What did you do with your flock today?

[Smokerbill]

I've been letting my chickens out to forage for about a half hour every evening lately, right before I lock them up for the night. Not today.

I mixed up some wet layer pellets and got them all into their overnight quarters, then locked them up for the night early, around 3PM. Hope they're not mad at me. Haha

I just couldn't leave them locked up for the night without having a little R&R in the yard, so I let them out to forage around 5:00. They got a good hour and a half in the grass.

I learned that my chickens are weird. I was sitting on the back deck and four of them started pecking at the weathered wooden steps. At first I thought they were eating tiny bugs that I couldn't see. Watching closer I could see that they were tearing little pieces of wood off and eating them! What??!!

I saw one tiny sliver of wood sticking up and a chicken grabbed it and ate it. Another chicken ripped off a little sliver about an inch and a half long and swallowed it. They were at it for at least 20 minutes, until I scolded them and chased them away. I guess living with wood chips on the run floor most of their lives makes them think that wood is one of the major food groups.

 

[Nomadicus]

I just couldn't leave them locked up for the night without having a little R&R in the yard, so I let them out to forage around 5:00. They got a good hour and a half in the grass.

I learned that my chickens are weird. I was sitting on the back deck and four of them started pecking at the weathered wooden steps. At first I thought they were eating tiny bugs that I couldn't see. Watching closer I could see that they were tearing little pieces of wood off and eating them! What??!!

I saw one tiny sliver of wood sticking up and a chicken grabbed it and ate it. Another chicken ripped off a little sliver about an inch and a half long and swallowed it. They were at it for at least 20 minutes, until I scolded them and chased them away. I guess living with wood chips on the run floor most of their lives makes them think that wood is one of the major food groups.

I am always worried about mine finding shiny sharp objects after loosing a nice sweet pullet that swallowed a wood screw that was lost in the grass while building the hoop house that was built for her. Hoping you girl can digest that splinter ok....

 

[Smokerbill]

I am always worried about mine finding shiny sharp objects after loosing a nice sweet pullet that swallowed a wood screw that was lost in the grass while building the hoop house that was built for her. Hoping you girl can digest that splinter ok....

I kind of wonder if that will happen with one of mine someday. There's all kinds of crap like that laying around my place. I've thought about pulling out my metal detector and checking the chickens to see if there's any metal in their gizzards.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Nothing I bearly seen mine today because they are miserable molting hens that went to bed at 1pm lol

 

[Shetland lover]

This poor hens terrible luck has turned. Bless your heart. I look forward to meeting her and hearing the antics.

Hate to think how your spoiled rotten flock is going to react to a newcomer but again, look forward to hearing the stories of the antics. Bravo @Shetland lover

Aww, that's so sweet of you to say

I'm very worried too about the inevitable change to the flock dynamics. Things are so beautifully settled right now but I have to help her. Just going to be as relaxed as possible about the integration process and see how it goes. If necessary, she can be a house chicken for a time until everyone gets used to each other. I'm sure the boys, at least, will be welcoming . We'll know in the next few hours as friend is dropping her off at about 10am.

Love your chicken witch avatar btw!

 

[Shetland lover]

I am always worried about mine finding shiny sharp objects after loosing a nice sweet pullet that swallowed a wood screw that was lost in the grass while building the hoop house that was built for her. Hoping you girl can digest that splinter ok....

On my vet course, the tutors said eating nails, screws, bits of wire etc. was one of the leading causes of crop and abdominal surgery in chickens. I'm really paranoid about leaving ANYTHING small and metal around when I'm working on the coops and run as I just know my silly buggers wouldn't think twice about eating them. Even more lethal is zinc coated hardware as it slowly poisons them as well as having the potential to pierce the crop and gut wall.

I'm so sorry you lost your little girl like that. It's nearly impossible to keep track of every screw, especially on bigger projects. Heart breaking.

 

[Shetland lover]

Nothing I bearly seen mine today because they are miserable molting hens that went to bed at 1pm lol View attachment 3665281View attachment 3665282View attachment 3665283

Mine are all moulting and miserable too! But bed by 1pm? I wish! I still had to fight with Gladys to go to bed at 6pm when it was fully dark. She was stopping Pru getting to bed as she won't go past the 'door man' aka Clara, without Gladys

 

[TropicalBabies]

Let mine out about a hour before dark to enjoy some untrampled yard, maybe find some bugs, grubs or other goodies. My newest birds barley left the run area while my older birds went almost to the property line (house is in the middle of about 3 acres)

Very nice and beautiful girls. 3 acres is some wonderful space ♡
Aloha and welcome to BYC! Also, welcome to this thread!! We love the chicken shares
Where are you at in this big ol world? Just a state is good to know for our reference. Always good to know what you are dealing with when we are responding.

 

[Racsan]

Im in ohio, north central region, marion county specifically, just south of 309 but on a backroad. When all the leaves are gone you can just barely see & hear the traffic on that major road.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I just couldn't leave them locked up for the night without having a little R&R in the yard, so I let them out to forage around 5:00. They got a good hour and a half in the grass.

I learned that my chickens are weird. I was sitting on the back deck and four of them started pecking at the weathered wooden steps. At first I thought they were eating tiny bugs that I couldn't see. Watching closer I could see that they were tearing little pieces of wood off and eating them! What??!!

I saw one tiny sliver of wood sticking up and a chicken grabbed it and ate it. Another chicken ripped off a little sliver about an inch and a half long and swallowed it. They were at it for at least 20 minutes, until I scolded them and chased them away. I guess living with wood chips on the run floor most of their lives makes them think that wood is one of the major food groups.

Silly chickens! Makes me happy I build everything out of HT lumber when it comes to my chooks, though, I've never seen mine pick off and eat wood yet I wonder how well they will process that...?
i always assume the ground pecking is for grit much of the time, especially if I have left them locked in a run for too long. Speaking of which, I have been out of grit for awhile. Feed stores are out, I need to head to the beach and find a clean catch of big grain sand and see if they will fall for it. Been thinking of that for some time. Just never remember to actually do it. I don't like having to get grit shipped