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slip and pitch

roosting question (and cat problem)

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My hens keep roosting in the nestbox (I've got a cube and 3 hens). I put them back in the section with the bars but there's usually one of them creeps back in during the night. If I block the hole off at night,how long will it take for them to get the idea and what if one of them wants to lay and can't get in there?

Also,I'm going to let them have their first excursion out of the run soon but my neighbours have loads of cats (one or two are always after the birds in my garden) I've read that hens can see a cat off but I'm worried. Any advice or previous experiences welcome!!

Apart from that,settling in nicely :)

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I've always had chickens sleeping in the nest box at night, and gave up trying to persuade them to do otherwise a long time ago. Because the time of laying varies from day to day, from hen to hen, we decided we couldn;t block the nestbox at night, because we frequently wake up to eggs when we let them out, so accept that we just need to clean out the nest box more frequently.

 

As for cats, I've never had a problem - the chickens are pretty effective at scaring even the most skilled of mousers away - we had a cat that terrorised the local bird population for years until he picked on the chickens, got a swift peck and a chase, and never went near a bird again.

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Hi there,

I'm a newbie too, in Essex, and have an eglu with 2 hens for the lengthy time of one week! I think they're great!

Not sure about the roosting issue but I have 2 siamese cats. The first few days when the hens were confined to the run, Monty the cheetah of his breed, crouched and ran at the chickens, but obviously couldn't get at them. Now I've let the 2 girls free range in the afternoon when I'm there and he still stalks them and runs at them but never touches them. The chickens just walk off or flap their wings at him. They can look pretty big and intimidating when they want to and poor old Monty slinks off.

So i think they will be fine as long as you keep an eye on them. They'll cause a bit of interest with the neighbours cats but generally I think chickens can fight their own corner if they have to. My other siamese is scared of them and gives them a wide berth!

JW

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One of my chickens sometimes sleeps in the nesting box. I have started putting a small plastic tub in the nesting box before they go to bed and then taking it out later on after they have settled. This has worked so far!

 

You shouldn't have any problems with the cats. Most of them stay well away from the chickens. However, we have one round here that likes to creep up on the girls and he tries to pounce on them. Usually though there is just a lot of flapping wings and shouting and he is scared off! :lol:

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I put a flowerpot in the nestbox when I can remember - it doesn't really matter, but I hate getting poo on the eggs.

 

Christian gave me the tip that if you take it out once they've gone to sleep, they usually stay put, and that way you don't need to worry about them laying in the morning. Although a couple of times when I forgot to take it out, they still managed to lay in there anyway!

 

I think you'll find the cats will steer well clear - they may try once, but a chicken with wings outstretched and squawking loudly is quite a frightening sight! Mine is scared of them now and won't go near them.

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Thanks everyone,thats been really helpfull. I'll try some of those ideas and accept extra cleaning of the nest box if all else fails. It's a weight off my mind too about the cats. Maybe having hens will dissuade the cats coming in so much if they're that good at standing their ground :)

 

Hope "catsareus" you're having fun getting to know your new hens. I've only had mine since saturday too. What did you call them? I have Alice Marge and Beryl.

All the best x

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Our original 2 chooks can see off our springer spaniel, but he's a bit scatty and maybe not quite so intelligent as a cat!

 

One of mine always roosts on the edge of the nestbox, no matter how much I shove her out of the way. I think she doesn't like perching so now as long as she's comfy I just let her get on with it. :roll:

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Thanks olly. I did see that there was a meet up at Barleylands in May and have made a date in my diary. I'm near Lakeside so not far for me to go and would be lovely to meet and chat with other omleteers.

To slip and pitch, my hens are called Elphaba and Galinda after the 2 witches in the west end musical Wicked. My daughter is a fan and also these hens were rescued from my friend, who called them the 2 witches, as they were egg eating chickens and she was going to eat them! So I took them on, and I have to say they have been as good as gold. Only one is laying and not that often which is a bit of a shame, but they are so funny, and easy to look after that it doesn't matter that much and touch wood not a single one of the eggs laid has been nibbled. Mind you I was popping in and out of my back door when I thought she was going to lay, so no chance of a nibble. Got to it when it was all nice and warm. My university son though said he wouldn't touch it as it'd just 'come out of a chickens bottom!" (Not the actual word he used) Education is a wonderful thing!

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Hello,

I put a brick in the nest box as advised by Barbara, did it foe about 4 days and problem solved, most nights!

We have the most evil cat called Alice and I was worried about how she would get on with the hens but she is fine, also next door have 2 large toms who were always hanging about our garden but since we got the hens I've not seen them!!!!

I'm sure yours will be fine....good luck

Julie x

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