Hens Push Back
September 15th, 2015 · No Comments · Posted in farming
Up to now, my wife’s plans to add new designer eggs to our flock of laying hens had been going according to plan. “Chocolate” and “terra cotta” were the chosen new colors and to that end we had purchased 10 each of the Welsummer and Cocoo Maran breeds. They spent the allotted four weeks in the basement brooder, then an additional 12 weeks working their way around the pasture behind our house in one of our mobile “tractors,” getting bigger and stronger as the weeks passed.
Finally came the day to move them into the enclosure with our Easter Egger hens where, we hoped, all would live happily ever after and lay their eggs in the coop provided.
Except the Welsummers and Cocoo Marans were not buying it. They spent the first night in the coop just fine after we placed them there, but as dusk rolled around the second night, they all huddled together in the grass about as far from the coop as they could get. Chickens are usually pretty docile, so we entered the enclosure to move them back into the coop. They weren’t having any of that, either, and catching them was like, well, herding chickens.
Same story the third night. And the forth. Finally, we gave up trying to force the chickens into the coop. And why were these birds so different from all the other chickens we’ve raised. Typically, once you imprint the idea that the coop is where they spend the night, they jump right in as soon as the sun sets. Not the Welsummers or the Cocoo Marans. What could be holding them back.
After the tentative first few days, wherein the new hens seemed to hesitate stepping on the older hens’ turf, the newbies and oldsters started to mix together just fine. In fact, as the morning wore on, I’d find plenty of Welsummers and Cocoo Marans inside the coop, checking it out. Even nestling into the straw, or finding a place to hang out on one of the roosts.
I keep hoping this means they’re ready to join the party after dark. But so far, no go. They still head for that spot in the grass to huddle up.
Our fear is they might get eaten during the night by a fox or some other predator. And what about when it gets really cold and starts to snow?
They can always spend nights under the coop. But there’s room for all inside. I wonder if they’ll ever get the message.
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