Spoilt chickens????

squelchy69

Hello all

Were pretty new to chicken keeping and after some advice. I believe we may be spoiling our chickens and not sure if we are making a rod for our own backs.

We got our 3 hens on Monday and everyday since have allowed them to roam the garden for several hours. Our kids love them and spend time petting and feeding them.

They now do not like being shut in their run and cluck loudly until they get bored.

They will also not take themselves to bed. We have put them in the coop every night except tonight. At 1 am they were still milling about in the run and we've had to put them in again.

Every morning they are clucking to get out again as we have locked their door. This starts about 7 am.


Have we spoilt them or is this normal chicken behaviour?

Sorry if it's a silly question but as complete novices we only have the Internet for advice.

Thanks.

Lotus-eater

Certainly being loud and wanting to get out early in the morning is usual. 7am ish is the norm at this time of year. When it gets lighter earlier, it will be noisy earlier.

And letting them out, will of course mean they then want to be out all the time. But they can't, so you and them are just going to have to get used to it.
They need a big enough and interesting enough run to not be bored, I personally leave mine in all the time, as I find as you, that if you let them taste freedom, nothing after that is good enough. But I give them interesting stuff to eat and find, they like eating grass and greenery from the ground more than almost anything, so move their run and make sure they have some at all times. Hanging up stuff that they have to jump for will keep them interested as well.

Did you keep them in the coop for 24 hours before letting them out? Because if you did, they should be going in at night by themselves, but they may grow into it and some chickens are just daft anyway, so you never really know. Keep putting them in at dusk and they may get the idea.

Hope that helps.

squelchy69

Hi there

Thats really helpful. We didn't keep the chickens in for 24 hours as we didn't know we should. Wish we had now - lol!
I think we have just let them out too much. I let them out of the coop into the run at about 7 this morning and have only just let them out into the garden as they were making so much noise - do you think that is wise? Or do you think I should let them cluck for longer? I was thinking that we could give them an hour or two a day out of the coop. Could this work? Or do you think we are just making a rod for our own backs letting them out at all.
We are hoping to extend the run a bit so hopefully they will have more space and therefore more to do. I will get some hanging bits and bobs to try and keep them occupied though. I didn't realise that could help!
I am going to put them to bed at dusk every night in the hope they will get used to it.
Thanks so much for the advice. Its really useful.
Jo x

lostinrates

squelchy69 wrote: »

I was thinking that we could give them an hour or two a day out of the coop. Could this work?
Jo x

If you do this I suggest doing it an hour or two before they start to go away ...otherwise you can easily spend an hour or two persuading them back in

Mojisola

Have you got any perches in the run? Chickens do like to get up somewhere that feels safe to them to have a preen and doze.

Have they got somewhere in the run that they can dust bath? A box with fine soil or old compost will work.

Google some of the chicken keeping forums - learning more about your new pets will prevent problems in the future.

squelchy69

Mojisola - We do have perches in the run and a dust bath. I totally agree we should have learnt a little mo before embarking on chicken keeping. We'd talked about it in the past then spotted them in Pets at Home - that was it, the next day we have bought everything including the chickens!!
I'm glad we have them and fortunately the internet is great for advice.

Lostinrates - I will follow your advice tonight. They have been really clucking away at the door of the run today. I hope they get over that soon.

While I am here, can I ask a question on eggs?

The first 2 days we had the hens, they all laid eggs. Since then, only 2 appear to be laying (not sure which but we are only getting 2 eggs a day now)
Any ideas why this may be happening? And anything I can do to encourage our 3rd hen?

Thanks again all.

Jo x

Mojisola

Probably all three hens are laying but not all on the same day. It usually takes more than 24 hours to make an egg.

GreenFly_2

Hi,
Well done on taking the first steps to keeping chooks.

I can't really comment on what should or shouldn't be done as every situation is different but I have five chickens kept in a run. I let the chooks out at about 7 am, they usually come out as I top up their feeder at this time also. The chooks stay in their run all day and take themselves to bed around late twilight (looking out the window now I see only one in the run) so won't be long I'll be going down to close their door.
I let them have the run of the garden for around two hours once a week when I clean out their coop and run, but they usually take themselves back in for evening feed.
Every other week I hang a cabbage from the allotment in the coop to give them some interest and some nutrients.
They have everything they need otherwise, grit, pellets, water and crushed egg shell.
They do love corn and this is the failsafe, all I have to do is rattle the corn cup and they come running back to their pen eager for the corn.
My five chooks are giving two eggs a day between them, laying alternately but as the days lengthen I'm sure this will increase to 3 or 4 a day. The pellets give them all they need but always look out for any warning signs advice from defra can be found here : http: //tiny url.com/6fnhbze (remove spaces in link to work)


Good luck and happy chooks keeping

GF

squelchy69

Thanks Greenfly!
How big is is your run? Ours seems small really for 3 hens. Its just an all in one kind of coop, nesting box and run, like a mini shed with weld mesh.

I'm wondering if thats why they want to be free all the time and if the run was bigger they would be happier to stay in.
In fact today they made so much noise whilst in the run I had to let them out as I was worried the neighbours might complain! They were practically silent once let out. That said, they did go nicely to bed at dusk when OH gave them a little poke......!

I am now wondering if its just easier to let them out when we are home (we work shifts so there is someone home most of the time) and only put them in the run when we have to leave the house.

Hmmmm unsure of the best thing to do.

GreenFly_2

Hi Squechy,

My run is L 1080 mm * W 890 mm * H 1130 mm.
I got my run from henhouseworld (CH103) with run

I've also been worried that my run is a liitle small so I may get another the same size but the hens seem happy.

The defra website below (google "defra keeping chickens")

http: //tiny url.com/6fnhbze (remove spaces in link to work)

mentions that hens only need 250cm of floor space.

I think what you are doing is fine. As long as you are home while their out I think what you are doing is great, I would like to let my chooks out more but I back onto woodland and foxes may be a problem. A friend of mine leaves hers out and 3 were got by foxes during the day so just be aware.

Letting them out doesn't seem a problem for you but getting them back in sounds like it is. Try getting them to respond to a corn cup. Rattle the cup with corn in everytime you feed them and they will soon react to the sound being associated with food. Hold off giving them the corn until night and only when they are in the run. Chooks like routine also.

Goodluck
GF

Lotus-eater

squelchy69 wrote: »

Thanks Greenfly!
How big is is your run? Ours seems small really for 3 hens. Its just an all in one kind of coop, nesting box and run, like a mini shed with weld mesh.

I'm wondering if thats why they want to be free all the time and if the run was bigger they would be happier to stay in.

It probably is a little small, I always think the ready made runs are. You could make a bigger one. Chickens are forest birds and only really feel happy with something tree like to hide under, or have ready to run and hide under if needed.
I think chickens need alot of space if they are to be happy penned in, about 5 sq metres per chicken should be about right and it needs varied things in the run, bushes, long grass, anything that could be interesting and that they can trash.

If you let them out in the garden, then will dig up everything they want to and eat the rest. They will also poo over your paths and make them slippy in wet weather.
You could make a large moveable run out of chicken wire and easily moveable posts. That way they get to have a large area with fresh grass (really really important) and shouldn't get too bored.

But they will still want to get out, if they have enough to keep them happy, enough interesting food, cabbages etc, they should stay in and not make too much fuss, but once they start escaping you know they are bored again.

Having said that, I've seen chickens quite happy to spend their entire lives in small moveable runs, but they never get out to roam freely, so probably don't know any better. So that's a possibility.