New
Flock in their New Home…
by
Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director
Our
newly-purchased flock of one hundred Bovans Brown hens are now in our newly
cleaned winter coop. Home Sweet (New)
Home!
We
caught and moved the hens during the morning hours on Tuesday this week. They settled into their new space relatively quickly. We kept them inside the coop for the first
couple of hours, giving them fresh food and water after a bit of settling down and
exploring time.
 |
| finding the water... |
By
mid-afternoon, we opened the door to the attached chicken yard to let them
explore further. All but two hens managed
to find their way back into the coop as dusk fell that first night. By the second night, all of them had it
figured out.
As
mentioned in my previous post, these birds are just under a year old. As we might have expected, they’ve come with
a few odd habits. Despite plenty of
roosts in this winter coop, some of the hens choose to sleep huddled up
together in a corner on the floor. We’ve
spent some time the first few nights, gently picking them up and placing them onto
the roosts as darkness falls. Some of
them stay put, others jump back down and return to their corner huddle. Perhaps they’ll figure it out after a few nights;
perhaps they’ll always prefer to sleep in their hen huddle. Time will tell…
I’ve attached some photos of the new girls in their new home – a few of them finding the water, finding the food, and finding just the right nest box!
 |
| finding the food... |
 |
| and finding just the right nest box! |
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