WWF Chickens?

[kstaven]

I have 15 ameraucana that have to be the some of the friendliest chickens I have ever owned. Have never seen them being agressive towards each other. No injuries, plucked feathers, blood or anything.

But having said that .... everyday I find their waterers flipped over, the poly that was stapled to the walls is torn down. Three times in the last week their feeder was flipped over. The waterers are about 20 lbs when full. The feeders are over 4 feet long.

It is like when I am away their are wrestling matches or some pretty wild parties going on in the coop. Anytime I am around they are always calm, cool and collected.

They are far from overcrowded. 15 chickens and over 200 square feet of coop space. Access to outside. This started about 3 weeks ago.

They are locked up securely at night. Concrete floor so nothing can dig in.

I am at the point of buying a cheap surveilance cam so I can watch chicken TV and find out what is going on! Maybe if it is entertaining enough I can feed it to the internet and make some money off the little buggers! LOL

Any thoughts on this folks.

 

[Foghorn]

Oh man, just the thought of tag team matches going on has me laughing. I would guess that a videocam might be the only way to truly find out. And, oh yeah, that would be Pay-Per-View material!

 

[bigzio]

kstaven, wow that really is strange. They must be too tired to play any more by the time you catch up to them. I can't imagine how any chicken can be that routy.

bigzio

 

[kstaven]

It has me totally confused! I spent the whole day today insulating a new coop section and not one out of line incident while I was there. Will have 1,500 square feet of usable coop space by the time all is done! YEEEEHAAAAAAAAA!

I came in for dinner and by the time I went back out the feeders where flipped and one waterer was flipped. They where all very quiet when I came back out. They must have one of the group on look out duty to see when I am returning.

 

[keljonma]

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[chickbea]

I think keljonma called it - they are probably doing sorties around the coop.
I live in Vermont, and this is the time of year when people and animals all start getting cabin fever! Even my oldest, fattest hens get the notion in this weather that they just have to stretch their wings. I have an old NH Red that flies into my arms every time I come into the coop - cute, but it means I get a lungfull of dust every time I open the door!
There are waterers that hang from the ceiling - I've never used them myself, but I'm sure someone else on the board can let you know if they work. I screw my feeders in place to keep the exuberant scratchers from making such a mess.

 

[SandraChick]

The hanging waterer was what I was going to suggest. My sister uses them, and loves them. I'm just waiting to find one small enough....I only have a 5galon hanging version, and that's just too big for my little flock of 8hens

Sandra

 

[kstaven]

Well keljonma you where right about physical activity but wrong about the type. Walked in the coop this morning in time to find a hen and rooster mating on top of the waterer, it flipped over about 5 seconds later.

 

[keljonma]

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[jackolantern]

sounds to me like something might be spooking them or you have mice they are going after.. every americana i have ever had has been a better mouser than any cat i have ever had.. never seen anything like it and they will fight each other to get the mouse..