Last week was very busy! Wednesday and Thursday we worked on finishing the coop - or at least getting it ready for chickens. Jeremy put the hardware cloth on all around the coop. It extends down 8-10 inches into the trench we dug. As Jeremy did this part, I followed behind him filling in the trench with gravel. So the bottom of the hardware cloth is buried and hopefully the coop is critter-proof.
Friday was the big day. We loaded up food and water containers and other chicken paraphernalia and then lastly the chickens. They went into two of our packing boxes. They were freaked out for a bit, but when we closed the lids they all settled down and got very quiet.
It was a quick drive over to the new house and we carried our boxes of chickens to the coop. We put the boxes down gently and opened the lids. The chickens would not get out.
After some time a brave one or two jumped up on the edges of the boxes - but mostly so they could see what was going on in the other boxes and perhaps join their sisters on the other side.
I finally got impatient and put a couple chickens out into the coop. They would not move a muscle.
I guess the whole move was a bit stressful and overwhelming for them. We finally got them out of the boxes and put them up in the hen house. We thought that might feel a bit more homey to them. Unfortunately, they've spent their lives so far in a solid-bottomed box. They aren't used to there being a hole in the middle of their home, so they'll be walking along and then just step straight into the hole and fall out! They're kind of dumb.
24 hours later the chickens were much more acclimated and really enjoying pecking and scratching around in the coop. And... most of them made it down to the run by falling through the hole!
Friday was the big day. We loaded up food and water containers and other chicken paraphernalia and then lastly the chickens. They went into two of our packing boxes. They were freaked out for a bit, but when we closed the lids they all settled down and got very quiet.
It was a quick drive over to the new house and we carried our boxes of chickens to the coop. We put the boxes down gently and opened the lids. The chickens would not get out.
After some time a brave one or two jumped up on the edges of the boxes - but mostly so they could see what was going on in the other boxes and perhaps join their sisters on the other side.
I finally got impatient and put a couple chickens out into the coop. They would not move a muscle.
I guess the whole move was a bit stressful and overwhelming for them. We finally got them out of the boxes and put them up in the hen house. We thought that might feel a bit more homey to them. Unfortunately, they've spent their lives so far in a solid-bottomed box. They aren't used to there being a hole in the middle of their home, so they'll be walking along and then just step straight into the hole and fall out! They're kind of dumb.
24 hours later the chickens were much more acclimated and really enjoying pecking and scratching around in the coop. And... most of them made it down to the run by falling through the hole!
you should have just thrown out some feed to get them out of the boxes - that would have done the trick. What is the hole in the floor for?
ReplyDeleteMaybe - I bet sprouts might have done it.
ReplyDeleteThe hole is where they come in and out of the hen house. It's instead of the ladder-type approach.