Did you know chickens don't automatically troup in to their coop at dusk? Neither did i...HELP!

[largeginandtonic]

Please help me, we have just bought 6 lovely chickens who are currently hopping round the garden.

We bought them Sunday, let them out yestrday and went to put them in their coop last night about 4. It was HELL.

What do we do?

Awwww!!! @ the hot water bottles!!

G&T, be careful with random edible things because they will eat it. Mine go crazy for dog biscuits (serious squabbles) and today I had to chase them away repeatedly from some polysterine they found. Silly creatures.

oh what a good thread for me to read now... i have 6 hens on the way... my first ever. saw the thread title and thought 'uh oh!' but i see its resolved itself. [phew]

LG&T, i may well be asking you for tips - i noticed on your profile (i had to look for the pics of the hens) that youre not even v far away from me so im hoping i can drag you here to show me what to do in an emergency ! if i rattle some custard creams and a large G&T at you just before dusk, will that work??

Ah Snappy gin always works

I dont know much! All the lovely ladies on here have been helping me lots though

We can blunder together Now where are you? Email me [email protected]

will tell my DCs about the hot water bottle! they all think I'm mad cos I make 'chicken porridge' in the depths of winter = chicken pellets with boiling water poured over and on really bad days, some sunflower oils stirred in for extra calories

i have mailed you

I have fond memories of my pet bantams - re going into their house at night, this was OK in the winter, but in the summer they prefered the beech tree - I had to climb the beech tree to about 8' with a 10' stick in my hand and try to knock them out of the top of the tree... Once on the ground at this time they would take themselves back into their house.

One of the best stories I have was when one of my original hens became ill when she had chicks - the chicks (7) were about 2 wks old, and it was summer, so we decided to keep them in separate small coops so that the hen could have antibiotics without the chicks having them. We went out to a concert, came back late and went to shut coops (which were really fairly fox and cat proof anyway) to find that only 3 chicks remained - and the chick that I had been lavishing attention on from early on was one of the 4 missing. We decided that it was most likely that a fox, cat or rat had got into the chicks' coop and taken the 4 missing ones. It was therefore very surprising that the 4 missing chicks popped out of the main chicken house when we let them out the following morning. All day our cockerell (Buff Rock Bantam, Ambrose by name) looked after all 7 chicks, calling them, keeping them close and finding food for them. At 4pm he decided that they were tired so encouraged them all into the chicken house (which was quite a feat as the door was about 1' above ground level with steps - then sat on the perch with a couple of chicks between each leg, two under one wing and three under the other. At this time he would normally have gone to bed at 7 or 8pm. Ambrose continued to look after the chicks for three or four days until another hen took over.

Out of interest, the chick I lavished attention on was incredibly tame - she later brought her chicks to me to look after while she had a rest on my lap. The hen that was ill (Marak's disease) improved and lived until she was about 11 - taking over the role of cockerell later on as we were without one - she would fly into the apple tree and come out with a very peculiar squeeky crow.

Fond memories!

Oh, just seen this thread, sorry about the hen that got got by the fox! If you want to see the hen house my dh made, it's on here - go to the beginning of the blog for pics.

Hens are the BEST animals to keep!

Ah, I see from your pictures you've finished the coop - looks lovely! Hope it keeps the fox out. I really want to build a bigger run, so am always interested in what other people do!

this morning both drinkers were frozen solid- how do other people stop this happening?

This is happening to us every day, madlentileater. I've stopped using the water feeder over winter for fear it will split, and am now only using the botom bowl section and keeping it topped up all day.
Ideas: either pop the water feeder in to their coop at night with them or take hot water out with you in the mornings to thaw it (assuming you are using the bowl section only). They seem to love drinking tepid water on a cold morning (lots of appreciative noises and squabbling!).

I took the water inside last night to avoid it freezing solid. The previous night it did freeze, so I just poured some boiling water over it and it eventually melted, so I could top it up with fresh water.

I think they'd knock it over, it's only a little ark. Boiling water sounds good- better than the night light I was beginning to think about- love your name, W&P- is that just for this thread? our garden slopes and can be seen from the road below, i sometimes wonder what people think of me with wellies pyjamas and unbrushed hair first thing in the morning!

Thank you, madlentileater. I like yours too! It is my new permanent name. Sums me up perfectly. The sad thing is that instead of wondering whether I should get properly dressed to go outside in the mornings, I often wonder whether I should buy some pyjamas which look, from a distance, like normal clothes . Luckily for me, we have no immediate neighbours and the lane outside leads nowhere. I only have to worry about startling passing shepherds , which is sometimes quite fun!!

d'you remember the Fast Show...today I am mostly wearing DP's pyjamas- navy blue, substantial, and hanging loosely from the waist accompanied by last season's decade's fleece!

LOL - yes!!

(Worried that remembering the Fast Show means I am now Old! )

W&P, I'm so old I think the Fast Show is contemporary!