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

[Ain't Nobody Here]

..... of the lovely tyre I got for them as a dustbath ? It's filled with playsand, seed compost and diatom and I lovingly rubbed redmite powder all over it so it would smell familiar .

 

They are keeping about 3 feet away from it at all times and even a sprinkling of mealworms in it wouldn't entice them any closer .

 

Will they get over their fear or should I remove the tyre ?

Edited April 14, 2009 by Guest

[Redwing]

They will get used to it, mine avoided theirs for a good few hours then perched on it and jumped all over it and pooed in it

 

About four or five days in they cottoned on they love it now

 

When it is sunny they all sit on it facing inwards and snoozing

[chelsea]

its the red mite powder ANH.

 

Mine wouldnt go in the dustbath with redmite powder in it. Once I got rid of it they used it!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Really ? I sprinkle red mite powder in their nestbox and they don't seem to mind .

 

I'll give them a few days to get used to it .

[Griffin]

Mine loved it from the moment they saw it I don't know if it was to do with the fact I'd placed it on top of a favoured dustbath they'd created in a border, which in turn had several smaller hen-made dust baths surrounding it. I wish I'd kept more than one tyre back because they even fight over it If somebody thinks the inhabitant has taken too long or they just can't be bothered to wait any longer they stand on top of it and start plucking feathers off the offending bird

 

It frightens the life out of me too because often when I'm out doing a head count there'll be one missing, I'll check the nestbox and it'll still be missing and eventually a little head will pop over the top of the tyre looking all innocent I forget that the tyre is there and I forget that from a distance I can't always see if someone is in it

[fluffyknickers]

I am waiting for husband to get me the tyre he promised me for the girls dustbath - will avoid the red mite powder.

 

x

[chelsea]

Really ? I sprinkle red mite powder in their nestbox and they don't seem to mind .

 

I'll give them a few days to get used to it .

 

 

I also use red mite powder in the nestbox and sprinkled around the cube - no problem there. They wouldnt use the dustbath with DE or red mite powder in it though little monkeys!

[Dodge77]

I am waiting for husband to get me the tyre he promised me for the girls dustbath - will avoid the red mite powder.

 

x

 

I asked for one when i went to the tip and they glady gave me one - once i reassured them i wasn't planning to put it on a car !!

 

Only problem is the dog LOVES it !! I put it in the chicken end of the garden and the dog sat at the fence and cried for it so i gave it her back

 

Gonna end up with a garden like steptoes yard at this rate !!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

OK, so I've had to admit defeat . They just weren't getting any less terrified of it and were using so little of the run I decided to remove the darn thing. What a palaver even that was . "Ooh, scarey sand and compost falling out of the black ring of death, we'd better run away ".

 

Honestly ..... chickens .

[feemcg]

....daft chooks.....I've tried a couple of dust bath ideas and they've never bothered. They now use the Easibed or a wee hole they've dug through the membrane under the stones!

[tidygirlsuk]

love the new run. What did you use 4 the blind on the out side ? shame about the tyre but they can dust bath anywhere in that run with all that aubiose.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

love the new run. What did you use 4 the blind on the out side ?

 

Thanks! It's a glass clear tarpaulin which I cut to size. I used tarp tape to make a hem and put a length of dowling through the bottom. Large cup hooks to hang it from and which the dowling fits into to keep it in place. I've got extra eyelets too so think I'll put an extra one in the middle to stop it flapping.

 

Took quite a bit of faffing about & measuring but hopefully it'll work (not had wind or rain yet to test it ).

[tidygirlsuk]

love the new run. What did you use 4 the blind on the out side ?

 

Thanks! It's a glass clear tarpaulin which I cut to size. I used tarp tape to make a hem and put a length of dowling through the bottom. Large cup hooks to hang it from and which the dowling fits into to keep it in place. I've got extra eyelets too so think I'll put an extra one in the middle to stop it flapping.

 

Took quite a bit of faffing about & measuring but hopefully it'll work (not had wind or rain yet to test it ).

 

How creative. Are the eyelets you mention the holes for the hooks ?

 

Did you get that thunder storm up there this morning. I'm in the midlands. I was out there in my dressing gown with my umbrella is morning letting them out and none of the monkeys come out and my eglu run is totally covered and wooden house run is part covered.

[Redwing]

I can't believe they never got to grips with the tyre! Mine love theirs and when I did the run I put a new one in for them (the chicks inherited the Eglu one) and they dive bombed it joyfully.............but I hadn't filled it! The sound of chicken hitting concrete slab is very entertaining

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I can't believe they never got to grips with the tyre!

 

They honestly look so much happier now . They're up on the bench, scratching about under it, using the branches - they'd been giving everything within 2 feet of the black ring of death a wide berth .

 

Are the eyelets you mention the holes for the hooks ?

 

Claire, yes the eyelets are for the hooks. I bought a pack of eyelets you fit yourself. (We didn't get a storm, so it's still not been tested .)