Recent content by urban orpington

Yeah, I am aware that there's a certain amount of chasing and pecking takes place but the new girls' standard of living was awful. They were hiding in the coop refusing to move out of fear. We'll see how the new arrangement works out.

I spent all weekend digging a new gravel foundation for the coop/run and I built a detachable roof for the run. Here's the roof (in a picture I took before I straightened out the corrugated steel...boy, it looks wobbly in that picture!)

We've decided to remove Henrietta from the main coop for a while. The two new girls spent all weekend cowering in the coop and we felt like that just wasn't healthy. So Henny gets a new home for a little while and Zelda and Tipper can acclimate to the coop without fear. Henrietta's not...

Awesome! Thanks for the info.

Yeah, we've got two feeding areas set up but our Orpington cornered the two new girls and made them watch her eat all of the food from the bowl they had been eating from. haha.

The new girls survived the night. They seem pretty shell-shocked and are hiding under the coop. They might be hungry, Henrietta ate all the food in their bowl. It feels like she's being kind of a brat. But no one seems bloody....so hopefully everything is working out.

AAAHHHH! Here I go again. So after they slept so peacefully adjacent to each other last night, my wife and I decided to open the door separating Henny and the new girls. After a few minutes of peace, Henny cornered the new girls, pecked at them and even used her feet some. Of course...

We have a really bad mosquito problem in our backyard. So bad that, when we go out, my wife and I look like Charlie Brown's friend Pigpen...but instead of dirt it's a cloud of mosquitoes. While I am fine with dousing myself in Off for extended visits to the coop or backyard, I hate coming back...

This weekend I am digging a new foundation for the coop and a detachable roof for the run. Since I am going to be in the yard all day, I think I am finally going to pull the trigger on putting the new girls in with Henrietta. That way I can be present and make sure they nothing goes beyond...

That's what I figured. It just takes time. My wife and I have just enjoyed how personable our first hen is, so I was hoping we could replicate the same result. They're just so skittish! They wont let us give them treats. We have to set them down within their reach and then walk away before...

I think this is a good place to ask this question. My wife and I have a Buff Orpinton of unknown age that is super social. When she came to us she had obviously been around humans a lot and wasn't scared of us at all. For example, a couple of weeks ago she hopped right into my...

The run is maybe about 12 foot by 4 foot. It's just a place for our three hens to have some room to stretch their legs when my wife and I are at work. Then there's a little 4 by 2 coop connected to it. Based on what you're saying, I think I might dig a six inch foundation and fill it with...

So, like a drainage stone? Or a gravel of some sort? I guess it needs to be big enough for them not to eat it right? So no pea gravel?

I've spent the better part of three days sifting through a ton of the information in these forums, but I couldn't find exactly the information I was looking for. Admittedly, I may have just missed it. (As an aside, thank goodness for you people. This site has helped me and my wife out with our...

Just so I'm prepared.... Would a little chasing and pecking be normal while they get to know each other? My Sex-link isn't that much smaller than my Buff Orpington, so I hope she'll stand her ground. I am more concerned about the Cochin Bantam. She's so wee!