Sunday, December 20, 2015

Sunday Reading - The Poultry Barn Twelve





Ever so slowly the new poultry barn retirees are settling in. Two or three of them actually embraced their new life of "mostly" uncrowded freedom and go out to forage, roost and run around with the original flock but about eight or nine of them are taking it more slowly.

All but three of them now go into the coop on their own. Two actually jump up to the top roosting bar with the original hens, four get up on the low roosting bar now in their own little group and three or so still huddle in the corner on the floor. The night light in the coop seems to actually work somewhat as I mentioned because all but three of the hens now go in. I am only guessing here but I think now when it get's really dark in the barn instead of the hens just sitting down where ever they happen to be and sleep they know the light marks the community sleeping area.

Of course I am just guessing there. All I know is that the dim little light has managed to lure six of the nine hens that used to just plop down on the floor of the barn anywhere they were when it got dark, into the coop now. Two or three can still be found in various places though. I wait an hour or two after full dark and go down there and pick up the stragglers and carry them into the coop then turn off the light and lock em in.

Hennypenny, our original one Red sexlink still goes into her dog crate though. The addition of 12 more hens like her did nothing to help her work through her dislike of other chickens. If anythign it seems to have strengthened it.

The next change I have noticed these hens are going through is growth. I couldn't say if it is a natural thing for their breed or what but if their reported age is accurate than these hens are different from the others or perhaps it is because of the life they lead before we got them. What I know is that for hens over a year old they really looked more like young pullets in size while the hand raised hens we got as pullets had that classic laying hen "hippiness" shape well before being a year old.  After a couple weeks of free ranging though a two or three of these hens are actually fattening up some and beginning to get that same shape. They are now beginning to waddle rather than run.

The bad side is I have to constantly watch my step when in the barn though. The hens that have not adapted to going outside yet all come running and congregate around my feet whenever I am in there thinking they are going to get some extra grain or something. I also think a number of them are not laying yet after the move which doesn't surprise me as I imagine coming from the life they knew and all was pretty stressful on them. Still I don't think averaging a dozen fresh eggs a day from 30 hens in the middle of December is a bad count especially with no real artificial light going. They may even have another hiding spot I haven't found yet too.

I really thought these poultry barn birds would adapt a little quicker since we had the original flock to show them the ropes but for some of them it doesn't seem to be working out that way. As I said about eight or nine of them just don't seem to want to adapt yet. I am sure they just need a little more time.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!!


12 comments:

  1. Some day when you get a hen to hatch some eggs, you will be amazied at how advanced those chicks will be. I had one hen who would fly up on the roost and her tiny chicks would have to fly up with what feathers they had and she would cover them with her wings. Those birds just seemed smarter than store bought ones when it came to living outdoors. In that environment the strong ones survive otherwise you would get a flock that are similar to modern humans.

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    1. "A flock similar to modern humans"

      That speaks volumes right there. Sometimes I think we really need more top end predators to thin the human herd a bit.

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  2. remember that chickens are bird-brains and the next gen will be smarter, although 'curiosity killed the chick' may take a few, but the others learn from it.

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    1. Deborah - Ya I can't even imagine what will happen if we ever get chicks running around here.

      They better learn to watch out for the sheep is all I can say.

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  3. we have some that roost and some that dont, I just let them get on with what they want to do, although the dynamics of the flock will change in a couple of weeks when we cull a couple of cockerels

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    1. Dawn - Only about two of the new reds seem to think they are able to roost on the top bars. The others just use the short bar or the corner. I suspect these hens were never offered actual roosts before.

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  4. I chuckle because you were drug into getting chickens by Mrs pp, now look at you lol.
    Have a wonderful Christmas!

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    1. LW - Actually it was my Mother. I agreed to give her final say on what the barn was used for when we bought this place and once she mentioned turning a stall into a coop I finally had a place for chickens without building a new coop. Of course if I ever want to go to a coop now I could be screwed :)

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  5. A dozen eggs a day sounds great. I got mine in the mail as chicks at the end of last July and they have not laid one single egg yet. I'm guessing at this point they won't until spring hits. I suppose I could try putting a light on them, but their chicken tractor isn't near an electric source right now.

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    1. Lisa - a few of the ones we got earlier from local breeders that they said were six months old took a couple months to start laying and I think one or two may not be actually laying yet. So many people say that light makes them lay but ya know I kinda like SF's theory too that protein and lots of it can get em egg laying too. It seems as the bug and mice population dwindles so does the egg laying so far.

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  6. Your poultry barn chickens aren't growing as such, they're developing muscles that were underutilised in the 'barn' environment. Now they are rooting and scratching properly they are developing to cope with that. They will also be getting a good deal more animal protein from all the worms, snails, bug grubs, frogs and even the mice that you noticed were absent! Essentially you now have happy hens which is why you're getting good numbers of eggs in the winter!

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    1. Ro - Well that makes sense. I noticed today that one more of them was out in the barn lot. Every couple of days the number of them that seem afraid to come out shrinks a bit. This evening all but two of them went into the coop on their own and one of those was right by the coop door so I didn't have to go looking for her.

      Only 10 eggs today though.

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