Chicken question..

[RickF]

So.. I figured I'd ask a few chicken questions now that we're effectively starting over with our birds -- our last set of 2.5+ year olds is gone (sent away to the old-chickens home) and we've got a set of 4 new pullets that are close to 1 month old..

Our old birds were training us more than the other way around -- in the end. They (the buff-orps) would cackle at a bit past 6am every morning because they wanted a few treats and a little attention.. Once that was given they were fine for the rest of the day -- however, it got a bit old and was annoying to be completely honest -- particularly since we live in a city area and have neighbors ~10 feet away which keep their windows open during the summer when its hot. We have yet to be yelled at about our birds noise (which usually is quieter than neighborhood dogs or the flock of wild parrots that roam the neighborhood) and would like to keep it that way. The old birds were totally free-ranging in the majority of the backyard -- an area of perhaps 50' by about 70'.. This was for just two birds mind you..

Anyway, our current plan with the new birds is to keep them locked up in the coop/run which is an area sized at approx. 5'x17 give or taken with a dirt floor and covered roof.. In another thread someone mentioned using the floor of the coop as their compost pile allowing the chickens to do the composting -- adding daily fruit/veggie scraps, green grass clippings and whatnot to compost down at whatever rate the chickens desired.. I like this idea as it will keep our yard cleaner, hopefully the birds will be happy in the limited space and with the constantly changing food scraps and IF desired we could setup a chicken tractor to move about the yard if needed/wanted..

Are there any other things we should/should not do to ensure our birds don't start training us again in the future? Has this sort of thing happened to any of you? I think we really spoiled our <no longer with us> birds!!

P.S. We toyed with the idea of keeping the birds in a dark environment effectively making them think the nights are longer than they really are -- we can probably do that with some mechanical help of some sort -- our coop is solar powered so timer driven motors and short running lamps are fine..

 

[catjac1975]

The problem with leaving them in the dark longer is that you may not get eggs. We have to give our birds a light once the days get too short. You can leave them indoors later to reduce the noise but should make up the light at the other end of the day. We are hatching chicks -they should start hatching tomorrow.

 

[RickF]

Thanks.. I guess the shorter-day thing was something we were thinking about for our birds that were noisy in the mornings -- earlier than we were hoping for.. I guess we'll see how the new hens fare in that regard when the time comes.. Thanks for chiming in..

 

[Jared77]

Egg production is based on total hours of light the birds receive. If they think its night longer they won't produce for you like you want or they could because their biological clocks will believe its winter since they have a shorter day. However you could let them into the yard/run in later morning and supplement their total hours of light as Cat mentioned in the evening. So instead of it being dark at 8:00pm, its dark for them at 10pm but then they may not have access to the run and daylight till 9am instead of at 6am. So by doing this your not shortening their day, your just moving it to a more convenient time for you and your neighbors.

I did this all the time when I bred canaries and finches. I would slowly increase the hours of light certain pairs of birds to get them to think it was spring and produce chicks for me. Or when I was training the canaries (so I could see who really had a good song) I had to alter their light schedule slightly to trigger the response. Its not a big deal just something to be aware of.

As far as not being trained you have to draw a hard line. Let them fuss, they'll realize that no matter what they are not getting what they want. If you wait and wait and wait and give in, then they've learned that if they keep fussing they will get what they want. Then the next time to avoid the fussing you just give them what they want. That's a variable reward system. Its a classic positive reinforcement training technique. You just have to take a hard stance with them. Once a behavior pops up especially if its attention based like what you mentioned with your previous birds you have to address it right then and there. You have to recognize that whatever is going on is something that needs to stop, so you just stop doing it. Let them fuss for a bit. They'll quickly realize that fussing doesn't do them any good and they'll quiet down. Might take a bit depending on how ingrained the behavior, however you can make it stop. You just have to have more resolve than a chicken don't give in. This behavior will stop. No treats, no attention unless they are quiet. Once quiet you pay attention to them. They make a stink you walk away they quiet down, you come back. If they are fussing don't come back till they are quiet. Once quiet you pay attention to them, treat them and go on with things.

Its just like the mean roosters. They put on a show and people back down. Now the rooster knows he acts tough you'll back down. Never mind that your easily 5 times bigger than him, so act like it. Those old stories of Grandpa putting the boot to a rooster and he not messing with Grandpa but he'd always chase me is true. Grandpa wasn't afraid of some little chicken and he let that rooster know it. However you back away from that rooster and suddenly he knows he has the upper hand. Again whats tolerable.

A simple light socket mounted to the wall and a CFL bulb will do the trick. Minimal power draw, and won't get super hot like standard incandescent bulbs.

 

[so lucky]

Just a suggestion if you decide to lengthen the light in the evening: If the light goes off suddenly, say at 10 o'clock, the chickens won't be able to find their way to the roost in the dark, as they see very poorly in no light. So it might be good if you could rig up timers to two lights, one main one to go off at 10, then a dimmer light to go out at 10:15 or so, to give them time to get settled on the roost. Once the bright light goes out, and only the dim one is left, they will head for the roost. Or you could leave a dim one on all the time.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Just a suggestion if you decide to lengthen the light in the evening: If the light goes off suddenly, say at 10 o'clock, the chickens won't be able to find their way to the roost in the dark, as they see very poorly in no light. So it might be good if you could rig up timers to two lights, one main one to go off at 10, then a dimmer light to go out at 10:15 or so, to give them time to get settled on the roost. Once the bright light goes out, and only the dim one is left, they will head for the roost. Or you could leave a dim one on all the time.

This is good advice. We have a very dim LED light on in the coop all the time. And bright lights in the coop on timers for winter use.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

Just a suggestion if you decide to lengthen the light in the evening: If the light goes off suddenly, say at 10 o'clock, the chickens won't be able to find their way to the roost in the dark, as they see very poorly in no light. So it might be good if you could rig up timers to two lights, one main one to go off at 10, then a dimmer light to go out at 10:15 or so, to give them time to get settled on the roost. Once the bright light goes out, and only the dim one is left, they will head for the roost. Or you could leave a dim one on all the time.

actually, the chickens will still find their way to their roosts even without the light, but it will be noisy and an occasional 'thud' will be heard. most times they will be trained to head to the roost before the light goes out after a few days of getting used to the time it is programmed to go out. the past 3 winters i've used holiday lights on a timer that give them just enough light to keep them going. i usually have it set to go out at 8pm, so this gives them about 13-14 hours of light each day. as the days lengthen or shorten i adjust slightly the time it goes on in the afternoon/evening.

 

[so lucky]

I bet it looks really festive in the chicken house, too!

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

We do the compost type of run allthough our run is very large and it will take a long time to get fully composted. But we just started this year and I can see an improvement in the soil for sure!

In order to avoid, attention getting noise we do this. Purely on accident, not because I am a genious! We give them veggies, fruits, weeds, etc at random times throughout the day. Sometimes, we skip a day. When I go out and it is for a treat, I say, "chick, chick, chick, chick" over and over. That is their sign that a treat is coming. If I just go out and work around the run, etc. I don't say it. They know it's not treat time. They may come running over, but they don't cause a racket and soon disperse when they figure out I don't have anything for them.

Might be worth a try. It works for us!

 

[baymule]

I compost in my coop. I got corn a week ago and tossed the shucks in the coop. The girls really enjoyed their treat and in a few months time, the shucks will make nice compost. I cleaned out the coop a few weeks ago :tools and put it in the compost bin. There were very few pea hulls that had not broken down, grass clippings were well past the fluffy stage and all was well mixed with poop. For winter, I have a couple bags of sawdust from a friend's table saw. It makes crumbly, dark, rich compost. When winter rains make a wet smelly mess, I just pile more sawdust in and it stays clean and fresh. I dig it it out in the spring and yes, it does stink then. I scattered lime, not hydrated as it will burn, and the smell went away. Then I spread fresh sawdust and all summer have used the girls to process garden trimmings and grass clippings. :mow When the leaves stop falling from the trees, I will rake them and give them to the girls to work on.