are so easy to train with scratch or other goodies. All it needs is to call them and give them yummie food for a few days on a row about ½ hour before sunset (before roost time). You’ll see they lurk around the coop and wait for the goodies to come every evening after that.

 

[fluffycrow]

I've touched on this before, but we are not in a high predation area. If one of the birds decides they want to roost outside, as long as they roost high/we enough, they can

Rounding them up before dusk would take time out of their free range; I have done it here and there, but only to let out the serama

 

[BDutch]

I've touched on this before, but we are not in a high predation area. If one of the birds decides they want to roost outside, as long as they roost high/we enough, they can

Rounding them up before dusk would take time out of their free range; I have done it here and there, but only to let out the serama

I dont know what the actal risk would be to sleep in the tree. We do have weasels around here. Foxes probably don’t climb that high.

Another reason to lock them in: if the chickens free range the whole day they wonder off quite far in neighbourhood and on the street. Once a neighbour who didn’t know from who the wandering chicken was catched her and locked her up in a box. I think I was lucky she didn’t call the animal rescue team (would be expensive to get her back again).

Besides there is a risk my Dutch search a place to brood outside the coop. That is really very dangerous. And the infertile eggs never hatch.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Chickens are so easy to train with scratch or other goodies. All it needs is to call them and give them yummie food for a few days on a row about ½ hour before sunset (before roost time). You’ll see they lurk around the coop and wait for the goodies to come every evening after that.

Mine already know to go to their proper coops and roosting pens without me having to train them. I do not know if I got lucky or what but somehow they know. Once I had to switch the Backyard Flock's roosting place due to changes in chicken areas and I put April (an Easter Egger Bantam hen) in a new cage for roosting. The others followed and she was frantic to get out but they roosted in there eventually. A day later, I was preparing to do the same thing with April but she had already gone into the cage to roost.

 

[fluffycrow]

Today was (nighttime right now) the 6 week "birthday" for the first couple of bitties, so tomorrow it's evaluation day!