PopoMyers
Free Ranging
Now add the kitties.....and you're set!
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Now add the kitties.....and you're set!
What an awesome and cheap idea! Think I'll try this! Videos? So glad it stopped raining for them and you. We have a short blue sky spell, but it's frosty grass in the morning, so the girls don't come out so early.It's been so wet and gloomy the past several weeks with one atmospheric river after another pouring down rain, plus gusty winds and hail storms, my 8 hens have been hunkered down under the coop and covered run with only a few rainless spells to chicken-around outside. I felt bad for them, only so much amusement to be had under cover.
We finally had a sunny day today, so I tried out a chicken-toy idea I read somewhere here on BYC: a heavy plastic liter drink bottle with lots of pencil-diameter holes drilled in it, with about a cup of scratch inside. I wasn't sure if they'd be afraid of it, or not figure out how to get the grains out, but hoped they'd be curious and work at it.
Oh, boy, was THAT a hit! Jill the Delaware, Queen Pauline's 2nd in command, is always a very determined and vigorous scratcher and she glommed onto it immediately, kicking the bottle around their yard till a few grains spilled out then stopping to peck them up. She soon had a crowd of VERY eager fans wanting to participate - but she didn't want anyone else to have a turn with rolling the bottle! ("Mine!")
They are usually a very mellow flock, well settled hierarchy, but that scratch bottle brought out the chain of command in sharp detail! Jill was fine with sharing the spilled bits of scratch with her pals Pauline and Xena, but Queen Pauline actually chased away Sheila and Rhonda (#4 & 5 in order), and the other 3 lower ranked girls quickly decided to go do something else entirely.
Pauline's such a mellow flock queen, at times I've thought she'd "abdicated" but she was on full display today -- a smallish Buff Orpington fluffing, flapping and chasing off the much heftier Australorp and RIR! Then she was right back to enjoying the bits of scratch Jill was kicking out of the treat bottle. Well, well...
(There was no violence, pecking, etc.)
When it started to get dark 5 of them were still crowded around playing with the bottle (Jill finally let the others have a turn) to the point that it was after their usual "go to roost" time and only the 3 bottom-rank girls had gone inside. I took the bottle away for the night and they seemed to "come out of it" -- "Oh, wait...how'd it get so late? What am I doing outside?" and one by one meandered into the coop - Pauline last in.
Curfew, girls!
I've never seen them so obsessed with a toy. And they only got about 1/4 of the scratch out of it, if that much, plus lots of exercise rolling it all around their yard. Next time I'll bring my phone out there and try to get video...
Wish I could remember who suggested the scratch bottle idea, I'd love to thank them! Simple, cheap, using stuff already lying around, and the girls absolutely love it. I'll only let them have it a few hours at a time, keep it fresh & novel (and reasonably clean!)
I am anxious to plant things, but it's still too . Still below freezing T night, not above mid to high 40'sAs I planted sweet peas today I had to watch the lurking roosters that wanted to see what kind of goodies were being put down for them. I finally waited for Ma to get to where I was and hold them off so I could drop the seed and get them covered up. I know they feel mistreated over that but I'll make it up with some scratch in a few days. It's really to warm for scratch now with temps in the 70's by day and 60's at night.
Exciting!! I went to Tractor Supply today and did NOT buy any chicks! So proud of me Congrats on the new babies!!Stopped by the Farm Store yesterday and they had 3 little Buff Orpington chicks available, so we picked them up. We set them up in a sectioned off portion of the coop with a Sweeter Heater, and they did just fine first night in. So great to have a way to raise chicks in the coop! I wish the hens would do it for me, but they have not had a successful hatch in a year, so I resorted to this.
So yay! Who doesn't love raising chicks?