New chickens arrived yesterday (yippee!)but won't come out into run

[floaty]

Should we tempt them down into their run or leave them ,I'm mostly concerned because they won't have had a drink .they don't seem unhappy!

Any chicken keepers around??!!

any chicken keepers around?!

Sorry,forgot I had pressed post

You could put a feeder and a drinker into their coop so they can feed. Do they have to negotiate a ladder or anything? They will come out eventually! But do make sure they can access food and water.

Yes ,they have to come down the ladder,the coop in like the forsham ones with the run underneath.The man who delivered seemed to think they would go down but we might have to help them up!They seem quite relaxed and I don't want to stress them by pushing them!On the plus side we have 2 eggs!

Hurrah for the eggs!

They probably just haven't worked out what to do! Try giving one of them a little shove (it won't be stressy for them) - once one gets the idea the others will follow.

Right,have put food and drink in roosting area for a bit so that they don't get dehydrated.Will give them a bit of a push tomorrow i think when the children are at school and it is a bit quieter!

They are beautiful though,we have two speckledys and a bluebell.DS2 and DS3 have named the speckledys Clover and Penny and the bluebell is Hepsibah!

We have a speckeldy and a bluebelle - they are lovely! Great names!

Well,just to uodate one of the speckledys and the bluebelle had come down on their own when I got back from school ,think I will leave the other to get the idea on her own for a bit .

2 eggs on your first day I had to wait 6 weeks for my first egg.

Gosh this is stressful,just had an escapee,totally my fault ,I was trying to encourage them up the ladder to bed and one just slipped around me and through a minute space....massive lesson for me.Thankfully all now settled back in the coop and we got another egg today so they can't be too unhappy.I on the other hand am a bag of nerves!

Should I just leave them to to go up to bed themselves anda not worry about it ,after all they are in an enclosed run?Also do you put food and water in the coop or only in the run?

In need of glass of wine now I think,do feel more confident that I caught her myself though,even though had the neighbours helping out.

I omly have food and water in the run, I just leave mine to put themselves to bed and then go and shut them in once they are all up. they go up naturally once it starts to get dark.
They get easier to catch, especially when they know you are the person with the treats.

Now that they are coming out, you can just have food and water in the run. Tbh I would just let them find their own way into the house. If they don't seem inclined to go in, you can encourage them in by shining a light in the house (after dark they will tend to move towards the light).

Well done for catching her. I remember just after I got my first 2 they escaped and I spent a good hour in the pouring rain trying to catch them which was a bit of a nightmare!

Well,when I left this morning two were down again and the same one was still upstairs I don't think she is being bullied or anything because once down yesterday she was fine.I have had to come to work today so am just hoping that left to her own devices she will find her way down,she knows that is where the food and grass is ,if I keep lifting her down she won't learn will she ?

Thanks everyone for advice,they have been great for the last week ,comming down every morning ,putting themselves to bed in the evenings ,we have had a steady supply of egs etc,But.....this morning the one who wouldn't come down last week didn't come down with the others again,wasn't too concerned but then when came back from the school run there was an enormous (double the size we've had too date) in the nest box I'm not sure if it was hers though.anyway she still hasn't come down,she is sitting in the nesting box,very docile letting me stroke her etc.ShouldI just leave her ,I don't think she is ill but she does seem quiet?

Help ,chicken keepers!

Sorry enormous egg in nest box!

maybe it wasn't her egg, and she was about to lay? where is she now?

No I don't think it was,have just taken her up to see the breeder who says she has a problem with something stuck in her gizard,I got a severe telling off for letting her have anything to eat other than pellets,the only thing we have given them since they arrived was some sweetcorn which the boys gave them as a treat yesterday,he said when we got them that they like sweetcorn,all five of us heard him but he says he didn't say that only wheat he says today , actually ,then he said it could be because they are on grass but he knows they are on grass and when I asked him about slabs before he told me they should be on grass.To be honest I am now totally despondant about the whole thing and very confused.He managed to get some stuff out by massaging it,said to leave her in the pet carrier with water only for tonight and tomorrow and then keep her separate and see if we can get her to eat anything .

Feel altogether very worried,friends tell us you can give them alsorts and when after much pleading I allow the children to give them a little bit of a treat,this happens .Sounds feeble but I have cried most of the way back from the breeder ,bad day to day anyway and this is just the last straw,to listen to him you would think I was guilty of serious cruelty

I think this can happen if they get long stringy bits stuck, but really, chickens are designed to run around on grass and eat all sorts so it's just bad luck, not poor care from you.
Hope she is better tomorrow.

Do your hens have access to lots of insoluble grit (ie. tiny stones, bit of flint) to grind all that good food up in the gizzard? If they're freeranging then they should get enough from the ground, especially flowers beds, under trees etc but it might be worth throwing a handful into their pen everyday, to make sure. You can buy it at pet stores/feed merchants etc along with the soluble grit (ie. oyster shell for it's egg-shell-making properties).

Hens love grass, sweetcorn, pasta, rice, apples, broccoli, the list goes on. There is no reason at all why yours shouldn't have their diet varied with these. My only rule is not to give too much stodge before lunchtime, when the gizzard is full of stones and hard cereal, then it can cope with almost anything!

I hope your hen perks up soon. Unless she's very ill or being bullied, I'd get her back with the others asap. She will fret on her own and she may get a bit of a pecking when she goes back. DON'T WORRY, hens nearly always sort themselves out.

Thanks for that DON very reassuring,breeder also said not to give grit as on grass but have just got some today,I really hope Penny does perk up as ds2 will be devastated he is already hugely devoted and weekly boards at a school for Sp LD and a lot of this was for him really (me too though)

Hi Floaty I have come to this late and hope all is resolved happily now. I go four chickens a few months ago and felt completely at sea with the whole thing, had to ask for lots of advice from websites and friends of friends etc, but quickly discovered that the best expert on hen-keeping is the hen herself! They know what they can or want to eat and how much of it, and I have found they more or less take care of themselves. I DO wish however that they would get out of this bleepin' habit of laying their eggs in a different place every week! Yesterday they chose the thicket at the bottom of my garden. This morning I had to slash and bash my way in there with a spade and a broom to retrieve the booty. This will go on for a few days then they will all as if my magic decide to lay in some other thorny hole or other. Bless them. Aren't they worth every minute though!

Well I have to go home from work and check her,I really hope that everything is OK ,it is really amazing how attached you can get in just one week!I feel like there is so much information about and I do feel a bit confused but actually dh said last night just follow your instincts and she looked so chirpy this morning that we put her back in the run with the others so hope that is Ok.

Out of interest what sort of floor do you have on your run and how soon did you free range them?