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yvonne.jones.3597

Newbie - learning fast

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Hi all,

 

I've been reading around the forums getting hints and tips but now my chickens are here I've decided to go for it and say hello. My Go up and 3 miss pepperpots arrived on Saturday. We'd originally chosen 2 gingernuts and 1 miss pepperpot but by the time they were able to deliver the gingernuts were sold out, I don't mind as they are beautiful and have different markings ( can you tell I'm besotted already!). I am sure that I will never be bored again, and I love seeing their different personalities :D

 

They were put into the run when they were delivered and clucked around there happily all day. We also had the bonus of an egg in transit. The delivery driver showed me how to close the pop hole and assured me they'd get the hang of climbing up and down the ladder. Shame he didn't have a word with the chickens! :lol: It was getting darker and darker and I kept thinking I'm sure they'll go up to bed soon, after all it's their natural instinct to roost up high. But no, after a few exploratory jumps halfway up the ladder they all huddled down on the ground at the base of the ladder. So I decided that if I lifted one up to the top of the ladder it might go in and the others would follow. Those of you who have cats and have tried to get them in a basket to go to the vets will understand the phenomenon that they seem to grow 5 extra sets of legs all clinging to the edge of the basket so you can't get them in, I had the equivalent chicken version of that :shock:

Cue an urgent scour of the internet and the discovery that a torch in the coop can help guide chickens in. (Thank goodness for the internet when you need chicken keeping advice at 10pm on a Saturday night). Well it was obviously too dark, and they were too confused and unsettled for that to work, so as a 2 person team ended up lifting them out of the run and putting them in the up through the back door. Certainly didn't expect my first experience of holding a chicken to be crawling around at 10pm in the evening ( but oh aren't their feathers soft )

After fearing that I'd traumatised the poor things I was amazed that there were 2 eggs waiting in the morning, then half an hour late one them merrily wandered up the ladder and laid an egg. So that was 3 eggs on my first day :wink: since then they've all laid every day but I've had one broken one on Monday and softie through the bars today. So I guess that's still them getting into the swing of it.

Since then the trick with the torch has worked, and they are getting better at going to bed each night. Now it's just one reluctant girl who sits on the top of the ladder outside the house looking in. When we open the back of the Up slightly and shine a torch in she jumps straight inside and settles down.

Part of the run was on grass (decimated already now) and the other on sandy soil so they've loved dust bathing. Yesterday they started digging for Australia, burying the bowl of grit and leaving a 4inch deep trench in front of their water. So today I thought I'd put some dead leaves in that were full of insects and lovely things for them to dig around in. Well surprise surprise I cocked that up! Managed to scare them whilst tipping the leaves in, at which point they knock the freshly filled water trough off the side of the run, neatly filling up the trench they'd dug yesterday with water. Oh well added entertainment I guess, I now have 2 chickens happily digging through the leaves and the other splashing in a muddy paddling pool :oops:

 

My poor girls, I'm lucky they are so forgiving of a bumbling new chicken owner.

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Welcome to the wonderful world of chicken keeping :D

 

I have had chickens for nearly 4 years and started off with two omelet girls , one Ginger nut and one miss pepper pot.

We still have our original miss pepper pot Clover and she is beautiful . Her feathers are the softest ever and the most wonderful shades of black, green and blue.

I have another 4 girls now but she is top chick and always will be. She still lays us 5 eggs a week and they are really large .

Good luck and when you need to know anything on here there is always support and help.

We love pictures.

 

Jackie x

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Your post had me in fits of laughter at your oh-so-accurate descriptions of their antics and responses! You will never be bored again as you've already discovered. And you are so right that this forum is invaluable when you start out and i still find it so after 5 years of chicken-keeping! do keep us updated ....

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Whahaha!

 

I had exactly the same experience three weeks ago. Was so proud of putting my Up together and getting my little ladies settled in their run. And yes... Then night came... Three slightly anxious but also sleepy chooks huddled in the back of the run. Tried a broom... Tried a rake... And eventually crawled into the run (not the slimmest of physiques... Can tell it is a real challenge) plucked the chickens from the run and stuck them into the coop overhead. Luckily they were too dazed and scared to pop out again. Squeezed out of the run and quickly closed the hatch.

Discovered I had bits of poo on my knees, hands and even in my hair... :roll:

And prayed hard this was a one time experience. Luckily it was. Next day they went to bed all by themselves and have done ever since.

 

Fingers crossed, but my grass is still intact. They fancy digging up the rest of the garden more then the boring grass I think! :lol:

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Thank you all for the kind welcome. As and when I figure out how to add pictures etc I will. Cat tails, it's kind of nice to know I wasn't alone with the going up to bed problem. Although it didn't seem funny at the time, and there were a few muttered expletives, we couldn't help but laugh about it in the end. Trying to crawl in through the run door is certainly not the most dignified position :-)

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