Chicken pecking

[BoothBees]

Hi folks,

New time poster here, and I'm hoping for some wisdom.

We have 6 Bantams and two larger hens. Two of the Bantams are Polish and one of these can't get into or out of the Cube MK II without our help.

All of the hens except one of the Polish Bantams entered the coop tonight. She sat on the floor on her own, trying to go to sleep. 

Has anybody had any experience of a hen that wouldn't or couldn't use the ladder?

We're exploring a few options to help:

• Buying a second Cube MK II and putting it on the floor (no ladder) - your concerns are whether a Cube MK II should go on the floor and the chance of all the hens opting for the raised coop, leaving our poor Polish Bantam on her own.
• Creating a ramp from a plank of timber, that is longer and a gentler slop than the ladder.
• Cutting the crest feathers to improve her visibility.

I'd be open to any suggestions on the ideas above or any other ideas. When she's out and about she's a lovely little hen with a fantastic character, but she's really struggling with the ladder. We want to help her if we can (we're not ones for rehoming an animal, we commit to them for life).

[BoothBees]

On 4/30/2023 at 10:25 PM, BoothBees said:

your concerns

That should say "our concerns". No edit button... 😒

[Cat tails]

I think the easiest and quickest solution is to see if you can make a ramp over the ladder. Alternatively you can see if you can add some tree stumps or perches next to the entrance to see if she will use that to hop in. My bantams don’t use the ladder, but only the perch at around half height of the ladder. It’s nothing more than some scrap wood I stuck through the mesh of the run.

placing a Cube on the floor isn’t really a good idea. The Cube is made to sit on legs and it will hinder ventilation and also make it hard to use the drawers.

[Daphne]

As CT says, the best solution will be to modify the cube ladder; many Cube owners do this so I'm sure you can find some easy modification.  I used to keep bantam polands together with large orpingtons, the only thing I would say is to keep an eye on your hen to make sure she isn't being bullied - it can happen easily with polish as they can't see well enough to get out of the way. 

Its not the end of the world if you have to put the Cube on the ground; I used to do this as the orps didn't like heights, they struggled to get off the ground and landing from high up is not good for them, given their large bodies.  I butted my Cube up to a long run, inside an electric netting pen for supervised ranging, although they all spent most of the time free ranging in the garden.

[BoothBees]

Thank you both.

We eventually opted to get a second coop and separate run for the two Polish we had, along with a couple more so they have more company. We picked up an Eglu classic with extended run.

We've read that the Polish don't make great free ranging birds due to their inability to see predators easily, but any suggestions on sufficient space for them is welcome. (We read on a blog that they don't need much, but I'd like to validate that.)

[Daphne]

I think you did the right thing.  I used to keep some of my polands separately in a classic and run, as well as some in with the big birds in a cube and it worked very well.  I'm not very good with m2 per bird, but I had an extended run with the classic, which opened into an electric netting pen, and then they were let out to FR when I was working from home.  My impression is that they are pretty active little birds, and I wouldn't keep them in the run only for long periods. The electric netting pen had the advantage that it offered some protection (they can't see that well looking upwards or to the side because of the crest).  I think the biggest concern is that you have to know they are happy with their flockmates, there is almost more danger from other breeds picking on them, particularly if too confined, than there is from random predators.  I had had all my girls for many years, and orps are very passive, they melded as a flock very well, even when a LF male orp was introduced into the mix - they were too small for him to take any notice of!  However, I wouldn't let a more aggressive cockeral near them, unless it was another polish, although they can be pretty feisty.

What colour(s) do you have?  Most of mine were w/c blacks, but I did have gold laced and a couple of new fangled khaki coloured birds which are probably renamed something else by now.  I wish you heaps of enjoyment with them, they are beautiful and characterful little birds, with the most amazing eggs.

[BoothBees]

We have got the 20m fencing from omelet, with extra posts, so I might set that up. I can also electrify around it, as I have plenty of electric fencing and posts, to offer more protection. I'm so paranoid about foxes. The electric fence is powered by a 4.7 joule agricultural energiser, so any fox touching it will get quite the shock.

We do have large birds of prey around the site. Would they bother them?

We have a Chamois Polish, Lavender White Crested Polish, Gold Laced Polish and Black White Crested Polish. We had to get different colours so we could tell them apart. 😀

[Daphne]

I never had any raptors near where I lived, but I would guess they are precisely the sort of predators who would be problematic, if they feed on live prey rather than dead carrion and are active in the daytime.

I forgot I had a chamois, she was deformed at birth with her tail pointing downwards, but she lived to a good age and was 2nd in command of the flock.  Your selection sounds lovely, I've never seen a w/c lavender.

 

[Beantree]

Buzzards will drop down on chickens, but are then faced with the problem of taking off. To disrupt potential take-off runs we used tripods made from 3 garden canes or branches. Our current run has washing lines strung over it. Both solutions work and have been used for over 10 years in areas where buzzards are constantly overhead. Seems buzzards are not stupid enough to land without a way to escape.

Sparrow hawks or kestrels will attack bantams. We had a sparrow hawk aim for a bantam cockerel on his perch outside, but then had to take drastic action to avoid the chicken wire in front of him. We have a kestrel here that keeps flying over the enclosure, but I think the Cou-Nu are far too big to risk an attack. I think both of those predators could be a problem which can only be overcome with a covered run?

[BoothBees]

On 5/5/2023 at 9:50 AM, Daphne said:

Your selection sounds lovely, I've never seen a w/c lavender.

 
 

She’s really nice.

[Daphne]

Oh she is!  That picture makes me feel homesick (I live abroad) as it could have been taken in our old garden in the UK.  I don't know if you have a dustbath (we used to use an old cat litter tray, filled with old compost, its the perfect height/size for a gaggle of polands) but they are great fun to watch as well as great fun for the birds, and obviously dustbathing helps them keep clean and freer from parasites.  Ours used to get in, wallow about for a bit, get out, run round and then get back in again.  I have a much faded photograph of ours.  Lovely memories!

I don't know if you are interested in showing your birds, but the ideal shape for the black part of the crest is a neat 'bow'.  Your lavender girl has a lovely round pom pom!

BT - I would imagine a kestrel is too small for a Cou-Nu as you suspect, but sparrowhawks are so fast you don't see them coming although I think they also need to see a way out, I've seen them dive into a shrub and come out the other side.  Your solution with the washing line, very inventive, but I guess for complete safety a covered run is the best way to go.  You don't see much FR of chicken over here, but I think that's to do with culture and certainly the heat.  Added to which not only are there natural predators (a neighbour lost a rooster to a mongoose recently) but also pets - dogs as well as cats are often on the range!  Just today we had a visit from one of the local beagles, causing one of our cats to get under a low bench seat and hiss at it.