Ok, I'm a newbie chicken owner, so maybe this is all normal, but I'm starting to get a little worried. I FINALLY got enough of the coop built last weekend to get the babies out of the tight brooder and into the coop. Of course, they were very frightened for the first couple of days but have settled in and seem comfortable now. I rigged the brooder lamp into the coop for the first several nights, just in case, but left it off last night and they seem fine without it now. Here are my concerns: they still haven't started to use the roosts in the coop-at all. They won't come out of the coop when I open the pop door, and if one falls out a little way they panic and scramble back up the ramp. I've tried moving some of the braver hens part way down the ramp, so they can see how the rungs work and practice, but they still won't come out and it's been days. I put interesting things on the ramp, and they want to peck them, they just don't want to move down the ramp! I've tried food, treats, slugs, weeds etc-no go. Maybe they need more time to figure things out?
OK, I admit I probably wasn't the best chick mom. I really wanted to give them some time outdoors during the day when they were younger and in the brooder, to avoid this difficult transition, but it simply wasn't possible. Since I got my chicks at the beginning of Feb, we've had TWO whole 24 hour periods without rain. And one of them was last weekend! We've had one day when the temp broke 60-and it was last weekend. We've had such a wet, cold spring that I just never could get the babies out of the basement brooder and into chicken training in the yard. So when they moved into the coop last weekend it was also their first time out of my basement. Though I tried, I could never rig up a perch in the brooder that they would use and that last week I had to take perches out for more room. So they don't have any real practice with perching either. Do they just need more time? Is there anything else I can do to help them learn to perch, use the ramp etc?? I've tried putting them on the roosts, and they just jump down.
OK, I admit I probably wasn't the best chick mom. I really wanted to give them some time outdoors during the day when they were younger and in the brooder, to avoid this difficult transition, but it simply wasn't possible. Since I got my chicks at the beginning of Feb, we've had TWO whole 24 hour periods without rain. And one of them was last weekend! We've had one day when the temp broke 60-and it was last weekend. We've had such a wet, cold spring that I just never could get the babies out of the basement brooder and into chicken training in the yard. So when they moved into the coop last weekend it was also their first time out of my basement. Though I tried, I could never rig up a perch in the brooder that they would use and that last week I had to take perches out for more room. So they don't have any real practice with perching either. Do they just need more time? Is there anything else I can do to help them learn to perch, use the ramp etc?? I've tried putting them on the roosts, and they just jump down.