4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Cyber Chook]

Well, not quite, but I'm new to the world of chickens, and got an awful fright when we let out the girls for the first time into the netting run and they took several flying leaps for freedom and beyond. They didn't quite manage it, but only because they misjudged the distance rather than the height.

They had their wings clipped by lovely Omlet man Darren on Tuesday when they arrived.

Any advice welcome

Caroline

[Abbey Road Girl]

Since you only got your girls on Tuesday, it might have been better if you had kept them confined to the Eglu or Cube a bit longer.

 

Still, no harm done. It is alarming that they can actually fly through the Omlet netting!

[Egluntyne]

The advice is to keep them confined to the run for at least 5 days so as to firmly imprint the idea of home into them.

 

I would keep them in the run for a few days longer.

[Cyber Chook]

I know what you mean, but we used the run to hold them in while we moved the cube off the mud and onto its new site. I thought six days was okay, though, as it says five in the advice sheet.

 

They were content to wander back into their run, but my worry is, won't they have another go at flying over the netting the next time, even if we leave it a week or two? They're quite cheeky and nosy, and just seemed to be having fun, rather than trying to run away from home (I hope!).

 

Caroline