I have two teen-ager pullets that were hatched and raised by my perma-broody hen Matilda.
They are three months old and have been integrated with the flock since they were about 8 weeks old.
Mama hen watched over them well and protected them from the others.
Lately mama has been leaving them on their own and now has gone broody again.
I put her into the isolation pen to try and break her off the nest and so the two teens are on there own against the others.
This is only a problem at night as they don't have mom to protect them on the roosts.
The first night they hid in one of the nest boxes so I left them there.
Last night I went to lock up and neither teen was in the coop anywhere.
I spotted one, sitting on one of the poles that run across the top of the pen to hold up the netting.
She was inside the pen on the pole under the netting ( thank goodness she didn't get tangled in the netting)
She is not as flighty as her sister so I was able to reach up and get her and put into the coop.
Then I spotted the evil twin. Extremely flighty, you can't get anywhere near her.
She was on the outside of the pen on top of the netting on one of the poles. I grabbed my trusty broom (wranglers' wand)
and shooed her off the top of the pen and started the corralling dance around and around the outside of the pen/coop.
Finally she flies back up onto the top of the pen. AAAARRRGH it's getting dark. Tried to shoo her off again and she flies up onto the roof of the coop where I can't reach her. The water hose got her off. Then round and round the pen some more.
It was dark enough now that I backed off a bit and stood quietly and she decided to wander non-challantly into the pen and into the coop. YEEHAW! Another successful round-up.
I can't wait to see what this evening brings.
They are three months old and have been integrated with the flock since they were about 8 weeks old.
Mama hen watched over them well and protected them from the others.
Lately mama has been leaving them on their own and now has gone broody again.
I put her into the isolation pen to try and break her off the nest and so the two teens are on there own against the others.
This is only a problem at night as they don't have mom to protect them on the roosts.
The first night they hid in one of the nest boxes so I left them there.
Last night I went to lock up and neither teen was in the coop anywhere.
I spotted one, sitting on one of the poles that run across the top of the pen to hold up the netting.
She was inside the pen on the pole under the netting ( thank goodness she didn't get tangled in the netting)
She is not as flighty as her sister so I was able to reach up and get her and put into the coop.
Then I spotted the evil twin. Extremely flighty, you can't get anywhere near her.
She was on the outside of the pen on top of the netting on one of the poles. I grabbed my trusty broom (wranglers' wand)
and shooed her off the top of the pen and started the corralling dance around and around the outside of the pen/coop.
Finally she flies back up onto the top of the pen. AAAARRRGH it's getting dark. Tried to shoo her off again and she flies up onto the roof of the coop where I can't reach her. The water hose got her off. Then round and round the pen some more.
It was dark enough now that I backed off a bit and stood quietly and she decided to wander non-challantly into the pen and into the coop. YEEHAW! Another successful round-up.
I can't wait to see what this evening brings.
