our 5 very small baby chicks have grown quite a bit ( 16 weeks now) since our Phx permaculture class last fall (thanks Rachel!) and are moved into their new back yard coop and run (took me 2 months to build a little at a time, finally took off work to finish it, but that is the subject for another post.)
They run and coop are movable and I plan on moving them back and forth in the garden area as needed, although back under the tree for shade for the whole summer is the plan. They are happily annihilating all the weeds in and around the garden area, (except in the planted beds which are kept off limits), which prompted my 13 year old son to proclaim the idea of raising chickens several years too late in the making. I have kept a smaller portable run for problem weed areas around the rest of the yard, which we are blessed with due to all the rain.
A I described before in other entries, we bought 5 different breeds, and to say the least it has been interesting. Pecking order has been all over the place. The Americauna was top for awhile, and then shifted to the RIR. It appears now the Black sex link is queen of the roost after having been the runt I did not think was going to make it, although the RIR seems to be right near the top still.
The Buff Orpington, while the biggest, seems to be at the bottom. She is kind of the problem child now.
Without going into a lot of detail, the problem is tied to the coop. I have an upper and lower part of the coop due to the portable nature of it. A ladder (cleated board) connects the lower areas which lead to the run to the roosting part above. They go into the run during the day and go back to the roost at night and I shut them in.
After the first night which I had to train them to go in for the night and climb the ladder, the rest of them have is figured out. The black sex figured it out in 1 night and day as did the Americauna. It took one more day for the RIR and red sex link to have it down pat. The buff just does not get it. The last few days I have had to get her down out of the roost, after which she does fine in the run, and put (chase) her in at night. I had to get to work early this morning, and with the rain I just opened the coop door to the run and left.
My wife, bless her for all she does else for our family, reported the buff stayed in the roost the whole day, clucking distressfully, while the rest of them went out to the run. The run is where we keep the food and water, so she did not eat or drink today till I got home from baseball practice for my sons. The rest of course came in when it got dark no problem.
I welcome any and all suggestions how to help this poor chicken get the hang of it. While the chickens have been wonderful to have so far, I really do not think of them as pets. I look forward to getting eggs and using all that wonderful manure (composting right now), and have them eating weeds and bugs, while being pretty low maintenance. I work many hours and are involved in many activities with my children, and I do not have the time or patience for stupid chickens. We love her, but need her to become a little more self-sufficent. Any Ideas?
thanks
Chris
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It's been two weeks and within two days of the original posts, all has been well. In fact, Dumbo ( as she was rechristened by my six year old son) the Buff, has adjusted quite well, with one of the fastest out in the morning and one of the fastest in at night. They all seem to love being outside now,and are very adjusted to the coop.
The other great news is a week ago Saturday while our extended family as over, the red sex link followed me around and did the little submission squat. Sure enough the next day we got our first egg! Since then she has given 7 eggs, another has given 4 starting last Wednesday and one another undetermined one, just started three days ago and has given 2. Goofy thing is they have all been laying in the same spot under the little ladder on the side that goes up to the roost, and have ignored laying in the nesting box area. And I was worried about not giving them enough nesting area.
interesting on your comments about the forgetting of knowledge. my dad picked up right away on what was going on with the red, and told me" well here come your eggs!". it took me being almost 40 years old and getting chickens to get a wealth of information from my dad whose Dad always raised chickens. My Grandad apparently would buy 100 straight run at a time and raise the cockerels for meat and the hens for eggs for year or two and then start over. He quit before I was born apparently. I knew when I was little that my Grandfather has an old coop in his back yard, but all I ever saw in it was a couple of occasional thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys.
Chickens are creatures of habit and some handle change better than others.
If you show her where she should be for a few more days, she'll get it eventually. Go out at dusk and put her in the coop then go out in the morning and show her how to get out.
We had one that wanted to sleep in the nesting box all of a sudden. We put her on the roost at night for 3 nights. She finally got the idea and goes to the roost now. (She has crooked toes so I think it's harder for her to roost even though we made the roost wide for her benefit.)
Good luck,
Let us know when/how she catches on.
Thanks for the information. I admit I have the most blame for the situation in a number of ways.
The coop design is complicated in some ways; I have been trying to use alot of different ideas from what I have seen online, to handle our "unique" garden area and the materials I had on hand.
Timing and patience level are another part of it. I know the chickens are going through a transition period right now and are all adjusting in their own way, and some of it is going to take longer for some than others.
The mixed breeds is something I wish I could have known more on before I got them. I have read quite a few books and websites on chicken raising over the last few years, and somehow missed this information. It is pretty apparent that the differing breeds, are just that: different. They actually all seem to get along pretty well for the most part.
This has definitely been the learning experience for us, and I imagine will continue to be.You know know the saying that experience is what you get when you do not get what you want.
Thank you all for the advice.