Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[EileenH]

Morning all,

after a lovely calm day yesterday when our two new lassies seemed settled and happy we had a very lively evening.

At around seven o`clock - (still full daylight) they started to have what I can only describe as a panic attack. They started pacing rapidly around the run, pecking at the wire and walking over each other. Ginger even jumped on to the feeders several times and leapt up banging her head on the run roof. It was as if they were saying, "Well, thank you for a nice day but can we go home now?" We tried talking calmly to them but they just `bokked` wildly back at us and carried on. It went on for over an hour.

We sat on the `chicken-watching bench` feeling rather fed-up. Then the flurry stopped and I thought, "Are they dead or something?" But they`d gone into the eglu! Without being asked! Phew.

 

Oh, and I put a plant pot into the nest box area so they would learn to roost on the bars but they still managed to do all their poos in the nest box. They will not be foiled eh?

 

(And the evening and the morning were the first day!)

[BeckyBoo]

Doesnt sound like a bad evening at all. Like the idea of a chicken watching bench

 

Hope you have a nice day - it's pants weather here

 

Mrs B

[Gallina]

I think they were panicking because they wanted to go to bed (young hens go to bed much earlier than older ones), and they suddenly realized that they didn't know where bed was: there was just a large strangely coloured plastic object at the end of the run.

 

You are lucky that they eventually discovered it by themselves. They will be all right tonight.

 

I recommend opening the egg-port door and lifting them on to the bars after they have gone to roost if you want to stop the nesting box habit.

[Mrs Slats]

 

I recommend opening the egg-port door and lifting them on to the bars after they have gone to roost if you want to stop the nesting box habit.

 

One of ours sleeps in the nest box but I haven't got the heart to stop her.

 

If I was a chicken, that's where I would sleep... it looks so cozy!