- Sep 23, 2011
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Ok this is going to be a kind of long post while I work through our situation...
We received 11 Australorp chicks when they were around 3 weeks old this summer and raised them inside our home (in brooder) but allowed them outside during the day contained in a tractor my husband built until they were about 4 months old. We have since assembled their coop, roost included, boxes, run, etc. and moved them out. We kept them penned up in the coop/run for the first several days to get them accustomed to the coop and run so they would figure out their new home and accomodations. After the aforementioned time we allowed them out to roam our yard and explore. We always leave the run door open and had been leaving the large door my husband and I go through to muck out the coop or change food/water closed but after one particularly warm day we left the large door opened and the chicks happened to use the large door throughout the day to go in and out for food, water & rest and that night they went in through the big door to access the coop...not the run. Every morning they will come out through the run and be waiting at their pen door to be let out but every night they refuse to go in through the run!! If you leave the big door closed the darn buggers will hunker down in front of the door and sleep there! We have tried starting over and keeping them locked in their coop/pen for a few days to have them re-learn the process but that hasn't helped at all! From what I have researched I have read that sometimes starting a flock from scratch can be difficult and having an older bird to show the chicks the "ropes" so to speak is very helpful. Do yall think it would be beneficial for us to introduce an older (2-3 yr old bird) into the flock to help the girls gain a better understanding of how things are supposed to work around here?
Other issues: 1) The girls still sleep on the ground. They all huddle together on the floor in a corner. They have very nice roosts with ramps to access them but choose to sleep on the floor. Will they grow out of this, will an older bird introduced help fix this, should we go in at night and put them on the roosts like some books or websites say to do?
2) We live in a fairly rural area but our backyard is fenced in none the less. The back yard that is fenced in where the chickens run around is roughly an acre but they have recently figured out they are skilled enough to fly up on top of the fencing and to hop to the other side. This is not good-predators and neighbor's dogs would love to make a snack of them! Will trimming their wings help, are we screwed and need a taller fence, or are chickens going to do whatever their little hearts desire?
Any responses and suggestions are greatly appreciated. We are first time chicken owners and certainly enjoy the experience of owning and raising chickens but the hassles/worry we are going through is starting to diminish the enjoyment we are deriving from the experience
We received 11 Australorp chicks when they were around 3 weeks old this summer and raised them inside our home (in brooder) but allowed them outside during the day contained in a tractor my husband built until they were about 4 months old. We have since assembled their coop, roost included, boxes, run, etc. and moved them out. We kept them penned up in the coop/run for the first several days to get them accustomed to the coop and run so they would figure out their new home and accomodations. After the aforementioned time we allowed them out to roam our yard and explore. We always leave the run door open and had been leaving the large door my husband and I go through to muck out the coop or change food/water closed but after one particularly warm day we left the large door opened and the chicks happened to use the large door throughout the day to go in and out for food, water & rest and that night they went in through the big door to access the coop...not the run. Every morning they will come out through the run and be waiting at their pen door to be let out but every night they refuse to go in through the run!! If you leave the big door closed the darn buggers will hunker down in front of the door and sleep there! We have tried starting over and keeping them locked in their coop/pen for a few days to have them re-learn the process but that hasn't helped at all! From what I have researched I have read that sometimes starting a flock from scratch can be difficult and having an older bird to show the chicks the "ropes" so to speak is very helpful. Do yall think it would be beneficial for us to introduce an older (2-3 yr old bird) into the flock to help the girls gain a better understanding of how things are supposed to work around here?
Other issues: 1) The girls still sleep on the ground. They all huddle together on the floor in a corner. They have very nice roosts with ramps to access them but choose to sleep on the floor. Will they grow out of this, will an older bird introduced help fix this, should we go in at night and put them on the roosts like some books or websites say to do?
2) We live in a fairly rural area but our backyard is fenced in none the less. The back yard that is fenced in where the chickens run around is roughly an acre but they have recently figured out they are skilled enough to fly up on top of the fencing and to hop to the other side. This is not good-predators and neighbor's dogs would love to make a snack of them! Will trimming their wings help, are we screwed and need a taller fence, or are chickens going to do whatever their little hearts desire?
Any responses and suggestions are greatly appreciated. We are first time chicken owners and certainly enjoy the experience of owning and raising chickens but the hassles/worry we are going through is starting to diminish the enjoyment we are deriving from the experience
