So I know that chickens are a bit of a habitual creature. They roost in the same space, nest in the same place, and are super hard to change their habits regarding those two facets of their life (We couldn't get my Mom's chickens to stop roosting on her back porch no matter how many times we moved them!). But I didn't quite realize how much this habitual nature really governs them until yesterday.
I went in the morning to let the girls (9 wk Australorps) out of the coop, as usual. But I had a pretty full schedule for the day, and wanted to make sure that they got a little ranging in so I left the run door open while I filled their feeder and water. Then I grabbed a cup of tea (figuring that was good downtime to let them range), and sat down outside. The chicks all came running over to me, but no food. They kept running up to me one by one with a sort of confused look, then would run off. I finally got the message when all six of them went and stood where their feeder usually sits! Oh!! Yeah, I ran and got their breakfast. After they had eaten the feed, then they went out and foraged until I had to get going.
I had assumed that they would rather forage than eat their crumble, but they sure told me! Anyone else have anything like this happen with their chooks?
I went in the morning to let the girls (9 wk Australorps) out of the coop, as usual. But I had a pretty full schedule for the day, and wanted to make sure that they got a little ranging in so I left the run door open while I filled their feeder and water. Then I grabbed a cup of tea (figuring that was good downtime to let them range), and sat down outside. The chicks all came running over to me, but no food. They kept running up to me one by one with a sort of confused look, then would run off. I finally got the message when all six of them went and stood where their feeder usually sits! Oh!! Yeah, I ran and got their breakfast. After they had eaten the feed, then they went out and foraged until I had to get going.
I had assumed that they would rather forage than eat their crumble, but they sure told me! Anyone else have anything like this happen with their chooks?
