Solitary chicken - need advice

[Coolz]

Hello everyone! I’m a newb to chicken keeping.

 

We literally only got our girls (3 Rhode Rocks at POL) on Saturday but it’s been over a year in the making.. I decided January 14 that I really wanted some chickens… months of reading and research later and I bought the hen house and begged my partner to build me a custom run.. all was going well but then he proposed in July last year and so it took a back seat and didn’t get finished. As soon as we were back from our Honeymoon in July 15 I was right to it again and re-read the books and kindle books I had to refresh myself and check what I had already bought. I think eventually I’d like the Eglu cube but they’re rather pricey so for now, we got the best we could afford and made the run as large as I could get it. I only wanted 3 to start with but wanted them to have a nice big run.

 

They’ve got lots of toys, hen safe plants and grass in their run to give them as much entertainment as possible.

 

I was after some experienced advice, if anyone has 5 mins to spare… We’ve done everything by the book – such as settling them into their house for an hour then opening the door and letting them come out on their own… talking to them calmly and talking when we approach as to not startle them etc. I’m trying to win their trust a little bit in the afternoons, when I know they’ve eaten their layers pellets, I’ll sit in with them and just talk and hand out some meal worms. Nuggets (who seems to be the boss) is the boldest and gets closer each time. The other 2 aren’t as sure but I can tell they’re starting to warm to me. But I wanted some advice on the best way to catch them and not stress them out too much. At the moment I calmly corner on at a time in the run and hold my arms out so they can’t flap past me and most of the time it works and I can calmly grab one… but Lois, who is quite skittish sometimes managed to flap past me. Is there a better way I can do this that doesn’t stress her out too much or am I doing it alright? I never chase them as I don’t want them to be frightened of me and I know eventually they’ll settle down.. but for their “introduction” period to their new life I want to make it as stress-free as it possibly can. I’m pretty confident in holding a hen, I’ve had a peck but that’s it and it’s no worse than Mowgli (one of our cats) when he’s in an old man grump  and when I put them in their house for the night, I catch one at a time, stroke them a little and talk, then slowly pop them inside.

 

I’m also keen to hear any experienced views on the best way to get them to go inside voluntarily? I know it might take time and a lot of patience as they get adjusted but wondered if anyone had tips for helping them to make this decision on their own? I could google it I know but I find you get so many differing answers on what is right or wrong that I’d rather ask some experienced owners.

 

We were expecting to wait a while for them to start laying so how surprised was I to find 2 eggs in the nest box yesterday afternoon. It might be a one off but hopefully it means they’re reasonably happy?

 

Below is some pictures of our lovely troop. Nuggets (blue tag) is the leader, Lois (pink tag) and Meg (green tag) seem to be working out who is 2nd and who is at the bottom. And there is a picture of our Mowgli sat in the nest box before we got the hens.. he thought I hadn’t seen him sneak in.

 

Hen house

 

 

Meg

 

 

Nuggets and Lois

 

 

Lois and Meg

 

 

Nuggets

 

 

Nuggets and Lois

 

 

Nuggets, Lois and Meg

 

 

Mowgli in nest box tssk!

[Olly]

Hello Coolz, welcome to the forum. You won't be able to post links to photos until you have posted a few more times, this is to avoid spammers. We have had some VERY unsuitable photos in the past!

 

I've reposted some of your links - what a very handsome cat you have, and your ladies look very healthy.

 

Hen house

 

Meg

 

Nuggets and Lois

 

Nuggets, Lois and Meg

 

Mowgli in nest box tssk!

 

It sounds as if you are doing the right thing, chasing chickens is always useless as they just become more and more stressed and harder to catch. Handling them at night when they are sleepy is good as they will get used to you, and as they get more accustomed to you, eating out of your hand etc, it will get easier. I usually try and trap mine in a corner of the run if possible. The other thing is to be firm - they are tougher than you think, and cornering them and then letting go because you're nervous will just stress them more. I have been known to grab mine by the tail, not advised in books and make sure you get the whole tail not just one feather! but a firm grip just gives you the second you need to pinion their wings and pick them up, when they usually become much calmer.

 

By going inside, I take it you mean going back into the run after free-ranging? I just chuck a (small) handful of corn in and they fall for it every time. Get them used to you calling 'chook, chook' or whatever you choose, and they will come running at the sound.

[Coolz]

Awww thanks Olly – that’s so kind, thank you. I was looking around the forum and control panel wondering what I'd done wrong

 

Ahh thanks yes I'd read you need to be confident when you get them and not let them go... so far I've done this right.. I'm quite confident with all our animals, Mowgli knows that my husband will hesitate sometimes and takes advantage of him whereas he knows with me I won't back down and I always follow through! It is odd though as they’re our first birds and my default knee jerk reaction is to scruff them (of course I haven’t done and nor will I!) – it’s quite hard trying to break that mentality that they’re mammal. I always firmly (but nicely) scruff Mowgli when I need him to stop running or it’s flea spot on time as he just stops dead… typical old man kitten

 

Ah right no I mean getting them into the hen house for the night. They’ve been in their large run for the 2 days and we’re waiting till they’re a bit settled and more into the routine before we let them roam the garden – especially with the cats, Scampi is no bother – she jumped on the roof of their run before I could stop her and Lois just looked at her and sqwarked… I’ve never seen Scampi jump so high and bolt from the garden so fast she didn’t come inside the garden all weekend, she just sat by the gate and mewed at me. They’re too big for her and Scampi is a sensitive creature. Mowgli on the other hand I wouldn’t put it past him. Size is no object to him and he once tried to fit a humongous wood pigeon through the cat flap but it wouldn’t fit so gave up. We came downstairs to find feathers on either side of the flap and the neck/head just poking through. So him I need to watch and quarantine off whenever they go outside if he’s going to bother them. Jasper the dog, now he’s a massive wimp (cocker spaniel and he’s small!) however he is a working breed and whilst he’s never “worked”, his flushing instinct is incredible. He’s spooked by new dogs and is fearful of kids and strangers but if a pheasant flaps out of nowhere on one of our walks he perks right up and takes the cocker stance. I sat with him on the lead on Sunday and let him quietly watch the and he was very interested so for a LONG time he won’t be let near them off lead. We set up a second panel of fencing so he could roam the garden but not pester the girls in their run.

 

I just wondered if someone had some tips for getting them into the house in the evening when it’s time for bed or is it a case of you do have to catch them and pop them inside? I don’t mind either way, I just wanted to know the less stressful and the correct way to do it from experienced owners.

[Bramble]

Hello and welcome to the Forum!!!

At bedtime, I use what seems to be their over riding emotion to get them into the run .... greed!!!!

If you get them used to shaking the mealworm tub as a pre "warning" of treats, you'll quite soon find they'll come RUNNING to you when they see the tub!!! My lot just go running into the run when they see the mealworm tub as they know that's where the treats will be put!!!

I think you are doing the right thing sitting with them - just try scattering the mealworms around your feet as you sit with them, it won't take them long to realise that you are the source of the goodies!!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Welcome to the forum . What beautiful girls you've got there .

 

When they're new they can take a day or so to work out where "bed" actually is. Once they've mastered that, they should go in of their accord as soon as dusk starts to fall. Some corn put into the coop can help them get the idea.

 

I avoid handling mine except at night-time. I have to pick mine up once it's dark and put them into the eglus or they'll wake the neighbours (and us!) at an ungodly hour. They don't like it but they don't try to run away, just wriggle furiously, so I hold them really tightly and that works. I've recently found that if you turn them almost upsidedown, they immediately calm down (it's only for a few seconds!).

[Coolz]

Ooooh thanks Bramble I never thought to chuck a few actually in the house.. I will try that tonight. I want to try make "bedtime" a nice experience and not something to be feared.

 

Once they've been caught though and I'm holding them properly, they calm down. When I got Nuggets last night before bed she just started napping when I was gently stroking her for a few seconds before popping her in.

 

Yeah Aint "Ooops, word censored!"ody Here, I was itching to spend all day with them but knew we had to let them settle. I sat with them for half an hour at midday and gave them a few meal worms before leaving them to do some gardening and then again later in the afternoon when I knew they'd eaten more of their their main food and would be a bit more 'tired'. They were venturing a bit closer each time which was encouraging.

 

I love them already and the noises they make - such a variety of sounds! I was a bit concerned at one point as Lois went inside the nest box and was making an absolute racket so left her to it and was delighted to find 2 eggs a few hours later when I went back to see what the commotion had been about. I wasn't expecting any eggs for a fair while let alone on the 2nd day.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

It's exciting getting the first eggs, isn't it ? Glad you're getting some so soon . Keep us posted with your progress, sounds like you've got a really good handle on everything already!

[Grandmashazzie]

If you put a torch in the coop they will head in to the light. None of my lot are sleeping in the coops. We have made some roosting bars and they prefer to sleep on these in WIR.

[Coolz]

Ooh I hadn't heard of the torch thing.. "walk into the liiiight"!

 

Came back from work and found another egg. Yay! They look like they've had a nice day tearing up the run

[Chickabee]

Once the chickens are in the run and asleep it's easy peasy to move them. I must admit to using a broom in the past (very gently). When you have a "go" with a 3m run, it's very hard to get inside. Otherwise in my walk in run I just walk in and grab them. They really do switch off when it's dark, and in the morning they won't remember a thing

[Coolz]

Just went to properly check in on them (I only glanced in after work as the dog comes first - he needs to run and be free... and burn those beans off!) and they all seem pretty happy. I think a quiet day without me has done them good as they seemed quite inquisitive today so gave them a handful of corn to reinforce that idea

 

Was slightly worried about Nuggets as she seemed a bit quiet but after I'd cleaned out the house, checked the fencing and sat down in the garden with the OH, I left the 2 back roof panels up (I've hinged them so I can move them and get in!). OH says "oh look, I think she's okay... she's going inside" and took me a few seconds to register she wasn't going inside, she was peeking through the open roof! She jumped on the top and I had visions of a long night getting her back in but she actually sat still (albeit upright and straining to take in the sights around her!) and let me take her down. Was a good opportunity to check her over and she seems fine. Once she was back in she started muscling in on the corn so all's well there!

 

Another newb question (I know, I could Google it but it's amazing how many different answers you find when you Google!) - how are they with water? We're going to only allow supervised free-ranging as we live in a rural village surrounded by fields and we know someone who lost their entire hen stock in one night by a fox . But we have a pond so I was wondering how likely they are to topple in and whether we should invest in some netting? I also wasn't too sure if the algae in the pond would be poisonous to them?

 

Thanks everyone so far, you're all such a lovely bunch. I've been part of forums before and they weren't half as welcoming and kind as you guys!

[Olly]

Algae is unlikely to hurt them, of course they should have clean drinking water but hens are like cats, they would much rather drink from a slimy green puddle or a plant saucer! however I have heard of a hen drowning in someone's pond, they can't swim, not surprisingly. I would either fence/net the pond or accept that they're going to drink from it and make sure there's a shallow end they can get to and which they would be able to get out of if they leaned too far over.

[Coolz]

Thanks, I assumed as much re swimming but I feel better now after you said about having a shallow end. All the edges of our pond have access points in case any hedgehogs fell in.

 

I'm planning to give them their first taste of free-ranging at the weekend we don't have any plans to go out so any sudden idea to bob out then we're not in a rush when I need to get them back inside. And it's a good opportunity to get them used to shaking the tub and getting mealworms or corn. They did us an egg last night and one this afternoon and they're starting to get slightly bigger too - the first couple of eggs were quite small. I don't mind (just use more!) but the OH was like "is that it?!" after I had found the first 2 on Sunday and ran across the garden to find him (think Charlie and the golden ticket).

 

They've destroyed their run but it's nice to see as it means they're happy foraging. I love watching the scratch, reminds me of a mini Jackson moon-walk! And they're already less frightened of me, they don't cower in the far corner anymore, just stay where they are and see what I'm doing before going back to foraging. Even last nights round up was swift, they all just pretty much submitted to being caught and popped in the house. And it's so lovely to see them bursting out in the morning and running straight to their newly stocked Grub holder!

 

Trying to work out the pecking order as Meg was first out this morning and had previously been Nuggets who was boss (first out and first to everything)... We'd named her Meg as she was previously bottom so we thought of Meg from Family Guy ("shut up, Meg") so if the order has been re-established, I might re-name her to something else.