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

[Chick99]

Hello All

 

I am a newbie both on this site and with chickens. We got 8 chickens this weekend and they are so brilliant but confused. I put them in their house and kept them in until this morning then opened the pop hole and waited 3 hours but they wouldn't come out. Their food was out too (this is all in the run) but they wanted to just sit there in their house. I finally picked them up one by one and put them out and then they were fine but now they are all sat very close to each other on the floor by the house. One has even gone back into the house and is on the perch.

 

I am assuming that they will work it all out once they have routine but its as if they don't know about scratching about and the outside world at all.

 

Any advice would be fab. I am worried they wont know about going back in later either and I don't think I could catch them to get them back in as they are very good at getting away!

 

Thank you.

 

Jane

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Hi Jane,

 

Welcome to the forum!!

 

Are they healthy or ex-batteries? How old are they? They may just be confused and befuddled!

 

I'd leave them to settle in for a few days, as long as they have food & water available they should be fine. Once one of them gets the idea, then they will all follow her lead & they'll go in & out happily.

 

If they are all outside tonight at bedtime, try putting a torch in the house & "encourage" them in with a broom if needs be, they'll soon get the hang of it!

 

At least that's what I think ...someone with longer experience will probably be around soon....!!

 

Sha x

[snowcloud]

They can be big girls blouses fairly often , don't worry. They will just be trying to keep together to be safe and will take at least a week to come to terms with their new home, but once they realise they have landed themselves a lovely place to live where food and water is readily available and that they will be looked after, then they will running about the place and getting under your feet. Try them with some treats too, a tin of sweetcorn for instance - you will also find that once they have tried grapes, they will do anything for you if you offer some to them in the future.