Why do they like this particular spot so much?

[Krazyquilts]

Hello

I have a bit of an odd problem. My 3 new chickens (they're around 15 weeks old) seem to have a new favourite spot where they sit all day. It's right outside the cat flap and now my cat's too scared to go out into the garden. They sit on the door mat that's on top a few paving slabs (the cat flap is too high up for the cat so I put them there for his convenience).

I have a roost in the garden but they never sat on it. In the beginning they used to sit under the bush all the time.

Is it the door mat they like? Do they just like to get off the grass sometimes? Are they too young to roost but prefer being a little higher up?

If I can figure out what it is about this particular spot then I can recreate it somewhere else in the garden and my cat will have his freedom back

This was yesterday which was pretty funny...
View attachment 1117905
...but then this morning I came into the kitchen to this sad little kitty-face.
View attachment 1117906

Not so funny for the poor kitty, but this made me laugh!

 

[Krazyquilts]

good thinking!
cat-a-poult

 

[StephTheChicken]

Thank you for the advice everyone! I taught my cat to get over his fear

While we're on the subject of strange chicken behaviour - my Silkie always sleeps face down in the grass while the other two have their heads up when they're taking a nap. She seems normal otherwise, eats, drinks, runs around, etc.

Is that just a quirky thing Silkies do or is it reason to worry? She's a bit of a funny one in general

 

[User395221]

face down in the grass

what is this "grass" of which you speak? I don't know whether it's something they do. I've never really seen my silkies or anybody else napping, they are usually stuffing their faces.

 

[StephTheChicken]

what is this "grass" of which you speak? I don't know whether it's something they do. I've never really seen my silkies or anybody else napping, they are usually stuffing their faces.

Haha I've been lucky so far. They've only dug up the soil around the fence. Gotta keep filling it up before they dig a tunnel over to the neighbours garden
The rest of the garden is still nice and green and they love it. I think they eat more grass and bugs than their actual food that I buy for them.

I'll see if I can snap a photo of her lying face down in the grass. They seem to nap a lot though, maybe because they're still young? They also run around a lot, all that workout must be tiring so I didn't think much of their many breaks.

 

[aart]

They seem to nap a lot though, maybe because they're still young?

How old?...common chick behavior.

 

[StephTheChicken]

How old?...common chick behavior.

Around 15-16 weeks now. Also common to nap face first on the ground?

 

[aart]

Around 15-16 weeks now. Also common to nap face first on the ground?

Ehh....not so much, that I've seen...but who knows?!<shrugs>
Had a hen sitting in the nest to lay today and she had her chin resting on bottom edge of entrance hole, kind of the way my dog will rest his chin on the low rung of a hardwood chair.

 

[StephTheChicken]

Ehh....not so much, that I've seen...but who knows?!<shrugs>
Had a hen sitting in the nest to lay today and she had her chin resting on bottom edge of entrance hole, kind of the way my dog will rest his chin on the low rung of a hardwood chair.

Hahaha that's so funny. I never knew chickens were like that until a few weeks ago

 

[BonDEEroo]

I have 3 black silkies and they are sweet funny little things. They do happy dances, running in circles with wings raised or rushing and jumping randomly.
One ate so much straw the day after I got her, she got an impacted crop. We tried water diet, massage etc for about 3 days but the impaction wouldn't budge, so off to the vet she went. Most expensive bird I've ever owned. In the week after the operation she ate so much she increased her body weight by 33%!